History 389
History 377.001 The Vietnam War
Dan Hicks [email protected] Office: Robinson B 344 Office Hours: 1700 to 1900 (5:00-7:00pm), M
Course Description: In this course we will explore the Vietnam War in the international context of the Cold War and decolonization, as well as in the context of the national histories of Vietnam and the United States. Along with the causes and course of the war, and the diplomatic failures and successes which instigated, prolonged, and concluded it, we will examine the conflict’s lasting impact on Vietnam and the United States, including the bitter divisions it created in American society, its contested memory there, and its long-term effects on America’s foreign policy and reputation among the international community.
Course Objectives: After taking this course, students should have a better understanding of the origins, progress, and effects of the Vietnam War. They should be able to place the war in the context of both the broader histories of Vietnam and of the United States, as well as in the international contexts of decolonization and the Cold War. They should understand why the war was so divisive in America and how that divisiveness was expressed, and should also understand the divisions and other factors which led to the fall of South Vietnam and the triumph of North Vietnam. Students should understand the broad outlines of how the war was fought as well as some particulars of how it was experienced. They should recognize the lasting legacy of the war, and should be able to interpret and analyze popular analogies to and interpretations of the war from an informed perspective.
Required Readings: George C. Herring, America’s Longest War. Ward Just, Reporting Vietnam. Bernard Edelman, Dear America.
Grading Participation and Attendance
10%
Paper Proposal/Article Review
20%
Due February 24
Primary Source Analysis Paper
20%
Due March 24
Research Paper
25%
Due April 28
Final Exam
25%
Administered May 12 (1930-2220)
Grade Scale A AB+ B BC+ C D F
100-95 94-92 91-87 86-84 83-81 80-78 77-75 74-70 69-0
Participation: Students are expected to make every effort to attend every class and participate actively in classroom discussions. Failure to do so will result in a lowered grade. Attendance will be taken at the beginning of each class. Students are allowed to miss two classes without penalty; after that they will lose one point from the ten-point participation grade for each class missed. Paper Proposal and /Article Review: For this three-to-four-page assignment, students will propose a potential topic for the final paper, provide an annotated bibliography for the final paper, and review one of the scholarly articles listed in the bibliography. The topic proposed should be one that can be comprehensively covered in a ten-to-twelvepage paper. In addition to outlining the proposal topic, the The proposal will outline the proposed topic and also provide an annotated bibliography listing three scholarly secondary sources (books from university presses or articles from scholarly journals) and the body of primary sources on which the final paper will be based (see below for more on the body of primary sources). The final paper will be based primarily on the analysis of primary sources, so the availability of sources which will help to determine potential topics. Along with annotated bibliography, this assignment will include an in-depth review of one of the scholarly articles listed in the bibliography. The article selected for the article review reviewed must come from a scholarly journal; it must be at least fifteen pages in length; and it should have been published within the past twenty years. The review should summarize the argument of the article, identify the body of sources on which its argument is based, and use the article to establish the current state of the field with regard to the topic chosen for the final paper. As such, the article reviewed should be the most recent secondary source listed in the bibliography (books excluded). The assignment paper proposal and article review should be three to four pages in length. Primary Source Analysis: For this three-to-four-page assignment, students will analyze a body of primary sources related to their final paper. The focus of the final paper will be on summarizing the content of the documents and analyzing the assumptions contatined contained within them, both to place the documents in their historical context and to use the documents to understand the historical context more fully. In addition to the primary sources themselves, the paper should draw from the assigned readings as appropriate. In particular, the paper should reflect on how the coverage of the topic in the primary sources being analyzed compares with the coverage in Herring, in the article reviewed for the earlier paper proposal and article review assignment, and in the documents from the course anthologies. The number of sources analyzed will vary depending on the nature of the sources, but the body of sources should be substantial (a dozen short documents, a half dozen medium-sized ones, or a substantial portion of a large reading such as a booklength memoir). The paperThis primary source analysis should be three to four pages in length.
