Undergraduate Course: The United States in Vietnam: History and Consequences (HIST10308)
Course Outline
| School | School of History, Classics and Archaeology |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 40 |
ECTS Credits | 20 |
| Summary | This course analyses US involvement in Vietnam from the early stages after World War II to the withdrawal of American forces in 1973. In addition to elucidating US decision-making, the perceptions and motives that led the United States into the 'quagmire' and the key events of the conflict, the course focuses on the impact of this crucial period on US society, politics, and culture - during the conflict and up to the present day. |
| Course description |
The Vietnam War remains the most traumatic foreign policy event in the recent American memory. This course spans the entirety of US involvement in the fateful conflict, from the aftermath of the Second World War to the withdrawal of US troops in 1973, and it also deals with the long-term consequences of the conflict. Throughout the course, we will focus on the nature of the conflict, trying to understand how the Cold War conflict and the forces of decolonization intersected, the reasons for American involvement and decision-making, the contemporary impact of the war on the home front (on politics, society and culture), as well as the long-term repercussions relating to historical memory, historiography, politics and culture. In order to better understand the US role in the conflict, we focus heavily on the analysis of a diverse range of primary sources, including novels and film.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | A pass in 40 credits of third level historical courses or equivalent.
Before enrolling students on this course, Personal Tutors are asked to contact the History Honours Admission Secretary to ensure that a place is available (Tel: 503780). |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2017/18, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 30 |
| Course Start |
Full Year |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
400
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 44,
Summative Assessment Hours 4,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 8,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
344 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
50 %,
Coursework
35 %,
Practical Exam
15 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
- Two 3,000 word essays
- Two two-hour exams
- Non-written skills (classroom participation and oral presentations)
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| Feedback |
Students will receive written feedback on their coursework, and will have the opportunity to discuss that feedback further with the Course Organiser during their published office hours or by appointment. |
| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours & Minutes |
|
| Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May) | Paper 1 | 2:00 | | | Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May) | Paper 2 | 2:00 | |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate, by way of coursework, examination, classroom participation and oral presentation, as required, command of the body of knowledge in relation to US involvement in the Vietnam War;
- Demonstrate, by way of coursework, examination, classroom participation and oral presentation, as required, an ability to read, analyse and reflect critically upon relevant scholarship;
- Demonstrate, by way of coursework, examination, classroom participation and oral presentation, as required, an ability to understand, evaluate and utilise a variety of primary source material;
- Demonstrate, by way of coursework, examination, classroom participation and oral presentation, as required, the ability to develop and sustain scholarly arguments in oral and written form, by formulating appropriate questions and utilising relevant evidence;
- Demonstrate independence of mind and initiative; intellectual integrity and maturity; an ability to evaluate the work of others, including peers.
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Reading List
Anderson, David L., ed., The Columbia History of the Vietnam War (New York: Columbia University Press, 2011)
Bradley, Mark Philip, Imagining Vietnam and America: The Making of Postcolonial Vietnam, 1919-1950 (Chapel Hill, N.C. and London: University of North Carolina Press, 2000).
Bradley, Mark Philip, and Marilyn B. Young, eds., Making Sense of the Vietnam Wars: Local, National, and Transnational Perspectives (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008).
Gardner, Lloyd, Pay any Price: Lyndon Johnson and the Wars for Vietnam (Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 1995).
Greene, Graham, The Quiet American (1955; rpt. London: Vintage, 2005)
Gustainis, J. Justin, American Rhetoric and the Vietnam War (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1993).
Herring, George C., America¿s Longest War: The United States and Vietnam, 1950-75, 4th edition (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2001)
Johns, Andrew, Vietnam¿s Second Front: Domestic Politics, the Republican Party, and the War (Lexington : University Press of Kentucky, 2010)
Lederer, William, and Eugene Burdick, The Ugly American (1958; rpt. New York: W.W. Norton, 1999).
Levy, David, The Debate over Vietnam (2nd edition; Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1995).
Prados, John. Vietnam: The History of an Unwinnable War, 1945-1975 (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2009).
Wells, Tom, The War Within: America¿s Battle over Vietnam (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994).
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | US in Vietnam |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Fabian Hilfrich
Tel: (0131 6)51 3236
Email: |
Course secretary | Miss Alexandra Adam
Tel: (0131 6)50 3767
Email: |
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