This is a course in the United States' military involvement in Southeast Asia during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, what was known in this country as the Vietnam War.  As this is a course which will consider both military and diplomatic history, we will be looking at the impact of the war on, and of diplomatic initiatives by, South Vietnam, North Vietnam, and the United States. We shall also consider some of the social fallout of the war within the United States.

The course is built around the concept of issues, concerns which raise larger questions, with one issue being covered each week during the term. Each issues page will note readings, military operations where appropriate, and questions for consideration and discussion. In the discussion which ensues, we will utilize an asynchronous environment through a shared bulletin board. The bulk of the discussion will be done among the students without mediation from me, although I will monitor the discussion on a continuing basis. The bulletin board will be the place for comments, observations, questions about the issues, anything which you might wish to share with your fellow students. When necessary, for clarification or to stimulate further discussion, I will join into the fray.

As a point of style with this course site, note that underlined words or phrases within these pages represent links which, when clicked on with your mouse, will take you to other pages, including web sites about Vietnam on the Internet. For examples, check out the underlined words and phrases on this page. Note as well that some pages might be longer than one screen in length, especially if you are using a window smaller than a full screen; always look for scroll bars at the side or bottom [you will probably note one on this particular page] to make certain you have all the information provided.