Department of English

 The Vietnam War was not only waged by soldiers on the battlefield. Long
after the fall of Saigon in 1975, the traumas of war continued in the
intimate memories and scarred bodies of those who fought, and in the
nightmares of civilians whose lives were destroyed or irrevocably changed.
 The Vietnam War has also had an enduring and contentious national legacy,
which still shapes military policy, political debates, and the way war is
portrayed in journalism, literature, and film.

This course explores the creative outpouring of responses to the Vietnam War
in literature and film.  We will ask how artists and film makers represented
the experience of those on the battlefield and the home front; how they
fought symbolic battles over the interpretation and memory of the war; how
they sought consolation for unfathomable losses; and how they produced a
legacy for future generations.

Films may include Cimono’s The Deer Hunter, Coppola’s Apocalypse Now, De
Palma’s Casualties of War, Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket, and Stone’s Platoon.
We will read novels, stories, poems and memoirs by Bao Ninh,  Hayslip, Herr,
Heinemann, Komunyakka, Kovic,  Mason,  and O’Brien.

Sunday Evening Screenings:

January 30th; February 13th; February 27th; March 27th; April 17th at 7-9:30 pm in FBH room 401

TA Office Assignments:

Thomas Dichter  FBH 312 English 102.402

Nava EtShalom  FBH 312 English 102.408

Julius Fleming Jr  FBH 116 English 102.403

Caroline Henze-Gongola FBH 116 English 102.406

Jessica Hurley  FBH 340 English 102.404

Vaclav Paris FBH 340 English 102.409

Kelly M. Rich FBH 118 English 102.405

Daniel Snelson FBH 118 English 102.407