Yeshiva University
Stern College for Women
Professor Ellen Schrecker
Spring Semester, 2004
Section K -- Tuesday/Thursday 10:30-11:45

HISTORY 2540 -- The United States and Vietnam

SYLLABUS

Office Hours:

215 Lexington, Room 225, (917) 326-4857, Tue/Thur. 12-12:45 or by appointment
Home phone (212) 316-4072, e-mail: schreckr@ymail.yu.edu

Course Description:

This course will look at the relationship between the United States and Vietnam from both the American and the Vietnamese perspective. Though it will focus mainly on the war during the 1960s and 1970s, it will also look at some of the broader political, as well as military, issues involved and will pay attention to the historical context within which that conflict evolved. Among the topics we will study will be: traditional Vietnamese society, the French conquest of Vietnam, Vietnamese nationalism and communism, the First Indochina War, American involvement in Vietnam, the escalation of the war, U.S. strategy and tactics, the anti-war movement, the experience of combat, Tet, Nixon, and Kissinger, victory and defeat, Cambodia, the legacy of Vietnam.

Required Texts (available in the bookstore)

Marvin Gettleman, Jane Franklin, Marilyn Young, and Bruce Franklin, ­Vietnam and America

Marilyn Young, The Vietnam Wars

Christopher Appy, Working Class War

Bao Ninh, The Sorrow of War

Xeroxed selections will be distributed from time to time and additional readings may be added.

Course Requirements

It is important to attend class regularly, participate in the discussions, and keep up with the readings. Students who have more than three unexcused absences will have their final grades reduced by one-third of a grade (e.g. from a B to a B-.) There will be three short written assignments, a midterm, and a final. Students who receive an A- or higher on the first two written assignments have the option of replacing the third paper and the midterm with a 12-15-page research paper.

Grades will be apportioned in accordance with the following :
 

NOTICE ON PLAGIARISM:

            Plagiarism is the cardinal sin of academic life. It will not be tolerated in this class. It is expected that all the work you submit will be your own. Thanks to the internet, it has become easy for an instructor to detect plagiarism and students who hand in plagiarized papers will get an "F" on that assignment and may get an "F" in the course. In addition, students who plagiarize risk disciplinary action.

CLASS SCHEDULE

Please complete the readings before the class at which they are assigned. Bring Major Problems to class.

          Students may not get up and go out of the room during class. Any student who does so will not be allowed back in class.

          Please complete the readings before the class to which they are assigned.

1. Jan. 20: Introduction: Traditional Vietnam

Part I: THE STRUGGLE AGAINST THE FRENCH

2. Jan. 22: The French Conquest and the Vietnamese Response

            Reading: Vietnam and America, 3-28 (hereafter V and A)

3. Jan. 27: Vietnamese Nationalism and the Rise of Ho Chi Minh

4. Jan. 29: World War II and Independence

            Reading: Young, ch. 1

            V and A, 31-48

5. Feb. 3: The War Against the French

            Reading: Young, ch. 2

            V and A, 49-62

Part II: THE UNITED STATES INTERVENES

6. Feb. 5: Geneva and After: The US Replaces France

Reading: Young, ch. 3

V and A, 65-129

First Written Assignment Due               

7. Feb. 10: The Viet Cong: Insurgency and Counterinsurgency

Reading: Young, ch. 4

V and A, 165-201

8. Feb. 12: The Fall of Diem

            Reading:  Young, ch. 5

            V and A, 205-236

9. Feb. 17: After Diem and Toward Escalation

            Reading: Young, ch. 6

            V and A, 239-55

10. Feb. 19: America Escalates

            Reading: Young, ch. 7-8

            V and A, 279-91

Part III: THE UNITED STATES AT WAR

11. Feb. 24: American Strategy

            Reading: Young, ch. 9

            Second Written Assignment Due

12. Feb. 26: The American Military

            Reading: Appy, ch. 1-3

            Patriots, 3-11, 79-98, 128-42, 156-61, 200-212, 217-20.

13. Mar. 2: The Experience of Combat

            Reading: Appy, ch. 4-5

            Patriots,

14. Mar. 9: The Experience of Combat

            Reading: V and A, 410-424

            Appy, ch. 6-7

            Patriots,

15. Mar. 11: Guest Lecturer

            Appy, ch. 8

            Patriots,

            Research Paper Proposal and Bibliography Due.

16. Mar. 16: South Vietnam at War

            Reading: V and A, 463-70

17. Mar. 18: Midterm

18. Mar. 23: Tet

            Reading: Young, ch. 11

            V and A, 339-59, 378-410

19. Mar. 25:  Opposition to the War                         

            Reading: Young, ch. 10

            V and A, 295-320

            Appy, ch. 9

20. Mar. 30:  North Vietnam at War

            Reading: Bao Ninh, begin                                                        

IV. WINDING DOWN: NIXON’S WAR AND PEACE

21 Apr. 1: The US Military After Tet

            Reading: V and A, 321-35

 Passover Recess

22. Apr. 15: Nixon’s War

            Reading: Young, ch. 12

            V and A, 427-455

23. Apr. 20: Nixon’s Peace

Reading: Young, ch. 13

V and A, 471-95

First Draft Research Paper Due.

24. Apr. 22: The Last Campaign

            Reading: Young, ch. 14

            V and A, 495-500

25:  Apr. 27: The Aftermath in Southeast Asia

            Reading: Bao Ninh, finish

26. Apr. 29: The Aftermath in the US

            Reading: V and A, 500-522

            Third Written Assignment Due.

            Research Paper Due.

Reading Period

Final Exam

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