Vietnam: War and Society

English 495 EB / History 400.N

Richard D. Erlich &
Allan M. Winkler

Spring Term 2003

 

Richard D. Erlich Allan M. Winkler

Bachelor 373
Office Hours:
TR 3:00 - 3:45 am
& by appointment

Upham 244
Office Hours:
M 11:00 - 11:45 am
W 1:00 - 2:00 pm & by appointment

Phone: 529-7189 or 523-5265 Phone: 529-5132 or 523-2993
erlichrd@muohio.edu winkleam@muohio.edu

Texts

History
George Herring, America's Longest War
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages; ISBN: 0070283931; 3rd ed. Francis Fitzgerald, Fire in the Lake
Publisher: Back Bay Books; ISBN: 0316159190; 1st Back b edition (July 2002)
 
Biography
William J. Duiker, Ho Chi Minh: A Life
Publisher: Hyperion; ISBN: 078688701X; 1 Pbk Ed edition (November 2001)

Literature
(1) Graham Greene, The Quiet American
Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper); ISBN: 0140185003; Reissue edition (November 1991)
(2) Tim O'Brien, The Things They Carried
Publisher: Broadway Books; ISBN: 0767902890; Reprint edition (April 1999)
(3) Bao Ninh, The Sorrow of War
Publisher: Riverhead Books; ISBN: 1573225436; Reprint edition (April 1996)
(4) Ron Kovic, Born on the Fourth of July
Publisher: Pocket Books; ISBN: 067173914X; Reissue edition (November 1996)
(5) David Rabe: The Vietnam Plays: The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel; Sticks and Bones. Publisher: Grove Press; ISBN: 0802133134; (June 1993)

Course Packet: Produced by Oxford Copy Shop; available under course name and instructors at Dubois Book Store.

Course ListServ

Eng495EB@ListServ.MUOhio.edu

Course Work/Grading/Policy Statement

Your grade will based on both the written work in the course and your participation, both in class and on the trip to Vietnam.

Paper: A 14-16 page original essay (or negotiated equivalent) that may be a publishable work of scholarship and/or journalism but must reflect course work, include some outside research, and assess in some way issues raised on our trip to Vietnam. We will be somewhat flexible on exact page length, but we are quite serious on insisting on the relatively short form of essay and want no more than 16 pages in a standard scholarly or journalistic format, including a Works Cited-double-spaced, and in a readable font and size.
Students will present drafts to the class, followed by discussion [see Weeks 11-14 below].)
Audience: Both instructors will grade each paper, so you have an educated lay audience (Erlich is not a historian; Winkler is not a literary critic.)
Due in class, last day of class, unless otherwise arranged, in writing.

Participation: Your participation in the course is both valuable and necessary. In case of serious illness or other good cause we will be understanding, but attendance is mandatory; there are no allowed cuts. In addition, your active participation in all phases of the course is both expected and required.

Films

Thursdays, 7 p.m., Weeks 2-8. Copies of films are in the Instructional Materials Center, 3rd floor, King Library (529-2117).

Schedule

Week 01. 6-10 January
Monday: Introduction
(1) "Logistics": Handouts, basic Q&A.
(2) Introductions: instructors and class.
(3) Winkler's and Erlich's brief ( 10 min. apiece) remarks, Winkler on historical overview and different methods of reading; Erlich on the issues Tim O'Brien raises in "How to Tell a True War Story."
 
Week 02. 13-17 January
Monday: Herring, Longest War ch. 1: "[…] US, France, and the First Indochinese War, 1950-1954" (2-45); Fitzgerald, Fire in the Lake, I.1-2, (3-71). Get volunteers to begin discussion next week (for about five minutes) of this week's film.
Thursday: Film 1: INDOCHINE in 012 Harrison Hall, 156 minutes.

