I expect all students to attend and participate in all discussion sections. More than three absences during the course of the semester, for any reason, will result in a failing grade. Moreover, the completion of all written assignments is necessary for a passing grade. No "incompletes" will be given for this class. Please remember to plan ahead! I will also require that all students establish e-mail accounts with Internet access. This course will occasionally involve interaction between the instructor and students outside of the lecture period. Please set up these accounts as soon as possible. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Annotated bibliography (4-5 pages) 20%
Class presentation 10%
Historiographical essay (8-10 pages) 40%
Class participation 30%
Historiographical essay (15-20 pages) 50%
Class presentation 20%
Class participation 30%
All undergraduate students will produce short annotated bibliographies as their first written assignments. All graduate students will supply annotated bibliographies with their final historiographical essays. An annotated bibliography is a list of books, articles, and documents, in which each entry is followed by a brief description of the source itself. These descriptions, or annotations, are provided to advise the reader on the accuracy and usefulness of the materials you have cited in your bibliography. For a better sense of what it entails to create an annotated bibliography, I urge everyone to visit the Cornell University Library's web page “How to Prepare an Annotated Bibliography” at http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/research/skill28.htm This page contains a very good overview of the process
This class is served by a companion Blackboard site, through which you may access all the on-line e-reserves. I also have created a web site for this classroom, which I will continue to expand as the quarter progresses. Here students can access course information, such as scheduled events (i.e. the syllabus you now hold in your hand), as well as terms mentioned in lecture. I will also list links to web sites of interest to our class. Please refer to the class site periodically for such materials. I urge everyone to visit the Jim Kapoun’s web page on the Cornell Library site “Five Criteria for Evaluating Web Pages”(http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/webcrit.html) before “surfing” through these on-line materials. Moreover, I December include additional materials on the library's Electronic Reserve list. Please refer to the class Web site periodically for such materials
Class presentations
All students will be required to present to the class a short summary and salient points from their final essays. We will discuss the nature of these presentations later on in the course.
An historiographical essay is a critical overview of a variety of historical interpretations of an oftentimes narrowly focused topic. Such essays can take different forms, and we will discuss these forms during this course. As an example, I will place one of my own essays from graduate student days on reserve at the library. Please remember that the quality of your writing, particularly the clarity and persuasiveness of your argument, will factor into the final grading. Late papers will be penalized half a letter grade for each day beyond the original due date.
Discussion and the exchange of ideas are very important components of this course. Everyone will be required to participate, and you should feel free to ask questions in every class. Each student will come to class having read the texts and prepared to discuss them. To facilitate discussion I will ask for volunteers to prepare short summaries (1-2 paragraphs) and outlines (no more than 2 pages) of chapters to stimulate class discussion. These outlines will be posted to the course Blackboard site. I will also not hesitate to call on all students to participate. However, you should feel free to speak with me before class, if you find it difficult to speak in a public setting. In that case, you may submit your questions before each class in writing.
Tran, Nhung Tuyet, and Anthony Reid. Viet Nam: Borderless Histories. New perspectives in Southeast Asian studies. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2006. ISBN: 0299217701.
Young, Marilyn. The Vietnam Wars, 1945-1990. New York: HarperCollins, 1991. ISBN-13: 978-0060921071.
Lawrence, Mark Atwood, and Fredrik Logevall. The First Vietnam War: Colonial Conflict and Cold War Crisis. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 2007. ISBN: 0674023714.
Duiker, William J. Ho Chi Minh: A Life. New York: Hyperion, 2001. New Ed edition. ISBN-13: 978-0786887019.
Randolph, Stephen P. Powerful and Brutal Weapons: Nixon, Kissinger, and the Easter Offensive. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 2007. ISBN: 0674024915.
Anderson, David L., and John Ernst. The War That Never Ends New Perspectives on the Vietnam War. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 2007. ISBN: 9780813124735.
All other materials for this course will be available on electronic reserve at the course Blackboard site.