Mellon Program Participant Researches Buddhism in the Land of His Forbears

from the
THE HARVARD COLLEGE
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH PROGRAMS NEWSLETTER
February 1998

Nester Clark '98 had more than a generation gap to bridge when his grandmother visited his Texas home a few years back. A native of Vietnam, she spoke little English and had never visited the States before. Nester, on the other hand, spoke no Vietnamese. He made do, but grew increasingly frustrated with his inability to speak the language of his maternal relatives. "It was pretty pathetic,'" he says now with a smile.

Two years after his grandmother's visit, Nester was a Harvard freshman enrolled in a Vietnamese language class. That class marked the beginning of a course of study for Nester that has been charged with both academic and personal significance.

To date, the highlight of Nester's study is the journey he took to Vietnam last summer. The trip was a watershed of sorts. For starters, it showed how far his language skills had come, as he had no difficulty traveling the country alone. He was also able to gather invaluable data for his thesis. Finally, the trip brought him face-to-face with an important part of his heritage.

It was Vietnam that brought his parents together. Nester's South Vietnamese mother met his American father while the latter was serving in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. They married and have lived in Texas for years, but their experiences in Vietnam helped shape their son's academic interests.

Nester is pursuing those interests with the help of the Mellon/Mentored Scholars Minority Undergraduate Fellowship Program. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation launched the program in 1989, citing the "striking imbalance" between the current numbers of minority professors and students. The program seeks to increase diversity on college faculties by supporting talented minority students to earn Ph.D.s and pursue careers as professors. The Mellon Foundation supports similar programs at a number of select colleges and universities nationwide.

Nester is a joint concentrator in East Asian Languages & Civilizations and the Study of Religion. Like his academic interest in Vietnam, Nester's interest in religion can be traced back to his family. "You see," he grins, "my mom is a Vietnamese Buddhist, my dad is a converted Suni Muslim, his family is Southern Baptist, and I went to Catholic school for six years! I just find it all very fascinating."

With the help of the Mellon Program, Nester has been examining the recent resurgence of Buddhism in southern Vietnam. Nester ties the revival to the new economic and political liberalizations that have come with the country's attempts to participate more fully in world markets. "It seems to be a clear case of greater economic freedom leading to greater social freedom," says Nester. "It might be likened to the potential resurgence of Catholicism that is happening in Cuba right now."

Nester spent considerable time last year searching for information on Buddhism in contemporary Vietnam. "There's not a lot out there," he reports. "It isn't that surprising when you consider that the Communists essentially closed the country off for twenty years."

It grew increasingly clear to Nester that, if he wanted to write his thesis on Buddhism in Vietnam, he would have to travel there to conduct research first-hand. Calling on his mother's relatives for assistance, he planned a three-month trip through the country to collect texts, visit temples, and conduct interviews. His itinerary included stops in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), and Rach Gia, the town on the Gulf of Thailand where his mother grew up and his grandmother still lives.

Nester arrived in Hanoi in late June and was soon venturing out to Buddhist temples along the Chinese and Laotian borders. While his research in the north was limited because of his lack of family contacts in the region, he was able to get a sense for the place and style of Buddhism in north Vietnam.

When he ventured south, Nester met with more success. "Family members and their friends worshipped at many of the temples I visited," he says, "so the monks and abbots were more welcoming and less afraid to answer political questions."

From Rach Gia, Nester rent-ed a motorcycle for $5 a day and explored the Mekong Delta and the Cambodian border. Moving through southern Vietnam, he grew acutely aware that he was in conquered territory. "I saw more Communist flags in the South, for instance," says Nester, "and more statues of Communist leaders."

Whether he was in the north or south, Nester noticed portraits of Ho Chi Minh in every temple he visited. "Overall, though, the Communists showed respect for the sanctuaries of the temples, which is where people actually pray," he says. "Just outside, however, I'd see political signs for upcoming elections."

Toward the end of his stay in Vietnam, Nester was joined by his father. "It was the first time he'd been back since the war," says Nester. "I think it was very therapeutic for him. He was relieved to see that the country hadn't been destroyed under Communism. And he was happy to find that the Vietnamese did not resent him as a veteran. He got the feeling that Vietnam has done a better job of leaving behind the war than the United States has."

Shortly before he and his father left the country, Nester dropped off about 25 rolls of film for development. When he returned to pick up his pictures, he was shocked to find that a sizable number had been confiscated. "I should have known better," Nester sighs. "Vietnam is still a communist state." He lost shots of government buildings, Vietnamese nationals, and even the evening he'd enjoyed a traditional dinner of cobra. "I have no idea why they took those pictures," Nester laughs. Fortunately, he was left with many useful photos. In fact, several will be used in a Vietnamese language book written by Harvard Professor Binh Ngo.

Nester views his trip as a huge success on all levels. He feels fortunate to have met his mother's family and shared in his father's return to Vietnam. He also returned to Cambridge last fall with plenty of material for his thesis. He will look to Professor Hue-Tam Ho Tai, his thesis advisor and mentor under the Mellon Program, for guidance as he prepares his data for use. "She has been great," says Nester. "And she's helped me deal with one unique problem I have: I came back with a lot of information I hadn't counted on getting!"

--John Marchetti