Associate Professor Department of Communication Trinity University e-mail: hhaines@trinity.edu (210) 999-8140 (office, voice mail) (210) 999-8113 (Department of Communication)

IMPORTANT NOTE:
You are responsible for carefully reading this course syllabus and for complying with its requirements.

Harry Haines and army buddy Bob Haist share views on the war's progress at Cam Ranh Bay, South Viet Nam, 1970.

Guard duty at the Sixth Convalescent Center, Cam Ranh Bay, 1970.

Organization Our class meetings are scheduled on a Monday / Wednesday pattern, allowing us to view a variety of shorter length materials as part of our lectures and discussions. We will also meet each Tuesday evening from 6:30 to 9:00 to view some of the major feature films about the Viet Nam War. Depending on the length of each film, we may break early on some of these Tuesday nights, or we may find it necessary to go a bit long. The instructor assumes that class members have worked out their scheduling problems with their Academic Advisors in preparation for the Fall Semester, 2001, and that no factors will prevent total compliance with required meetings. Please alert the instructor to any extraordinary, unexpected and possibly unsolvable problem you might have in this regard. Back to top

Required Texts Dittmar, Linda & Gene Michaud (Eds.) (1990). From Hanoi to Hollywood: The Vietnam War in American Film. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. Herring, George C. (1996). (3rd ed.) America's Longest War: The United States and Vietnam, 1950-1975. New York: McGraw-Hill. Lembcke, Jerry (1998). The Spitting Image: Myth, Memory, and the Legacy of Vietnam. New York: New York University Press. O'Nan, Stewart (Ed.) (1998). The Vietnam Reader. New York: Anchor Books. New: See also The Vietnam Reader Study Guide. This is a helpful guide to Stewart O'Nan's superb anthology! Bao Ninh (1993). The Sorrow of War: A Novel of North Vietnam. New York: Riverhead Books. Class members will also receive lengthy bibliographies of works in a variety of categories for future reading beyond the limits of the course. There are now about 1,500 book titles on topics related to the war and its aftermath, as well as countless Internet websites. Back to top

Recommended Texts Appy, Christian G. (1993). Working-Class War: American Soldiers & Vietnam. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. [Description and analysis of how the Viet Nam era draft operated to protect white, upper class, college-educated men at the expense of others.] Bates, Milton J. (1996). The Wars We Took to Vietnam: Cultural Conflict and Storytelling. Berekley, CA: University of California Press. [Cultural analysis of how the Viet Nam War exacerbated American domestic conflicts over race, social class, gender, and generational differences.] Beattie, Keith (1998). The Scar that Binds: American Culture and the Vietnam War. New York: New York University Press. [More evidence of how well the Aussies understand our culture; an explanation of how Americans achieved some degree of unity following the Viet Nam War, at the expense of denying the nature of the war. Professor Beattie will join us in November.] Langguth, A.J. (2000). Our Vietnam: The War 1954-1975. New York: Simon & Schuster. [Jack Langguth worked as a New York Times reporter and as the paper's Saigon bureau chief during the critical years of 1965, 1968 and 1970; this superb history draws upon the most recently released documents in Washington and Hanoi and provides a dramatic explanation of how and why decisions were made by the major players.] Nicosia, Gerald (2001). Home to War: A History of the Vietnam Veterans' Movement. New York: Crown Publishers. [The definitive history of the GI anti-war movement and how Americans discarded their war veterans.] Sheehan, Neil (1988). A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam. New York: Random House. [Sheehan was a young reporter who covered the war for United Press International and for the New York Times, and he was instrumental in the publication of the Pentagon Papers. John Paul Vann was a Lieutenant Colonel, ultimately forced to resign his commission, who figured out early on that the U.S. strategy was fatally flawed and that it fail. In the war zone, Vann taught Sheehan and other reporters how to understand the complexities of the war and the political situation in Saigon. Sheehan wrote this biography as a debt of gratitude to Vann, who was killed in action.] Back to top

Recommended Style Guide Lunsford, Andrea & Robert Connors (1999). The Everyday Writer: A Brief Reference. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's. This excellent guide covers the basics for essay writers. It includes a very handy summary of the American Psychological Association's (APA) style guide, and it answers specific questions about how to list references from a variety of sources. Back to top

Course Study Guide Class members will receive Study Guide questions throughout the semester. The Study Guide is intended to help make your reading efficient and rewarding. Many of the midterm and final examination questions will be drawn from the Study Guide. It should also function to help raise discussion issues in our class meetings. Back to top

At the Temple of Literature, imperial capital of Hue, 1988. The giant tablets record the names of top students in national examinations over several centuries.

Among the war dead. These monuments mark the graves of North Vietnamese soldiers. Foreign visitors were discouraged from visiting South Vietnamese military cemeteries in 1988.

