The United States in the Vietnam War

Ingo Trauschweizer, Ohio University

This course is the postgraduate section of HIST 3050, an upper-level elective that will explore U.S. policies and strategies in the Vietnam War era (1945-1975) and the domestic and international consequences of American engagement in Southeast Asia. We will explore the origins of the conflict, both from an American and a Vietnamese perspective and in the context of the Cold War, the course and conduct of the war, its transformative effect on American political culture, the peace process, and the aftermath of the war in politics and memory. The U.S. in the Vietnam War holds that it is impossible to understand the Vietnam War in isolation and that domestic and foreign policies need to be considered as closely related issues. The main objectives of HIST 5050 are to introduce debates and recent notable contributions to Vietnam War scholarship, to help you read at a postgraduate level, and to prepare you for examinations and possible research topics.