Tương lai: VSA Magazine Online
Permanent URI for this collection
Tương lai, or Future in English translation, is the oldest international student publication at Wichita State University. The magazine publisher, Vietnamese Student Association (VSA) at WSU, was established in 1978, and from the very beginning, publishing was an important priority. The new organization produced a monthly newsletter and a special lunar New Year issue. The magazine has grown from this special issue. The VSA magazine aimed to bring Vietnamese American students together, to strengthen the Association, and to promote Vietnamese culture and language. In the magazine, students shared stories, essays, and poetry; informed community about VSA election, introduced VSA officers, new initiatives and programs; recruited new members to VSA; announced events, talked about their cultural heritage, traditions, and customs; student life, love, learning, arts, and many other important things that helped generations of WSU Vietnamese students to shape their unique Vietnamese American identity.
The magazine also serves as an informal writing club and school in journalism for many students involved in its production. VSA publishing committees include student editors, designers, art designers, photographers, business managers and other editorial staff who are working hard to continue and enhance the magazine's content and appearance. VSA faculty advisers contribute to the development and sustainability of the magazine. Beautifully illustrated with drawing and paintings, Tương lai has been published each year (with rare exclusions) from 1981; at first in Vietnamese; from the end of 90s in Vietnamese and English languages.
In 2017, Dr. Anh Tran, Association Professor in Curriculum and Instruction who serves as the VSA faculty adviser from 2003, approached Kathy Delker, Assistant Professor & Coordinator of Library Instructional Services with the idea to publish Tương lai online. Kathy Delker referred Dr. Tran to Dr. Susan Matveyeva, the WSU institutional repository librarian. Thus was formed the current project. All available copies of the VSA magazine were collected and digitized. Bibliographic metadata was created to make the magazine discoverable on the Web: 32 issues and related metadata were uploaded on SOAR. Tương lai Online became available worldwide to VSA members, Vietnamese-American community, alumni, and all people who are interested in experiences of the Vietnamese students in Wichita State University, Kansas .
The project team:
Dr. Susan Matveyeva, Associate Professor & Institutional Repository Librarian, project manager
Lizzy Walker, Assistant Professor, Metadata & Digital Initiatives Librarian
Dr.Anh Tran, Associate Professor in Curriculum and Instruction & VSA faculty adviser
Kathy Delker, Assistant Professor & Coordinator of Library Instructional Services
Md. Rakib Ur Rahman, Graduate Assistant
Shubham Bhaskar Thakare, Student Assistant