Research Paper: For this assignment, students will write a ten-to-twelve-page paper based on original research into a body of primary sources about some issue related to the Vietnam War. The paper must be first and foremost an analysis of primary sources, so the availability of primary sources will help to determine the topic. The paper should draw from primary sources to develop an analytical interpretation of the chosen topicsome issue related to the Vietnam War; it should also review the scholarly secondary literature to summarize the current state of historical research in the particular topic field with regard to the issue under discussion. Secondary sources should also be used to provide historical context for the analysis of the primary sources. The paper should review at least three scholarly secondary souces sources in its review of the literature. The number of sources depends on the nature of the sources. Final Exam: A final exam will be administered at the end of the course. The exam will likely include a combination of essay questions and short identifications. General Policies Regarding Written Assignments: All assignments should be submitted via email. They are due by 11:59pm on the due date. Written assignments should be double-spaced, with 12-pt Times New Roman font and one-inch margins on all sides. If an assignment calls for a paper of three to four pages in length, then three full pages is the expected minimum for the assignment. If titles and other information are included, they should be included it should be done on a separate title page, not on the first page of the body of the paper. Late Policy: Late assignments will lose five points for each calendar day that passes between when the assignment was initially due and when I receive it. Plagiarism Policy: Plagiarism will not be tolerated. Plagiarism consists of the wholesale copying of another scholar’s work; the extensive mirroring of the structure of another scholar’s work, even with some alterations to the original wording (i.e., rather than use the source to develop a unique argument, the student simply rewrites the source); and the use of information from sources without attribution of the sources. Assignments which show evidence of plagiarism will not be accepted for credit. Repeated offenses may result in disciplinary action. Classroom etiquette: During class discussions, students are expected to treat each other and each others’ opinions with respect. Disagreements are welcome, but arguments should be approached as a means to persuade, not to belittle. Nota Bene: If you are a student with a disability and you need academic accommodations, please see me and contact the Office of Disability Services at 703.993.2474 or ods.gmu.edu. All academic accommodations must be arranged through that office.
Schedule (The topics listed below are provisional and subject to change.) 01/27/14 Introduction
2/03/2014 Colonization and Resistance Required Reading: Augustine Heard, “France and Indo-China,” The Century, Vol. 32, No. 3 (July, 1886), 416-421. Available at http://digital.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/pagevieweridx?c=cent;cc=cent;rgn=full%20text;idno=cent0032-3;didno=cent00323;view=image;seq=426;node=cent0032-3%3A14;page=root;size=100. George Curzon, “Journeys in French Indo-China,” The Geographical Journal , Vol. 2, No. 2 (Aug., 1893) , pp. 97-111. George Curzon, “Journeys in French Indo-China,” The Geographical Journal , Vol. 2, No. 3 (Sep., 1893) , pp. 193-210. “The Agricultural Resources of Indo-China,” Journal of the Royal Society of Arts , Vol. 65, No. 3378 (AUGUST 17, 1917) , pp. 669-670. Thomas Edson Ennis, “The Unrest of Indo-China,” Social Science , Vol. 10, No. 4 (October 1935) , pp. 389-397. Virginia Thompson, “Indo-China—France’s Great Stake in the Far East,” Far Eastern Survey , Vol. 6, No. 2 (Jan. 20, 1937) , pp. 15-22. V. T., “French Complete Labor Code for Indo-China,” Far Eastern Survey , Vol. 6, No. 8 (Apr. 14, 1937) , pp. 90-92. Dorothy Borg, “French Considering Industrialization of Indo-China,” Far Eastern Survey , Vol. 8, No. 4 (Feb. 15, 1939) , pp. 44-46.
Robinson Newcomb, “Indo-China Increasingly Important as Source of Rubber,” Far Eastern Survey , Vol. 8, No. 11 (May 24, 1939) , pp. 129-130. All documents (except Heard) available through JSTOR.
02/10/2014 From World War II to Cold War Required Reading: Etienne Dennery, “A French View of the Situation in the Far East,” International Affairs (Royal Institute of International Affairs 1931-1939) , Vol. 17, No. 4 (Jul. - Aug., 1938) , pp. 528-540. Alexandre Varenne, “Indo-China in the Path of Japanese Expansion,” Foreign Affairs , Vol. 17, No. 1 (Oct., 1938) , pp. 164-171. Virginia Thompson, “Indo-China in Suspended Animation,” Far Eastern Survey , Vol. 9, No. 17 (Aug. 14, 1940) , pp. 195-201. Virginia Thompson, “Imperialist Chickens Come Home to Roost,” Far Eastern Survey , Vol. 10, No. 6 (Apr. 7, 1941) , pp. 71-72. Virginia Thompson, “Japan in Indo-China,” Far Eastern Survey , Vol. 10, No. 23 (Dec. 1, 1941) , pp. 268-275. Joseph Handler, “Indo-China: Eighty Years of French Rule,” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science , Vol. 226, Southeastern Asia and the Philippines (Mar., 1943) , pp. 129-136. Virginia Thompson, “‘Free’ French Indo-China,” Far Eastern Survey , Vol. 13, No. 3 (Feb. 9, 1944) , pp. 23-24. Gaston Rueff, “The Future of French Indo-China,” Foreign Affairs , Vol. 23, No. 1 (Oct., 1944) , pp. 140-146. Jean de la Roche, “Indo-China in the New French Colonial Framework,” Pacific Affairs , Vol. 18, No. 1 (Mar., 1945) , pp. 62-75. Eleanor Lattimore, “Indo-China: French Union or Japanese ‘Independence,’” Far Eastern Survey , Vol. 14, No. 10 (May 23, 1945) , pp. 132-134. Gaston Rueff, “Postwar Problems of French Indo-China: Social and Political Aspects,” Pacific Affairs , Vol. 18, No. 3 (Sep., 1945) , pp. 229-245.
