01:050:305 Fall, 2012 Professor Michael Rockland IMAGES OF WAR: VIETNAM AND IRAQ

Transcription

1 1 01:050:305 Fall, 2012 Professor Michael Rockland IMAGES OF WAR: VIETNAM AND IRAQ I was a coward. I went to the war \ [Tim O Brien, The Things They Carried] No, I haven t consulted my father [President George H.W.Bush] about moving forward with this war. I spoke with my father in heaven [President George W. Bush] America lost its virginity in these two wars [ anonymous] CARTOON FILLS THIS SPACE COURSE GOALS We will be examining what are probably the two most controversial wars in American history to see how they might illuminate the American character and to see how they fit within our nation s history and what they might indicate about its future. The course invites controversy not only because there is some disagreement among Americans about both of these wars but because we hope the course will excite substantial debate among participants. All courses in the humanities are designed to sharpen the critical thinking of students, but this one

2 2 should especially do so. I expect that it will also offer special opportunities to develop articulate oral communication as well as fine writing. The purposes of a liberal education are exactly these: a) critical thinking; b) articulate speech; and c) fine writing. These are the tools required for success in the world in all fields. This is not a course to just sit there and write things down so that you can get a good grade on examinations. It is my hope that students will care deeply about the issues before us and will debate them avidly. Class participation will count as a major ingredient in everyone s grade. The course will endeavor to answer, or at least respond to, the following questions: 1) How do these two wars differ and what do they share? 2) George Washington, in his farewell address, warned against entangling alliances, and John Quincy Adams said America does not go abroad seeking monsters to destroy. How might these two wars refute Washington and Adams and signal that America may have redefined its place in the world? 3) How might these wars, especially Iraq, be seen as bi-products of globalization? 4) Is America an idealistic, peaceloving nation that goes to war only when severely provoked and out of patriotism and a sense of responsibility to the rest of the world or have we evolved into a particularly warlike country as some allege? 5) Why do Americans tend to believe that we are number 1? In what fields are we number 1? To ask the question another way, how does the concept of American exceptionalism possibly hinder the progress of our nation? 6) How was the doing away with the draft after the Vietnam War a positive factor and how was it a negative factor in terms of advancing democratic ideals? BOOKS Graham Greene, The Quiet American, ISBN Philip Caputo, A Rumor of War ISBN x Tim O Brien, The Things They Carried ISBN x Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Imperial Life in the Emerald City ISBN Colby Buzzell, My War: Killing Time in Iraq ISBN PLEASE NOTE: I have not ordered these books to be stocked at any book store? Why? They are all available from used book services such as Amazon.com Alibris.com and Abebooks.com. sometimes for as little as pennies plus shipping. So I invite you to purchase them on line immediately. Since we will be doing Vietnam before Iraq, it is especially critical that you order the first three books immediately. One more thing: I am required by the university to list ISBN numbers. You may completely ignore the numbers listed above. I don t care what edition of these books you secure. Any edition will serve our purposes, so I would suggest you simply purchase the least expensive one (s). ELECTRONIC RESERVE To supplement the two Iraq War books, I will have large passages from two books, Fiasco, by Thomas E. Ricks, and War of Necessity: War of Choice, by Richard N. Haas on electronic reserve. Print them out and bring them with you to class on the days they are discussed obviously having read them in advance.

3 3 ATTENDANCE, PLAGIARISM AND LAPTOPS Attendance in my classes is mandatory unless you have a specific excuse: either that you are very sick or have a major event in your lives that you cannot miss such as an important job interview, a death in the family, a wedding. For any and all classes missed you must, if possible, inform me in advance, certainly no later than the day in question, via of the reason for the absence. Missed classes will affect your grade in two ways: you will do poorly on those examinations in the course that are objective; you will obviously not be participating in the ongoing discussions of the class. In addition to informing me personally of absences, you must report absences to the following School of Arts and Sciences website: https.://sims.rutgers.edu/ssra. Plagiarism is perhaps the most serious of academic crimes because it defeats the whole principle of independent work.it is, in short, stealing. But this does not mean that you cannot avail yourself of the work of others either through credit or paraphrasing. Just give credit where credit is due. Most footnotes are simply good manners, a thank you to someone whose ideas and prose inspired you, or supported your ideas, or who provided material with which you may strongly disagree. No laptops will be permitted in this class unless you have a physical condition which requires their use, and it goes without saying that the use of cell phones at any time for any purpose will be considered an affront and may very well affect your grade in the course. ACCOMODATIONS All student requests for special accomodations must be brought to my attention during the first two weeks of the course. FILMS In this course we will be considering literature, music, and films. Some of these films, the short ones or parts of longer ones will be seen in class. Others will be placed on reserve in the Media Center of the Douglass Library (basement of library building). Such films will be indicated in the syllabus with an asterisk. The media center is open seven days a week, and films on reserve will be there for two full weeks prior to their discussion date in class. You can also obtain many of our films through Netflix or various downloading services. Films to be seen outside of class must be seen prior to discussion in class. Since our class meets late in the day, they can even be seen in the early part of the day when they will be discussed in class. They will be removed from reserve the day after their discussion date in class. SYLLABUS Part I. Vietnam Tu., Sept. 4 Syllabi distributed

