Gatty Lecture Rewind: Hieu Phung, Vietnamese and Southeast Asian History, Rutgers University

In this episode of Gatty Lecture Rewind, the hosts interview Dr. Hieu Phung, Assistant Professor of Vietnamese and Southeast Asian History at Rutgers University. Dr. Phung discusses her research on how pre-modern environmental factors shaped political and administrative systems in Vietnam, with a focus on state-building in the Red River Delta. She unpacks how perceptions of sea dikes evolved over time: beyond their physical function, they became central to how people understood nature, risk, and governance.

This episode was produced by the Southeast Asia Program at Cornell University, NYSEAN Partner.