All documents available through JSTOR.
02/17/2014 First Indochina War Required Reading: Herring, chapter 1.
02/24/2014 Ngo and Eisenhower Required Reading: Herring, chapter 2. PAPER PROPOSAL/ARTICLE REVIEW DUE
03/03/2014 JFK and Escalation Required Reading: Herring, chapter 3; Reporting, 1-49.
03/10/14
SPRING BREAK
03/17/14 The Climax of Liberalism Required Reading: Herring, chapter 4; Reporting, 50-105.
03/24/14 Strategy and Tactics
Required Reading: Herring, chapter 5; Reporting, 106-250. PRIMARY SOURCE ANALYSIS DUE
03/31/14 Soixante-Huitards Required Reading: Herring, chapter 6; Reporting, 251-364.
04/07/14 Combat and Homecoming Required Reading: Dear America
04/14/14 Law and Order/Peace with Honor Required Reading: Herring, chapter 7; Reporting, 365-508.
04/21/14 “Peace” Required Reading: Reporting, 509-653.
04/28/14 Malaise Required Reading: Herring, chapter 8; Reporting, 654-758. RESEARCH PAPER DUE
05/05/14 The Vietnam Syndrome
05/12/14 FINAL EXAM (7:30-10:20pm)
IMPORTANT DATES
Last Day to Add: January 29, 2014 Last Day to Drop: February 21, 2014 Selective Withdrawal Period: February 24 - March 28, 2014
Dan Hicks [email protected] Office: Robinson B 344 Office Hours: 1700 to 1900 (5:00-7:00pm), M
Course Description: In this course we will explore the Vietnam War in the international context of the Cold War and decolonization, as well as in the context of the national histories of Vietnam and the United States. Along with the causes and course of the war, and the diplomatic failures and successes which instigated, prolonged, and concluded it, we will examine the conflict’s lasting impact on Vietnam and the United States, including the bitter divisions it created in American society, its contested memory there, and its long-term effects on America’s foreign policy and reputation among the international community.
Course Objectives: After taking this course, students should have a better understanding of the origins, progress, and effects of the Vietnam War. They should be able to place the war in the context of both the broader histories of Vietnam and of the United States, as well as in the international contexts of decolonization and the Cold War. They should understand why the war was so divisive in America and how that divisiveness was expressed, and should also understand the divisions and other factors which led to the fall of South Vietnam and the triumph of North Vietnam. Students should understand the broad outlines of how the war was fought as well as some particulars of how it was experienced. They should recognize the lasting legacy of the war, and should be able to interpret and analyze popular analogies to and interpretations of the war from an informed perspective.
Required Readings: George C. Herring, America’s Longest War. Ward Just, Reporting Vietnam. Bernard Edelman, Dear America.
Grading Participation and Attendance
10%
Paper Proposal/Article Review
20%
Due February 24
Primary Source Analysis Paper
20%
Due March 24
Research Paper
25%
Due April 28
Final Exam
25%
Administered May 12 (1930-2220)
Grade Scale A AB+ B BC+ C D F
100-95 94-92 91-87 86-84 83-81 80-78 77-75 74-70 69-0
Participation: Students are expected to make every effort to attend every class and participate actively in classroom discussions. Failure to do so will result in a lowered grade. Attendance will be taken at the beginning of each class. Students are allowed to miss two classes without penalty; after that they will lose one point from the ten-point participation grade for each class missed. Paper Proposal and /Article Review: For this three-to-four-page assignment, students will propose a potential topic for the final paper, provide an annotated bibliography for the final paper, and review one of the scholarly articles listed in the bibliography. The topic proposed should be one that can be comprehensively covered in a ten-to-twelvepage paper. In addition to outlining the proposal topic, the The proposal will outline the proposed topic and also provide an annotated bibliography listing three scholarly secondary sources (books from university presses or articles from scholarly journals) and the body of primary sources on which the final paper will be based (see below for more on the body of primary sources). The final paper will be based primarily on the analysis of primary sources, so the availability of sources which will help to determine potential topics. Along with annotated bibliography, this assignment will include an in-depth review of one of the scholarly articles listed in the bibliography. The article selected for the article review reviewed must come from a scholarly journal; it must be at least fifteen pages in length; and it should have been published within the past twenty years. The review should summarize the argument of the article, identify the body of sources on which its argument is based, and use the article to establish the current state of the field with regard to the topic chosen for the final paper. As such, the article reviewed should be the most recent secondary source listed in the bibliography (books excluded). The assignment paper proposal and article review should be three to four pages in length. Primary Source Analysis: For this three-to-four-page assignment, students will analyze a body of primary sources related to their final paper. The focus of the final paper will be on summarizing the content of the documents and analyzing the assumptions contatined contained within them, both to place the documents in their historical context and to use the documents to understand the historical context more fully. In addition to the primary sources themselves, the paper should draw from the assigned readings as appropriate. In particular, the paper should reflect on how the coverage of the topic in the primary sources being analyzed compares with the coverage in Herring, in the article reviewed for the earlier paper proposal and article review assignment, and in the documents from the course anthologies. The number of sources analyzed will vary depending on the nature of the sources, but the body of sources should be substantial (a dozen short documents, a half dozen medium-sized ones, or a substantial portion of a large reading such as a booklength memoir). The paperThis primary source analysis should be three to four pages in length.
Research Paper: For this assignment, students will write a ten-to-twelve-page paper based on original research into a body of primary sources about some issue related to the Vietnam War. The paper must be first and foremost an analysis of primary sources, so the availability of primary sources will help to determine the topic. The paper should draw from primary sources to develop an analytical interpretation of the chosen topicsome issue related to the Vietnam War; it should also review the scholarly secondary literature to summarize the current state of historical research in the particular topic field with regard to the issue under discussion. Secondary sources should also be used to provide historical context for the analysis of the primary sources. The paper should review at least three scholarly secondary souces sources in its review of the literature. The number of sources depends on the nature of the sources. Final Exam: A final exam will be administered at the end of the course. The exam will likely include a combination of essay questions and short identifications. General Policies Regarding Written Assignments: All assignments should be submitted via email. They are due by 11:59pm on the due date. Written assignments should be double-spaced, with 12-pt Times New Roman font and one-inch margins on all sides. If an assignment calls for a paper of three to four pages in length, then three full pages is the expected minimum for the assignment. If titles and other information are included, they should be included it should be done on a separate title page, not on the first page of the body of the paper. Late Policy: Late assignments will lose five points for each calendar day that passes between when the assignment was initially due and when I receive it. Plagiarism Policy: Plagiarism will not be tolerated. Plagiarism consists of the wholesale copying of another scholar’s work; the extensive mirroring of the structure of another scholar’s work, even with some alterations to the original wording (i.e., rather than use the source to develop a unique argument, the student simply rewrites the source); and the use of information from sources without attribution of the sources. Assignments which show evidence of plagiarism will not be accepted for credit. Repeated offenses may result in disciplinary action. Classroom etiquette: During class discussions, students are expected to treat each other and each others’ opinions with respect. Disagreements are welcome, but arguments should be approached as a means to persuade, not to belittle. Nota Bene: If you are a student with a disability and you need academic accommodations, please see me and contact the Office of Disability Services at 703.993.2474 or ods.gmu.edu. All academic accommodations must be arranged through that office.
Schedule (The topics listed below are provisional and subject to change.) 01/27/14 Introduction
2/03/2014 Colonization and Resistance Required Reading: Augustine Heard, “France and Indo-China,” The Century, Vol. 32, No. 3 (July, 1886), 416-421. Available at http://digital.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/pagevieweridx?c=cent;cc=cent;rgn=full%20text;idno=cent0032-3;didno=cent00323;view=image;seq=426;node=cent0032-3%3A14;page=root;size=100. George Curzon, “Journeys in French Indo-China,” The Geographical Journal , Vol. 2, No. 2 (Aug., 1893) , pp. 97-111. George Curzon, “Journeys in French Indo-China,” The Geographical Journal , Vol. 2, No. 3 (Sep., 1893) , pp. 193-210. “The Agricultural Resources of Indo-China,” Journal of the Royal Society of Arts , Vol. 65, No. 3378 (AUGUST 17, 1917) , pp. 669-670. Thomas Edson Ennis, “The Unrest of Indo-China,” Social Science , Vol. 10, No. 4 (October 1935) , pp. 389-397. Virginia Thompson, “Indo-China—France’s Great Stake in the Far East,” Far Eastern Survey , Vol. 6, No. 2 (Jan. 20, 1937) , pp. 15-22. V. T., “French Complete Labor Code for Indo-China,” Far Eastern Survey , Vol. 6, No. 8 (Apr. 14, 1937) , pp. 90-92. Dorothy Borg, “French Considering Industrialization of Indo-China,” Far Eastern Survey , Vol. 8, No. 4 (Feb. 15, 1939) , pp. 44-46.
Robinson Newcomb, “Indo-China Increasingly Important as Source of Rubber,” Far Eastern Survey , Vol. 8, No. 11 (May 24, 1939) , pp. 129-130. All documents (except Heard) available through JSTOR.
02/10/2014 From World War II to Cold War Required Reading: Etienne Dennery, “A French View of the Situation in the Far East,” International Affairs (Royal Institute of International Affairs 1931-1939) , Vol. 17, No. 4 (Jul. - Aug., 1938) , pp. 528-540. Alexandre Varenne, “Indo-China in the Path of Japanese Expansion,” Foreign Affairs , Vol. 17, No. 1 (Oct., 1938) , pp. 164-171. Virginia Thompson, “Indo-China in Suspended Animation,” Far Eastern Survey , Vol. 9, No. 17 (Aug. 14, 1940) , pp. 195-201. Virginia Thompson, “Imperialist Chickens Come Home to Roost,” Far Eastern Survey , Vol. 10, No. 6 (Apr. 7, 1941) , pp. 71-72. Virginia Thompson, “Japan in Indo-China,” Far Eastern Survey , Vol. 10, No. 23 (Dec. 1, 1941) , pp. 268-275. Joseph Handler, “Indo-China: Eighty Years of French Rule,” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science , Vol. 226, Southeastern Asia and the Philippines (Mar., 1943) , pp. 129-136. Virginia Thompson, “‘Free’ French Indo-China,” Far Eastern Survey , Vol. 13, No. 3 (Feb. 9, 1944) , pp. 23-24. Gaston Rueff, “The Future of French Indo-China,” Foreign Affairs , Vol. 23, No. 1 (Oct., 1944) , pp. 140-146. Jean de la Roche, “Indo-China in the New French Colonial Framework,” Pacific Affairs , Vol. 18, No. 1 (Mar., 1945) , pp. 62-75. Eleanor Lattimore, “Indo-China: French Union or Japanese ‘Independence,’” Far Eastern Survey , Vol. 14, No. 10 (May 23, 1945) , pp. 132-134. Gaston Rueff, “Postwar Problems of French Indo-China: Social and Political Aspects,” Pacific Affairs , Vol. 18, No. 3 (Sep., 1945) , pp. 229-245.
All documents available through JSTOR.
02/17/2014 First Indochina War Required Reading: Herring, chapter 1.
02/24/2014 Ngo and Eisenhower Required Reading: Herring, chapter 2. PAPER PROPOSAL/ARTICLE REVIEW DUE
03/03/2014 JFK and Escalation Required Reading: Herring, chapter 3; Reporting, 1-49.
03/10/14
SPRING BREAK
03/17/14 The Climax of Liberalism Required Reading: Herring, chapter 4; Reporting, 50-105.
03/24/14 Strategy and Tactics
Required Reading: Herring, chapter 5; Reporting, 106-250. PRIMARY SOURCE ANALYSIS DUE
03/31/14 Soixante-Huitards Required Reading: Herring, chapter 6; Reporting, 251-364.
04/07/14 Combat and Homecoming Required Reading: Dear America
04/14/14 Law and Order/Peace with Honor Required Reading: Herring, chapter 7; Reporting, 365-508.
04/21/14 “Peace” Required Reading: Reporting, 509-653.
04/28/14 Malaise Required Reading: Herring, chapter 8; Reporting, 654-758. RESEARCH PAPER DUE
05/05/14 The Vietnam Syndrome
05/12/14 FINAL EXAM (7:30-10:20pm)
IMPORTANT DATES
Last Day to Add: January 29, 2014 Last Day to Drop: February 21, 2014 Selective Withdrawal Period: February 24 - March 28, 2014