4 4 You are to see in the media center the film Hearts and Minds Th. Sept. 6 Tu. Sept. 11 Th. Sept. 13 Tu. Sept. 18 Th. Sept. 20 Tu. Sept.25 Th. Sept. 27 Tu. Oct. 2 Th. Oct. 4 Tu. Oct. 9 Th. Oct. 11 Tu. Oct. 16 Th. Oct. 18 Tu. Oct. 23 No class. Make certain you have seen film Hearts and Minds before its discussion in classs on Tuesday, September 11. The Main Ideas of the Course Music: Bruce Springsteen, Born in the U.S.A. Go over syllabus and course requirements Discussion of Hearts and Minds Music: the songs of Barry Sadler A short history of the Vietnam War Film in class: Why Vietnam? Music Okie from Muskogee, Merle Haggard Film * Platoon * [reminder: asterisks means you see the film in advance in the media department of the Douglass Library. Film to be discussed in class] Guest: Vietnam War Veteran, Joe Belardo Music: Bob Dylan, With God on Our Side Read Graham Greene s novel, The Quiet American Music: Billy Joel, Goodnight Saigon Film: *Coming Home [discussion in class] Film: * the Deer Hunter * [discussion in class] Music: Masters of War, Pearl Jam (covering Bob Dylan) Read first half of Phlip Caputo, A Rumor of War Philip Caputo, A Rumor of War (second half) Film *Heaven and Earth* [discussion in class] Film *Apocalypse Now* [discussion in class] Films in class The Girl Who Got Napalmed Remembering My Lai Read: Tim O Brien, The Things They Carried Midterm Exam Also: Term Paper Precis is due Film, in class The Turbulent End to a Tragic War

5 5 Part II: Iraq Th. Oct. 25 Music: The Dixie Chicks, Dear Mr. President; System of a Down, Soldier Side and B.Y.O. B. [Bring Your Own Bombs] Film discussion * Fahrenheit 9/11 * Tu. Oct. 30 Th. Nov. 1 Music: Green Day, American Idiot Film in class: Why We Fight Music: Jim Fogerty, Déjà vu All Over Again: Read: Ch. 1, A Tale of Two Wars Ch. 4, War of Necessity in Richard Haas, War of Necessity, War of Choice on electronic reserve. Bring these readings with you to class. Tu. Nov. 6 Th. Nov. 8, Tu. Nov.13 Guest: Iraq War Vet and Rutgers Student, Matthew Lane Film in class Body of War Music: Michael Franti and Spearhead, Light up Your Lighter Discussion of Body of War Read: in Haas, Ch. 8, War of Choice [electronic reserve] Th. Nov. 15 Music: Public Enemy, Son of a Bush Read from Fiasco, by Thoms E. Ricks, pp [Electronic Reserve] Film for discussion in class * The Hurt Locker * Tu Nov. 20 Bouncing Souls, Letter from Itaq Film for discussion in class * No End in Sight * Tu. Nov. 27 Music: Talib Kweli, Bushonomics Read: My War: Killing Time in Iraq by Colby Buzzell Note: Term papers will be due in class this day, November 27, without fail. They will not be accepted as attachments. Late papers will be penalized regardless of the reason. Papers may be handed in early if you choose to do so. Papers will be returned at the final examination. Th. Nov. 29 Music: Eddie Vedder, No More

