2021 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
Buddhist charitable practice, Old-age experience and personhood of Vietnamese elderly
| Project/Area Number |
19K13476
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| Research Institution | Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University |
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Principal Investigator |
LE HoangAnhThu 立命館アジア太平洋大学, アジア太平洋学部, 准教授 (70828384)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2019-04-01 – 2023-03-31
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| Keywords | faith-based charity / civil society / anthropology / Buddhism / old age / Vietnam |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
From April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022, I have completed these goals for my Grants-in-Aid project:
- In August 2021, I presented a paper titled "Productive work in Buddhist merit-making practice of Elderly Women in Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam)" at The 12th International Convention of Asia Scholars (ICAS 12) (organised by Kyoto Seika University).
- In March 2022, I organised a panel titled "Religious food charity, care, and social agency in Vietnam and Myanmar" at the Annual Conference Association for Asian Studies (organised by the University of Hawai'i, Manoa).
- In March 2022, I presented a paper titled "Cooking for a Healthy Society: Food Charity by Buddhist Temples in Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam)" at the Annual Conference Association for Asian Studies (organised by the University of Hawai'i, Manoa).
- I and research collaborators proposed a Special Issue titled "Food Charity, Religion, and Care in Vietnam" to The Asia Pacific Journal: Japan Focus. The proposal was accepted by this journal's chief editor. My colleagues and I are working on this Special Issue and hope to have it published in 2022.
- I conducted field research in Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) from March 16 to April 9 after 2 years of delay due to the travel restrictions caused by Covid 19 pandemic.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
3: Progress in research has been slightly delayed.
Reason
My data collection process has been affected by the outbreak of Covid-19 which led to the cancellation of commercial flights between Japan and Vietnam since March 2020 until January 2022. To partly overcome this issue, I purchased Skype call credits and did interviews with some informants on the phone.
In February 2022, when commercial flights between Vietnam and Japan reopened, I traveled to Ho Chi Minh City to do field research. However, the high infection rate in Vietnam due to the outbreak of Omicron variant in February and March slightly restricted my in-person contacts with some informants. Besides, some people I had met before the pandemic unfortunately died of Covid 19. However, I managed to conduct several interviews in person and on the phone, and meet new informants.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
- I plan to do follow-up field research in Vietnam in August and September 2022, and in February and March 2023 if commercial flights between Vietnam and Japan remain opened.
- I plan to get the Special issue titled "Food Charity, Religion, and Care in Vietnam" published on The Asia Pacific Journal: Japan Focus.
- I plan to present my research findings at an international conference titled "Life Support" organised by The Australian Anthropological Society in November 2022 in Victoria, Australia.
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| Causes of Carryover |
I was not able to travel to Vietnam for the field-research trips which I had planned for FY2020 and FY2021 due to the cancellation of commercial flights between Vietnam and Japan as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In February 2022, I could travel to Vietnam to conduct field research again. I will use the unspent fund of 2021 to pay for field research in Vietnam, and for PCR tests required when entering Vietnam and Japan.
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Research Products
(3 results)
