Bibliotactics: Libraries and the Colonial Public in Vietnam

Join UCLA professor Cindy Anh Nguyen for a talk on Bibliotactics: Libraries and the Colonial Public in Vietnam (University of California Press, 2026), followed by a conversation with Chief Curator Joes Segal, audience Q&A, and a book signing.

Drawing on archival research and interdisciplinary methods, Nguyen examines how libraries in colonial and postcolonial Vietnam functioned as tools of cultural governance while also serving as spaces for public engagement, critique, and alternative knowledge practices. Her work traces the historical and socio-technical production of information through print culture, visual media, language, and institutional design, offering a feminist and decolonial perspective on how knowledge infrastructures shape political life and collective memory.

Cindy Anh Nguyen is Assistant Professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, with appointments in Information Studies, the Digital Humanities Program, and Asian Languages & Cultures. Her research focuses on the politics of knowledge in Southeast Asia across archives, libraries, and media, and engages both scholarly and public audiences.

The program will be followed by a reception in the garden and a book signing. Copies of Bibliotactics will be available for purchase.

As this event takes place during museum open hours, guests may check in at the front of the museum. The garden side gate will open 30 minutes before the start time for ADA access and check-in. Theater doors open 15 minutes before the start time. Seating is first come, first served. An RSVP does not guarantee admission once capacity is reached. No late entry.

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