DVAN collaborates with San Francisco State University’s College of Ethnic Studies to develop a special project called DVAN@SFSU hosted at the University. The project is designed to advance mutual educational goals and the promotion of Vietnamese American diasporic literary arts and other cultural productions through the mentorship and support of SFSU undergraduates in the humanities and the arts. DVAN@SFSU also enriches student experience by facilitating community services, producing educational activities and fostering opportunities with the Southeast American community.

DVAN was invited to launch DVAN@SFSU in Fall 2019 to enrich students’ lives with robust educational and professional opportunities ranging from internships, scholarships, mentorship opportunities, and a lifelong network of Vietnamese artists, academics, and organizers.

Read about the DVAN@ SFSU event: Pulitzer Prize winner comes to campus, celebrates new University milestone →

The DVAN@SFSU project is designed to address the intergenerational gaps within the diaspora caused by cultural, racial, and social rifts enhanced by a history of war and migration. Through our academic and community service programs, we create collaborative space for students to be empowered and learn about their history and identity while providing scholarship opportunities and skill sets to enhance their academic experience, prepare them for graduate school, and enter the job market. DVAN@SFSU is a hub of collectivity and collaboration for diasporic Vietnamese students, artists, academics, and community organizers of the next generation to imagine and build new global cultural and creative legacies.

People

Curriculum Development

The Asian American Studies department in the College of Ethnic Studies at SFSU has the largest curriculum of Vietnamese American Studies and Southeast Asian American classes in the country. The following faculty in the Asian American Studies Department and in Race and Resistance Studies use and/or generate DVAN materials as part of their curriculum:

Facilitate Internships & Mentorship Opportunities

With internships and mentorship, students develop leadership and professional skills.

• Connecting students to community based organizations through AAS 688 (i.e.: DVAN, PIVOT, SEADC, Vietnamese American Round Table).
• Students are provided networking opportunities with companies, businesses, and mentors.

Based on students’ demands, we provide spaces and opportunities for them to be exposed to cultural producers and serve the community through organizing educational programs related to the arts.

Public Events

Readings & Discussions

Students are invited to free reading and discussion events with Vietnamese American writers, poets, and artists. Complimentary access to all ÁCCENTED: Dialogues in the Diaspora events, hosted by Viet Thanh Nguyen.

Q-Call: Community Engagement

Students work with local grassroots community-based nonprofits to help organize public events that showcase emerging Southeast Asian American talents (on hold due to Covid-19).

Textures of Remembrance: Vietnamese Artists and Writers Reflect on the Fall of Saigon

Students help organize and promote an exhibit to explore the impact of April 30, 1975—the Fall of Saigon—on Vietnamese American artists of the new generation. These creative reflections toward personal struggles and memories demonstrate the effects of the Vietnam War on identity, family and community. The exhibit is oriented towards humanizing—providing texture to—the Vietnamese diasporic refugee experience from the inside-out.

Textures of Remembrance will be on display at the Global Museum at San Francisco State University Spring 2023. This exhibit will serve as a catalyst for students’ programming and educational activities.

To learn more about Textures of Remembrance, see this video.

Special Projects

Mapping the Diaspora

Mapping the Diaspora is a living digital archive that celebrates and shares contemporary diasporic Vietnamese cultural contributions in literature, film, music, performance, and visual arts. We aim to map the evolving landscape of Vietnamese diasporic voices into an accessible, interactive database that builds understanding and empowerment across geographies and generations. The project draws from artists, academics and community engagement to ensure complex representations.

In the development stage.

DVAN@SFSU collaborates with the following organizations and groups:

DVAN@SFSU is supported by grants and donations from generous individuals who believe in our mission and value the impact of our work.
Gifts to DVAN@SFSU are tax deductible, and are acknowledged by San Francisco State University.

Make Online Donation

Donate by Check

To donate by check, please make it payable to “The University Corporation, San Francisco State” and note “DVAN@SFSU (48095) Donation” on the memo line. The mailing address is:

If you have questions or if you are interested in making a gift of securities, charitable IRA rollovers, or other types of gifts, please contact Alex Sanchez at [email protected] or (415) 338-1032.