Schedule & Readings

Introduction

June 12, 12:30-2:30pm, E255

Readings: Selected reviews from Diplomatic History vol. 42, no. 3, June 2018

  • Judy Wu, “What Makes a Good War Story? Absences of Empire, Race, and Gender in The Vietnam War,” pp. 416-422.
  • Robert Buzzanco, “Don Draper Does Vietnam (a.k.a., Ken Burns Teaches the War in 10 Easy Lessons,” pp. 380-4.
  • Kara Dixon Vuic, “Women and the Air-Conditioned Soldiers,” pp. 385-9.
  • Edwin A. Martini, “The Placebo Effect: Reflections on Ken Burns’s and Lynn Novic’s The Vietnam War,” pp. 401-5.
  • Nu-Anh Tran, “Add Vietnamese People and Stir?: A Reflection on Burns’s and Novick’s The Vietnam War and A Call for New Interpretations,” pp. 406-410.

Optional: watch Vietnam talk with Burns & Novick


Fall 2018

October 2 3:30-5:30pm, E255

Session leaders: Dave Hill and Neetu Kaushik

Readings:


October 23 3:30-5:30pm, E242, visiting speaker, Rebecca Schneider


November 13 3:30-5:30pm, E255: “War, Advertising, and Mediated Memory”

Session leader: Will Fulton

Readings:


December 4 3:30-5:30pm, E255: “Democratic Vistas: Ethics and Problematics of War Photography”

  • Session leaders: Christopher Schmidt and Evelyn Burg

Readings:

Read one or both of the following:


Mid-year Institute

Fri Feb 8 10-2pm, E500: “What the Journey Does; What Stories Can and Cannot Do”

  • Session leaders: Robin Kietlinski, Laura Tanenbaum, and Phyllis van Slyck

Readings:
All from The Displaced by Viet Thanh Nguyen 

  • Viet Thanh Nguyen, “Introduction” (pages 11-20)
  • Ariel Dorfman, “How Succulent Food Defeated Trump’s Wall Before It Has Been Built”
  • Dina Nayeri, “The Ungrateful Refugee”
  • Maaza Mengiste, “This is What the Journey Does”

Spring 2019

March 19 3:30-5:30pm, E255: “War in Colombia and new brands of Armed Neoliberalism”

  • Session leaders: Rebecca Tally and Alcira Forero-Pena

Readings:

Also: In preparation for our next visiting speaker, please read one or both of the following texts by John M. Kinder:


April 16 3:30-5:30pm, E500, visiting speaker: John Kinder


May 7 3:30-5:30pm, E255, visiting speakers: Richard Nisa and Yumi Lee

Readings:


May 28 3:30-5:30pm, E255, “Gay in the Military: The LGBTQ Battle in Uniform”

  • Session leaders: Stephen Clark and Arianna Martinez

Readings:

Also submit assignment (prompt, abstract, and completed form), and complete evaluation