All these materials are Required. You should buy them immediately, as the University Store will start sending them back to the publishers in about 6 weeks.

IF you choose to buy them from an online bookstore like Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, etc., then search for the ISBN-13 number (above) to get the correct edition.

In addition, we will be reading at least one, and perhaps two novels both available free, on-line. You will have to bring them to class when we discuss them, which means printing them out. This will cost much less than buying them. But they are out of print anyway, and in the public domaine.

They are both by the late Gustav Hasford, a Vietnam veteran: The Short-Timers and The Phantom Blooper. You will need the passwords for each, which I will tell you in class when we get there.

Young's book is a general history of the period. It's well documented and readable. You should read it immediately, and not wait for specific assignments from me.

Franklin's POW-MIA book is an astonishing account of "the P.O.W. - M.I.A. myth." It has never been criticized, and has been widely praised. What it reveals will shock you.

O'Brien is one of the best-known Vietnam Veteran authors, and this is the work of his that is most praised.

McGehee spent 25 years in the C.I.A., including long service in Thailand and Vietnam.

Hasford's two novels are, in a way, really one longer novel. The Short-Timers was the basis for the film "Full Metal Jacket". The Phantom Blooper continues the story.

My goal, as the instructor, is to get you to think critically about the Vietnam War.

This is not as easy as it sounds, since there is an "official American version" of the war that all of us are exposed to over many years. This version, in its several varieties, has an enormous influence on thinking about the Vietnam War. In fact, it acts to prevent thinking about it, in many ways. This is the major obstacle confronting us, and any American who wants to learn about the Vietnam War.

I will give you primary and, mainly, secondary material -- articles and chapters from books. I have chosen mainly "scholarly" material (called "Secondary source material" by those concerned with method). I want to focus our attention on such questions as:

• What are the "facts" of the war? How is a "fact" constructed?
• What interpretive frameworks are available for us to make sense of the"facts"? Which frameworks "fit the facts" better? How can we decidethis question?
• What method can we choose to learn about the war (or any other event)something that is really new, instead of simply "filling in thedetails" on an interpretation of the war that we have already heard?
• How can we make allowances for our own preconceived ideas and biases,so that they will not prevent us from seeing this event from differentviewpoints? That is, how can we avoid being blinded by "what we aresupposed to think"?
• What is the relationship between the way we view the Vietnam War, andthe way we view the rest of the world? That is, what is therelationship between historical interpretation of this event, and ourunderstanding of the world and our place in it?
• How did the different participants in the war view it? Can we assesswhich of these participants viewed it more accurately?
• Why should we study the Vietnam War anyway?
• Is there one interpretive framework that is more truthful than others?If so, how can we discover it? What are our criteria for "truth"?

These questions, and other ones, are not easy to resolve, and are very troubling in their implications. They, not the "facts" of the war themselves, important as they may be, are the real focus of the course.

3. Format of the Course

This course is organized around group discussions and group projects, of more or less equal size.

Writing: We will do a lot of writing to clarify our ideas about what we are reading and discussing. This writing will lead naturally into exam questions and, perhaps, into term projects.

This writing will be shared through the use of electronic mail, or "e-mail".     Every student must have two email accounts. Go to the page with fuller instructions on email and Internet requirements here.

• NOTE: I strongly advise you to avoid using an AOL account for this course. AOL often rejects email messages from Montclair State University servers. You can easily get two other accounts, free. See the page linked in the last paragraph.

We will also use Streaming Audio in this course. You should IMMEDIATELY read the Streaming Audio instructions here, download and install the free RealPlayer G2, and buy the inexpensive earphones (if you are going to use the computer labs, and if you don't already have a set).

You can do your writing directly on your email. Or, you can do your writing using any Word Processing software that runs on either an IBM-PC compatible computer or an Apple Macintosh computer. Write, edit, rewrite, spell-check your writing, and then "copy-and-paste" it into the message area of an email message, and send it to me. For copy-and-paste instructions, see the specific Help pages I have prepared for you. They are linked on our course's Home Page.

You cannot use a typewriter, or a "dedicated" Word Processing machine (such as a Brother), or hand-write, your writing.

A typical class may begin with small-group discussions on something we have all read, usually prompted by questions you've written about and exchanged on email. Often we then have time to go into large-group discussions. Occasionally we'll have a guest speaker or a film (or part of a film),again to stimulate thinking, discussion, writing, further reading, and clarifying of issues.

4. Schedule.

During the second or third week of class, I will distribute a schedule, covering the whole semester, showing what subject matter we will be covering and when.

The schedule will also be available from the Home Page.

5. Written Assignments. Please study the Guidelines for Biweekly Assignment. Print it out.

It is your responsibility to have the material read and thoroughly understood by the date we will begin discussing it in class. I will require written reactions. This guarantees that the work is read on time.

If everyone has read the work on time, group and class discussions become meaningful. Any one group member who fails to read the material before class sabotages group discussion and projects.

6. Attendance Policy.

The classes will be mainly discussions of the reading rather than lectures.

Participation by the whole class in discussions is a must if they are to be interesting and worthwhile. In addition, considerable class time will be spent listening to, and commenting upon and discussing, papers written by the students in the class.

A typical class might be divided this way:

1. (sometimes) Instructor's presentation, comments, suggestions.
2. Group Discussions: I will divide the class into 4-6 groups for discussion purposes. I will provide suggested topics for discussion, together with passages from the books.
3. General class discussion of the topic, passages, and related topics and passages.

This order can be varied.

Lateness Policy.

If you are late for class -- after I have taken attendance - - I will count it as an "unexcused" absence unless you remember to tell me, at the end of that same class, that you came late. If you forget to do this, your recorded absence will remain. I do this because lateness disrupts the class and group discussions. Please do not be consistently late.

I do not want to be punitive. I do want to guarantee that we can begin class every day with every body in every group present, so that no group has to 'wait' for its members to show up, and everybody has done the reading. Just like failure to complete the reading, regular lateness on the part of any student sabotages the ability of that student's whole group to have a positive learning experience.

7. Exams and Final Grades

Exams

There will be an optional mid-term exam, and a  final due at the place and time listed in the Exam Schedule in your Course Schedule Booklet for this semester.

Final Grades:

Your final grade will be calculated from:

• your writing assignments;
• class participation in discussions and group;
• exam grades (if you choose them);
• less penalty for unexcused absences or excessive lateness, if any.

8. How To See Me:

You can email me anytime! I check my email at least once a day, often more, so I can get right back to you. Email me here.

But you will also want to see me personally. My office hours are in DI-325 (Dickson Hall), MR 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m..

My office phone number is (973)655-7305. Do not leave messages here! The sound is bad, and I won't get them. Email me instead.

Go HERE to the Home Page for this course!