Uyen T. Nguyen

Uyen T. Nguyen is a historian of modern Vietnam whose research and teaching focus on historical transitions through interdisciplinary and comparative perspectives. Born and raised in Vietnam, Nguyen earned her B.A. in International Studies from Yonsei University (Seoul) and her Ph.D. in History from the University of California, Berkeley. Before joining Harvard, she taught at the National University of Singapore.

Her current book project, Beloved City, Depraved City: Communist Takeovers and Socialist Transformations in North Vietnam’s Cities (1949–1958), examines the communist takeover of previously French-controlled cities in North Vietnam and the political, economic, and socio-cultural transformations that took place in these cities between 1949 and 1958. Drawing on a wide range of underutilized Vietnamese-language sources, including archival documents and oral histories, Nguyen reconstructs and seeks to understand the perspectives and actions of both Communist "liberators" and members of the urban society "liberated" by Ho Chi Minh's forces.

Nguyen is currently developing two new book-length projects. The first traces the political, economic, and social history of modern Vietnam through the lens of a single commodity animal, following pig-raising and pork consumption across the twentieth century to reveal patterns of everyday state-society negotiation and ideological aspirations and contest. The second is a comparative study of modern Korea and Vietnam, examining their historical convergences and divergences in the twentieth century against the backdrop of significant political and cultural influences from China.

Nguyen’s broader scholarship seeks to situate Vietnamese experiences within frameworks that reach beyond national borders and the disciplinary boundaries of history. In addition to her work on state-building and urban transformation, she has a longstanding engagement with literature. Her most recent article, “Writing and Policing" (Journal of Vietnamese Studies, 2026), is part of a larger project on how Vietnamese literature registered the profound political and economic upheavals of the late twentieth century. Her translation of Trần Dần’s novel Crossroads and Lampposts is forthcoming with Major Books.

In both research and teaching, Nguyen aims to foster curiosity and appreciation for East and Southeast Asia among students and wider audiences from diverse backgrounds. She holds a joint appointment in the Department of History and the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations.