Course Description
The political, military, and diplomatic aspects of the Vietnam War, from the French involvement in the 1940s and 1950s to the United States departure in 1973 and the fall of Saigon in 1975.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Graduate students will be required to write additional papers.
Athena Title
THE VIETNAM WAR
Semester Course Offered
Not offered on a regular basis.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
This course is designed to give students an appreciation of political, diplomatic, and military dimensions of the Vietnam War. Students should come away from this course with a greater understanding of the events which have shaped a generation of Americans and continue to influence the foreign policy of the United States. A principal objective of the course is to teach students to think critically for themselves about the relationships between the past and the present, to learn to ask questions of the past that enable them to understand the present and mold the future, and to become attuned to both the limitations and possibilities of change. The course seeks to acquaint students with the ways in which past societies and peoples have defined the relationships between community and individual needs and goals, and between ethical norms and decision-making. In general students will be expected to: 1. read a wide range of primary and secondary sources critically. 2. polish skills in critical thinking, including the ability to recognize the difference between opinion and evidence, and the ability to evaluate--and support or refute--arguments effectively. 3. write stylistically appropriate and mature papers and essays using processes that include discovering ideas and evidence, organizing that material, and revising, editing, and polishing the finished papers.
Topical Outline
-France in Southeast Asia, 1946-1954 -The United States after the Geneva Accords of 1954 -Eisenhower and Vietnam -Kennedy and Vietnam -Johnson and Vietnam -Nixon and Vietnam -Vietnam: Victory in Defeat?
Syllabus