Grading The grading policy is structured to generously reward class members who keep up with their reading. The instructor encourages the development of study groups and will happily meet with them when invited to do so. Class members who choose not to make use of the Study Guide questions will find it difficult to understand lectures and discussions and will place themselves at a grave disadvantage when taking the examinations. Students who typically delay their reading and who "cram" before midterm and final examinations should opt for a more responsible approach or consider dropping the course. MIDTERM EXAMINATION: 20% FINAL TAKE-HOME EXAMINATION: 20% VIET NAM WAR PORTFOLIO: 40% PARTICIPATION 20% Definition of Participation: The instructor understands "participation" as a set of functional behaviors reinforced by the First Year Seminar experience at Trinity. These behaviors are observable. They include active and knowledgeable discussion of relevant issues, careful and disciplined reading of the assigned texts (as evidenced by the ability to discuss the texts in class, on written examinations and within the Viet Nam War Portfolio), regular and punctual class attendance, the willingness to challenge assertions and to seek clarification, the demonstration of courtesy to all speakers, and the habit of note-taking during all class meetings, including the film presentations. Additionally, participation is gauged by the number and quality of student-professor interactions outside of the classroom setting. Students who do not demonstrate signs of active engagement with the life of the course should anticipate below average participation grades. Back to top

Examination Format The Midterm and Final Examinations will be comprehensive tests. Each examination will give class members the opportunity to provide evidence of (1) the ability to synthesize the assigned readings, lectures and discussions, (2) the ability to identify specific films and television programs within an historical context and in relation to the theoretical framework introduced in the course, and (3) the ability to make confident and well supported claims about the texts we will investigate. The two examinations will contain brief essay questions, many of them emerging directly from the Study Guide. In some areas of each examination, students will be given a number of optional questions from which to choose. Previous examinations are on library reserve. The Midterm Examination will be conducted in class on October 22. The Take-Home Final Examination will be distributed in class on November 26 and due no later than 9:00 a.m., December 20, at our Final Examination Period. Back to top

The Viet Nam War Portfolio Overview | Detailed Information This is a small group assignment aimed at fostering collegial efforts focused on understanding specific aspects of the war experience and media representations. We will organize the class into groups of three or four by the end of the second week. Please indicate group member preferences on theinormatioformistiute it this coure llaus A detaied exanation of the Viet Nam War Portfolio assignment is attached to this course syllabus. Back to top

The wreckage on display at a Hanoi museum, 1987.

Attendance Policy Class members are expected to attend our meetings on a regular basis. A total of two absences (one week) is permitted, although it will be very difficult to catch-up if you fall behind in this course. Four or more absences will result in an automatic failure. The two absences include "excused" absences. They should be conserved like "sick leave" to be used in the event of family emergencies or illnesses. For those suffering serious illness or family emergency, etc., requiring more than two weeks (four absences), withdrawal from the course will be required. Incompletes will be given only when thoroughly documented criteria are presented consistent with University policy. Members of University team activities who will be absent at scheduled times during the semester should identify those dates immediately and inform the instructor in writing very early in the semester. An attendance sheet will be distributed at each class and lab meeting. Please remember to sign the sheet. It will serve as the official class attendance record. CLASS MEETINGS BEGIN PROMPTLY AT 3:55 p.m Students who are consistently late for class meetings constitute an organizational nuisance and will have their final grades in the course lowered by one full letter grade. Back to top

Scheduled Film Showings (Tuesdays, 6:30-9:00 p.m., RCC 320) We will meet as a group on Tuesday evenings at 6:30 p.m. to view the films listed in the Class Calendar below. These viewings are required, they are not negotiable, and all class members are expected to arrive on time. You will receive detailed instructions on how to critically view the films, and you should regard the viewing time as "work," not as "entertainment." One Tuesday night absence is permissible, but you would do well to attend all showings. The instructor will not make the films available outside of the scheduled showings. Students who miss more than one film showing will have their final grades dropped by one full letter grade and a grade of "F" will be assigned to the participation portion of the final grade. Roll will be taken at these meetings, and students who leave early will be marked absent. The instructor regards group participation as a crucial component of the course experience. Students who are unable or unwilling to attend these Tuesday evening showings should drop the course immediately. Back to top

Unscheduled Quizzes From time to time, unscheduled quizzes may be given in order to assure careful reading and to prepare us for the examinations. The quiz grades will be factored into the participation percentage of the final grade. Back to top

Attendance Sheet Class members are asked to sign the attendance sheet distributed at the beginning of each class meeting and film showing. The signed sheets constitute the official record of attendance. If you forget to sign the attendance sheet, you will be counted absent. Back to top

Special Guest In November, Professor Keith Beattie will join us for a couple of days of discussion and a guest lecture. Professor Beattie, author of The Scar That Binds: American Culture and the Vietnam War, is Director of the Contemporary Studies Program at the University of Queensland, Australia. Back to top

Special Relationship This semester, COMM 3325-1 will interact with PLSI-1, Violent Conflict in World Politics, a course taught by Political Science Professor Mary Ann Tetreault. Back to top

Food Ingestion Class members are privileged to work in a professional environment. Our class meetings will not offer the opportunity for meals. Plan early in the semester to eat and drink before or after our class meetings, not during our class meetings. Violations of this University rule will be reported to the Vice President for Academic Affairs. Back to top

Rules of Conduct Students are expected to know and to comply with the rules regarding plagiarism, etc., published in the Student Handbook. If you have not read this section of the Student Handbook, do so immediately. If you are uncertain of what constitutes plagiarism, ask the instructor for clarification during class meetings or privately. The University's policy regarding plagiarism requires, as a matter of contractual obligation, faculty members to report all suspected infractions, and the instructor will comply with the rules as published in the Handbook. Back to top

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