In this Book
- Understanding and Teaching the Vietnam War
- Book
- 2013
- Published by: University of Wisconsin Press
- Series: The Harvey Goldberg Series for Understanding and Teaching History
summary
Just as the Vietnam War presented the United States with a series of challenges, it presents a unique challenge to teachers at all levels. The war had a deep and lasting impact on American culture, politics, and foreign policy. Still fraught with controversy, this crucial chapter of the American experience is as rich in teachable moments as it is riddled with potential pitfalls—especially for students a generation or more removed from the events themselves.
Addressing this challenge, Understanding and Teaching the Vietnam War offers a wealth of resources for teachers at the secondary and university levels. An introductory section features essays by eminent Vietnam War scholars George Herring and Marilyn Young, who reflect on teaching developments since their first pioneering classes on the Vietnam War in the early 1970s. A methods section includes essays that address specific methods and materials and discuss the use of music and film, the White House tapes, oral histories, the Internet, and other multimedia to infuse fresh and innovative dimensions to teaching the war. A topical section offers essays that highlight creative and effective ways to teach important topics, drawing on recently available primary sources and exploring the war's most critical aspects—the Cold War, decolonization, Vietnamese perspectives, the French in Vietnam, the role of the Hmong, and the Tet Offensive. Every essay in the volume offers classroom-tested pedagogical strategies and detailed practical advice.
Taken as a whole, Understanding and Teaching the Vietnam War will help teachers at all levels navigate through cultural touchstones, myths, political debates, and the myriad trouble spots enmeshed within the national memory of one of the most significant moments in American history.
Honorable Mention, Franklin Buchanan Prize for Curricular Materials, Association for Asian Studies and the Committee for Teaching about Asia
Honorable Mention, Franklin Buchanan Prize for Curricular Materials, Association for Asian Studies and the Committee for Teaching about Asia
Table of Contents
Download Full Book
- Acknowledgments
- pp. xiii-2
- Part One: Reflections on Teaching the Vietnam War
- Part Two: Methods and Sources
- Movies and the Vietnam War
- pp. 96-110
- Part Three: Understanding and Teaching Specific Content
- Nationalism, Communism, and the Vietnam War
- pp. 169-184
- From the French to the Americans
- pp. 185-201
- The Vietnamese Sides of the “American” War
- pp. 223-244
- The Tet Offensive in the Classroom
- pp. 276-291
- Contributors
- pp. 329-334
Additional Information
ISBN
9780299294137
Related ISBN(s)
9780299294144
MARC Record
OCLC
867740337
Pages
366
Launched on MUSE
2013-10-21
Language
English
Open Access
No
Copyright
2013