His Heritage is History
Nester Clark's research about Vietnam is a journey into his family's
past
By John Marchetti
Special to the Gazette
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. Clark, for his part,
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, Clark was a Harvard freshman
enrolled in a Vietnamese language class. That class marked the beginning
of a course of study that has been charged with both academic and personal
significance.
To date, the highlight of ClarkÕs study is the journey he took
to Vietnam last summer. The trip was a watershed of sorts. For starters,
it showed how far along 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. Clark'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.
Clark, who is an Adams House resident, 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 numbers of minority professors
and minority students. The Program seeks to increase diversity on college
faculties by supporting talented minority students in earning Ph.D.s and
pursuing careers as professors. The Mellon Foundation funds similar programs
at a number of select colleges and universities nationwide.
Clark is a joint concentrator in East Asian languages and civilizations
and the study of religion. Like his academic interest in Vietnam, his 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, Clark has been examining the recent
resurgence of Buddhism in southern Vietnam. He 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 Clark. "It might be likened to the potential resurgence of Catholicism
that is happening in Cuba right now."
Clark spent considerable time last year researching 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 20 years."
It grew increasingly clear to Clark that if he wanted to write his thesis
on Vietnam and Buddhism, he would have to travel to Vietnam 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.
He arrived in Hanoi in late June and was soon venturing 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 of the place and a feeling for the style of Buddhism in northern
Vietnam.
When he ventured south, Clark met with more success. "Family members
and their friends worshipped at many of the temples I visited," he
says. "The monks and abbots were more welcoming and less afraid to
answer political questions."
From Rach Gia, he rented a motorcycle for $5 per day and explored the
Mekong Delta and the Cambodian border. Moving through southern Vietnam,
Clark grew acutely aware that he was in conquered territory. "I saw
more Communist flags in the South, for instance, and more statues of Communist
leaders."
Whether he was in northern or southern Vietnam, Clark 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, he was joined by his father. "It
was the first time he'd been back since the war," says Clark. "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 the war behind than the United States has."
Shortly before he and his father left the country, Clark 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," he 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," Clark laughs.
Fortunately, he was left with many useful photos. In fact, several will
be used in a Vietnamese language book written by preceptor in Vietnamese
Binh Nhu Ngo.
Clark 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 his thesis advisor and mentor under the Mellon Program,
Hue-Tam Ho Tai, the Kenneth T. Young Professor of Sino-Vietnamese History,
for guidance as he prepares his data. "She has been great," says
Clark. "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!"
Copyright
1998 President and Fellows of Harvard College
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