Marilyn Blatt Young, The Vietnam Wars: 1945-1975. Harper Perennial, 1991.

Franklin, H.B., M.I.A., or Mythmaking in America. Rutgers Univ. Press, 1993.

Young's book is a general history of the period. It's well documented and readable. You should read it immediately, and not wait for specific assignments from me.

Franklin's 'M.I.A.' book studies the "POW/MIA" story: where it came from; how it grew; and why.

Most of the readings for this course are in the form of xeroxed handouts. These are articles from journals and newspapers and chapters of books. This is the only way to get a wide range of viewpoints and to keep current. No anthology can do this.

During the second week of class, I will collect $8.00 from each student to cover the cost of xeroxing this material. Please bring exact change.

My goal, as the instructor, is to get you to think critically about the Vietnam War. This is not as easy as it sounds, since there is an "official American version" of the war that all of us are exposed to over many years. This version, in its several varieties, has an enormous influence on thinking about the Vietnam War. In fact, it acts to prevent thinking about it, in many ways. This is the major obstacle confronting us, and any American who wants to learn about the Vietnam War.

I will give you primary and, mainly, secondary material -- articles and chapters from books. I have chosen mainly "scholarly" material (called "Secondary source material" by those concerned with method). I want to focus our attention on such questions as:

• What are the "facts" of the war? How is a "fact" constructed?
• What interpretive frameworks are available for us to make sense of the"facts"? Which frameworks "fit the facts" better? How can we decidethis question?
• What method can we choose to learn about the war (or any other event)something that is really new, instead of simply "filling in thedetails" on an interpretation of the war that we have already heard?
• How can we make allowances for our own preconceived ideas and biases,so that they will not prevent us from seeing this event from differentviewpoints? That is, how can we avoid being blinded by "what we aresupposed to think"?
• What is the relationship between the way we view the Vietnam War, andthe way we view the rest of the world? That is, what is therelationship between historical interpretation of this event, and ourunderstanding of the world and our place in it?
• How did the different participants in the war view it? Can we assesswhich of these participants viewed it more accurately?
• Why should we study the Vietnam War anyway?
• Is there one interpretive framework that is more truthful than others?If so, how can we discover it? What are our criteria for "truth"?

These questions, and other ones, are not easy to resolve, and are very troubling in their implications. They, not the "facts" of the war themselves, important as they may be, are the real focus of the course.

This course is organized around group discussions and group projects, of more or less equal size.

This writing will be shared through the use of electronic mail, or "e-mail".   Every student must have an account. If you do not, you must make arrangements to get one immediately, at any Computer Lab on campus. I suggest you get both:

You can do your writing directly on your email. Or, you can do your writing using any Word Processing software that runs on either an IBM-PC compatible computer or an Apple Macintosh computer. Write, edit, rewrite, spell-check your writing, and then "copy-and-paste" it into the message area of an email message, and send it to me.

You cannot use a typewriter, or a "dedicated" Word Processing machine (such as a Bro ther), or hand-write, your writing.

I will also set up a "page" on the WorldWide Web (WWW) for this course. You should look at it as soon as you can. Here is the `address' (called URL):

We'll discuss more about this subject very soon.

A typical class may begin with small-group discussions on something we have all read, usually prompted by questions you've written about and exchanged on email. Often we then have time to go into large-group discussions. Occasionally we'll have a guest speaker or a film (or part of a film),again to stimulate thinking, discussion, writing, further reading, and clarifying of issues.

During the second week of class, I will distribute a schedule, covering the whole semester, showing what subject matter we will be covering and when.

The schedule will also be available from the Home Page.

It is your responsibility to have the material read and thoroughly understood by the date we will begin discussing it in class. I will require written reactions. This guarantees that the work is read on time.

If everyone has read the work on time, group and class discussions become meaningful. Any one group member who fails to read the material before class sabotages group discussion and projects.

Attendance will be taken each day. Three unexcused absences will lower the final grade by one grade (e.g. "A" becomes "A-"); five unexcused absences lowers it by one letter (e.g. "A" becomes "B").

If you cannot attend class for whatever reason, I expect you to let me know by email; by phone; or in person before class. If this is impossible, leave a message the same day as the class. If you fail, or forget, to do this, your absence will be "unexc used."

You should email me at FURRG (on our local ALPHA system) or furrg@alpha.montclair.edu (from any Internet Address).

If this is impossible, leave a phone message at 655-7305, on the answering machine.

• SPELL YOUR NAME.
• TELL ME YOU ARE CALLING FOR WORLD LITERATURE, and the DATE you arecalling for.

If you are late for class -- after I have taken attendance - - I will count it as an "unexcused" absence unless you remember to tell me, at the end of that same class, that you came late. If you forget to do this, your recorded absence will remain. I do this because lateness disrupts the class and group discussions. Please do not be consistently late.

I do not want to be punitive. I do want to guarantee that we can begin class every day with every body in every group present, so that no group has to 'wait' for its members to show up, and everybody has done the reading. Just like failure to complete the reading, regular lateness on the part of any student sabotages the ability of that student's whole group to have a positive learning experience.

There will be an optional mid-term exam, and an optional final due at the place and time listed in the Exam Schedule in your Course Schedule Booklet for this semester. These will be take-home exams.

Your final grade will be calculated from:

• your writing assignments;
• class participation in discussions and group;
• exam grades (if you choose them);
• less penalty for unexcused absences or excessive lateness, if any.

You can email me anytime! I check my email at least once a day, often more, so I can get right back to you. My email address (on Alpha): FURRG. On the Internet: furrg@alpha.montclair.edu.

But you will also want to see me personally. My office hours are in DI-325 (Dickson Hall), TF 10:55-12:15.

My office phone number is (201)655-7305.