CEAM: a media literacy cooperation project in Vietnam

01.12.2025
As part of the Cooperation for Media Education project, supported by ARES, IHECS is committing to a two-year partnership with its Vietnamese partners to develop an innovative and critical approach to media education.

The Master's degree in Media Education (EAM) now includes a new international cooperation project entitled "CEAM - Cooperation for Media Education in Vietnam". Selected as part of a highly competitive call for proposals by ARES, which selects around twenty projects each year from nearly a hundred applications, CEAM's objective is to support the integration and development of media education within Vietnamese universities, particularly at the University of Hanoi.

This project is coordinated by Emmanuel Wathelet, president of the EAM Master's programme, in close collaboration with the French department of the University of Hanoi (HANU), headed by Yen-Nhi Nguyen, deputy director of the French department and head of the "Business Communication" section.
This partnership has been built up gradually and has its origins in Yen-Nhi's stay at IHECS from September to December 2022 as part of the ARES mobility programme. This international mobility enables teachers from partner institutions to strengthen their skills, observe new teaching practices and consolidate relations between institutions. Before her arrival, she had already expressed her desire to develop courses at HANU that would enable students to "access, analyse and understand all forms of media". Her time in Brussels, enriched by the numerous courses she took at EAM and her exchanges with Emmanuel Wathelet, gave rise to the idea of a module dedicated to media education at the Vietnamese university.

In Vietnam, although there is a clear political will to provide digital education, the approach often remains focused on technical aspects. Media literacy, as promoted by IHECS, brings a new dimension to this: the link between technological and social issues, critical thinking and understanding the role of the media in society. It is precisely this broadening of the scope of media literacy that the CEAM project seeks to encourage.

To this end, a series of activities are planned:

  • A seminar for the exchange of practices will be held in April in Hanoi, bringing together researchers, teachers, politicians, media representatives and associations to share perspectives between Europe and Vietnam. The programme will combine scientific communications, round tables and presentations of educational tools.
  • The publication of a book, based on the most significant contributions to the symposium, with Baptiste Buidin (Protagoras) participating in the steering committee.
  • The co-publication of articles by Emmanuel Wathelet and Yen-Nhi Nguyen to document the progress, obstacles and dynamics of implementing media education in Vietnam.
  • A co-modal teaching unit, opening soon, dedicated to "opening up critical thinking" and delivered jointly by IHECS and Hanoi University.

Two Master's 2 students in EAM will also have the opportunity to do their internship in Hanoi, within partner organisations, in order to contribute to the development of media education in the field.

This project involves several IHECS departments, from the EAM section to the international department, including the techno-pedagogical unit (La Capt), and fully illustrates the collaborative nature of our institution. Beyond its educational benefits, the CEAM project helps to strengthen the positioning of the EAM Master's programme and increase the institution's international influence in the field of media education.