Week 03. 20-24 January
Monday: NO CLASS, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
MAKE-UP CLASS (day and details to be arranged). Discussion of INDOCHINE, introduced by volunteer(s). Graham Greene, The Quiet American, Herring, Longest War chs. 2-3 (46-119 [1954-1963]); Fitzgerald, Fire 1.3 (72-137). Get volunteers to begin discussion next week (for about five minutes) of this week's film.
Thursday: Film 2: GO TELL THE SPARTANS in 012 Harrison Hall, 114 min.

Week 04. 27-31 January
Monday: Discussion of GO TELL THE SPARTANS; Herring, Longest War, chs. 4-6 (120-202 [1963-1968]); Fitzgerald, Fire I.4, "The National Liberation Front" (138-230); Bao Ninh, The Sorrow of War. Possible song: Bob Dylan's "With God on Our Side." Get volunteers to begin discussion next week (for about five minutes) of this week's film.
Thursday: Film 3: THE GREEN BERETS in 012 Harrison Hall, 135 minutes.

Week 05. 3-7 February
Monday: Discussion of THE GREEN BERETS (songs: Barry Sadler's "The Green Berets" and Tom Lehrer's "Send the Marines"); Herring, Longest War chs. 7-8 (242-321); Fitzgerald, Fire II.5-11 (231-338 [through 1967]); Michael Herr, Dispatches selection: "Breathing In" (Packet 1-36). Get volunteers to begin discussion next week (for about five minutes) of this week's film.
Thursday: Film 4: HEARTS AND MINDS in 012 Harrison Hall, 112 minutes.
Week 06. 10-14 February
Monday: Discussion of HEARTS AND MINDS; Fitzgerald, Fire II.12-15 (339-402 [Through Tet 1968]); Tim O'Brien, The Things They Carried, selections ("The Things They Carried" [1-26], "Rainy River" 41-64], "How to Tell a True War Story" [73-92], "The Man I Killed," "Ambush," "Style," "Speaking of Courage," "Notes," "In the Field," "Good Form" [137-204]); selections in Packet from Susan O'Neill's Don't Mean Nothing (37-58). Get volunteers to begin discussion next week (for about five minutes) of this week's film; initial scheduling of student reports.
Thursday: Film 5: HEAVEN AND EARTH in 012 Harrison Hall, 142 minutes.

Week 07. 17-21 February
Monday: NO CLASS, Presidents'. Day. TUESDAY, 18 February = Monday (exchange day): Discussion of HEAVEN AND EARTH; Fitzgerald Fire, "Nixon's War," "Fire in the Lake" (II.16-17) and "Afterword" (403-53). Ron Kovic, Born on the Fourth of July, David Rabe, Sticks and Bones, Get volunteers to begin discussion next week (for about five minutes) of this week's film.
Thursday: Film 6: THE DEER HUNTER IN 012 Harrison Hall, 183 minutes.

Week 08. 24-28 February
Monday: Discussion of THE DEER HUNTER, Kovic, Born on the Fourth of July, and Rabe, Sticks and Bones; Poetry/Song lyrics in Packet (59-92). Catch up. Finalize scheduling of student reports. Get volunteers to begin discussion next week (for about five minutes) of this week's film.
Thursday: Film 7: FULL METAL JACKET in 012 Harrison Hall, 117 minutes.

Week 09. 3 & 4 March
Monday: Discussion of FULL METAL JACKET; William J. Duiker, Ho Chi Minh: A Life; Gary Trudeau, Vietnam sequence from The Doonesbury Chronicles; continue Poetry/Song lyrics, films discussion. Begin final cycle of discussion on issue of - not just the story - "How to Tell a True War Story."

SPRING BREAK: 6 through 16 March-Class Trip to Vietnam

Week 10. 17-21 March: NO CLASS.

Week 11. 24-28 March: 4 STUDENT REPORTS

Week 12. 31 March-4 April: 4 STUDENT REPORTS

Week 13. 7-11 April: 4 STUDENT REPORTS

Week 14. 14-18 April: 3 STUDENT REPORTS

Week 15. 21-25 April: Final Papers Due, Course/Professor Evaluation /Closing Discussion.

Last updated: May 12, 2003