Back to Lubbock for the first since my first conference as a doctoral student 19 years ago. There were a number of doctoral students this time, Cody J. Billock among them.

No invite to a review roundtable in my first 10 years at Pepperdine. Then 2 invites on the same day in Year 11, including on Van Nguyen-Marshall's very good history of the noncommunist civil society in South Vietnam. Intro + 6 reviews + author's response. networks.h-net.org/group/discussi…

The ACHA’s Global Catholicism series returns with a deep dive into archival resources around the world—from Asia to Europe to the U.S. Learn from archivists and scholars about hidden gems in global collections and discover new directions for your research. No registration needed!

A nearly forgotten episode in the 1970s. I wonder how many of the Vietnamese (and the Americans involved in the training) are still alive and up for an interview? tuannyriver.com/2025/06/15/vie…

My new posts on 3 classic Vietnamese bolero songs + English translations of lyrics. All have to do with Chế Linh but also Trường Vũ, Lệ Quyên, etc. This music peaked in the 1960s in SVN reflecting the ideals of first love and affectionate marriage. tuannyriver.com/tag/vietnamese…

My article has been published in The Historian on a topic never studied before: disabled veterans in the Republic of Vietnam in 1970-72. I examine their ideology, which was a mix of nationalism, anticommunism, anti-capitalism, and anti-Americanism. tuannyriver.wordpress.com/wp-content/upl…

My latest musing is on David Marr's book Vietnamese Tradition on Trial. Is it a misnomer or, worse, a massive interpretative error? Was “tradition” really “on trial”? Indeed, was it even “tradition” by the 1920s and 1930s and the early 1940s? tuannyriver.com/2025/07/01/ano…

The world is burning yet I couldn't help pondering some more about Vietnamese bolero music. tuannyriver.com/2025/07/02/the…

My latest blog is about the first Vietnamese cover band in the U.S. It was formed in Hawaii and shortly after the fall of Saigon. In 1977 it did a tour playing rock, disco, etc. in clubs, lounges, hotels throughout the Midwest. tuannyriver.com/2025/07/31/the…

"Update your CV in July or August," said a dean during my first two years at Pepperdine. Having updated it on my website, I also created a page on my "big book" project. Any tips and assistance towards that book will be most appreciated! tuannyriver.com/scholarship/bo…