The Seminar
The Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies (PIIRS) will offer its third Princeton Global Seminar in Hanoi, Vietnam, from June 6 to July 18, 2009. The seminar, focusing on the Vietnam War, will be convened and taught in Vietnam's capital by Desaix Anderson '58, a former diplomat whose 35-year career in the U.S. Foreign Service centered on Asian issues with posts in Nepal, Vietnam, China, Japan, and Thailand. David Leheny, Professor in the Department of East Asian Studies at Princeton University and Christophe Robert, independent Vietnam scholar, will be co-teaching.
Vietnam is a country of great natural beauty and a rich culture. It remains essentially an agrarian country but is swiftly moving from a centrally planned economy to a market economy. President George W. Bush's visit to Hanoi in November 2006 for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit coincided with Vietnam's admission to the World Trade Organization (WTO), which heralded a new chapter in Vietnam's development. Students taking the seminar not only will learn about Vietnam's past and the war with the U.S. but also will witness firsthand a transformative moment in the country's history.
The seminar will include parallel sessions with Vietnamese history and literature professors from the University of Hanoi, National Liberation Front figures, Buddhist monks, North Vietnamese "Bo Doi" (foot soldiers), and senior Vietnamese diplomats. In addition to the seminar, students will study Vietnamese language on a noncredit basis and immerse themselves in the life and culture of the city through field trips, community service, and meetings with young Vietnamese students.
The seminar focuses on the Vietnam War—its origins, implications, and consequences. It will open with a quick review of the origins of Vietnam, its struggle for independence from China, and the struggle against French colonialism that began in 1858 and culminated in the French loss at Dien Bien Phu, the Geneva Conference of 1954, and a divided country. Particular attention will be given to the events that led to the “American War,” as it is called by Vietnamese, tracing its course through Vietnamese and American perspectives. We will look at the tumultuous antiwar demonstrations in the U.S. and at the political and military policies of the Johnson and Nixon administrations that culminated in the negotiations of the Peace Accords of 1973. We will also examine the aftermath of the accords and the North Vietnamese offensive and takeover of the South in April 1975. We will hear from Vietnamese experts on the roles of the Soviet Union and China in Vietnam. The final lecture will focus on reconciliation between the U.S. and Vietnam.
Lectures and readings will examine the war from many vantage points. Required readings include views ranging from those of Ho Chi Minh and General Vo Nguyen Giap to Presidents Johnson and Nixon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger as well as other firsthand observers. Students will be challenged to reach their own conclusions about this war that caused such controversy in the U.S. and so much destruction in Vietnam.
There will be midterm and final exams and a short paper. The course will appear on the Princeton transcript with a grade as a regular Princeton course.
Internships following the seminar are also available. For more information click on the link to go to the Office of International Programs' Intern Abroad Web page.
This course fulfills the Historical Analysis (HA) general requirement. Click here to view the syllabus.