6 6 My War: Killing Time in Iraq by Buzzell (concluded) Tu. Dec. 4 Music: Bright Eyes, When the President Talks to God Film * Redacted * [discussion in class] Th. Dec. 6 Music: David Ford, States of the Nation Read: Imperial Life in the Emerald City, by Rajiv Chandrasekaran Tu. Dec. 11 Music, Tori Amos, Yo, George Imperial Life in the Emerald City (concluded) Key Dates in the course October 23 Midterm exam October 23 Term paper preces due November 27 Term papers due (no later) Final examination (to be announced) Term Projects Preces The most important part of your grade in this course will be your term project. To guarantee that your project is appropriate for our class, and that it is indeed a term project, you must hand in on October 23 the same days as the midterm, a one paragraph (one page maximum) description of your term project as best you know it by that time. Try to include sources you are consulting. Make a stab at the thesis you will argue. These preces must be handed in in duplicate (original and copy). That way I can write back to you on one copy and keep one copy for my records. Be assured that as any project develops one often changes one s mind about the direction it is headed. This is perfectly natural. But just as you should do drafts of everything you write, you may consider the précis as a draft of the project title and subject itself. In addition to everything else, I like to use the précis system because this is a way for me to inform you as to whether the project you propose is on the right track, and then you can have the assurance that what you are doing is germane to our course. The Project Most of you will do standard term papers. My suggested length is pages. This does not mean that you cannot go longer or slightly shorter. Think of as the average length. I might add that I would not be averse to your doing a non-traditional project. Students in this class in the past have made films. Others have made audio tapes with either written or audio

7 7 commentary. But, again, most of you will do research oriented papers, and that is how it should be. I am going to suggest below an extended list of term project ideas. Please understand that these are just my suggestions to get you thinking. There is absolutely no need to adopt one of these projects instead of an idea of your own. Here goes: 1. The music inspired by the Vietnam War 2. The music inspired by the Iraq War 3. A comparison of Vietnam War music and Iraq War music 4. The story of the Vietnam monument in Washington D.C. 5. A comparison of the Washington Vietnam monument with other monuments around the country 6. A discussion of the Vietnam History Center at Holmdel, New Jersey, next to the Music Center 7. Looking at Tim O Brien in detail not just the book we are reading, The Things They Carried, but at least another work of his suggestions: In the Lake of the Woods and/or Going After Cacciato. 8. A comparison of public attitudes towards the Vietnam War and the Iraq War 9. A study comparing drafted army in Vietnam and the volunteer army in Iraq. 10. A comparison of anti-war activities regarding the Vietnam War and the Iraq War 11. A study of the Bush administration s rationale for going to war in Iraq 12. A comparison of how we went to war in Vietnam and how we went to war in Iraq 13. A look at Rutgers Universitys during the Vietnam War period and the Iraq War period 14. Issues of race and ethnicity among American soldiers or in their attitudes in one of the war, the other, or both 15. Interviews and analysis of those interviews of Vietnam Vets, Iraq vets or a comparison of the two. 16. Why did Vietnam produce a vigorous counterculture and Iraq did not? 17. It is often said that today s university students are more conservative in general than their professors. Why should this be? 18. A look at the Kent State tragedy and its parallels, or the lack thereof, in the Tent State movement at Rutgers each spring. 19. Painting and/or photograph inspired by one war, the other, or both and how they have influenced American opinion. 20. Taking any of our key authors in our course and, considering his book in full and one other book perhaps that of Richard A. Clarke s Against All Enemies: Inside America s War on Terror, as opposed to that of Richard Haas book, discuss the subtle differences between them and endeavor to explain them. 21. Compare George W. Bush and Barack Obama in terms of policy fighting terrorism. 22. Select one of the following important books on the Vietnam War and analyze in detail: David Halberstam s The Best and the Brightest; Michael Herr s Despatches; Linda Dittmar and Gene Michaud s book From Hanoi to Hollywood; The Vietnam War and American Film; Telford Taylor s Nuremberg and Vietnam: An American Tragedy; the book edited by Senator William Fulbright, the Vietnam Hearings; Robwert Buzzanco s Vietnam and the Transformation of American Life; Stolen Valor, by E.G. Burkett and Glenna Whitley.

8 8 23. Compare at least two films about either war that we did not have time to see in our limited time. Two that come to mind for the Vietnam War are Stanley Kubrick s Full Metal Jacket and Oliver Stone s Born on the Fourth of July. 24. Why did Vietnam produce so much great art literature, film, and music whereas, at least thus far, Iraq has been a subject, some would argue, largely ignored by people in the arts? Again: These are suggestions. I could have come up with another dozen or so. So can you.