dsurrey@spc.edu                                                                                and by appointment

 

 

While the goals of this class are traditional, technology plays an important role in reaching our objectives. Our URL is http://blackboard.spc.edu. It is mandatory that you check this site every Sunday evening for important announcements including upcoming quizzes and assignments. There will be study guides, both in Word and PowerPoint, found at this site. Written assignments will be turned in through Blackboard’s Digital Drop-Box. We will have on-line debates using the Discussion Board option. Work due can be found under Assignments. Grades will be posted on the Blackboard site – you will only see your own. Finally use of your SPC e-mail is mandatory

 

Ozzie and Harriet were among the millions of casualties of the Vietnam Conflict. A conflict so far away that, at first, few noticed and fewer cared as a confidant United States picked up for the falling France in 1954. A shattered, divided, U.S. left in a hurry 1975 with divisions so deep that they have yet to heal. The America of Ozzie and Harriet was no more.

 

This course presents an historical, multidimensional, examination of the Vietnam Era. The United States involvement in Vietnam, while explored in depth, is used as a framework for the rapid changes occurring at home from the 1950’s to the present. The transformations examined include the impact of the Vietnam Conflict on the social movements of the sixties and conversely, examined are the affects of these movements on the Vietnam Conflict. We will conclude with an exploration of how the legacies of the Vietnam Era continue to shape our nation.

 

 

Your grade will be determined by the following: a term paper (25%); a mid‑term (25%); a final (25%) and quizzes and assignments (25%).

 

You will compete a seven to ten page research paper on a mutually agreed upon topic of the Vietnam Era. It must have proper footnotes from legitimate bibliographic sources – not Vietnamera.moron.com. In order to ensure the quality of these papers, several stages are involved. The topic must be presented by February 10; an outline and a list of sources by February 28; a first draft by April 13, and the final draft by the last day of classes on May 5. Each component is required – failure to meet any of these deadlines on the day they are due will lower your grade on the final paper by half a point for each day it is late.

 

The midterm will be comprehensive until that point in the semester. The final will be comprehensive for the entire semester.

 

 

There will be four to six quizzes, to be announced on the web-site the Friday prior to the week they are given. They will cover the most recent material, classroom and texts. That should be it for quizzes unless it is determined that the work is not being done. Then more will be added and they will not be announced in advance. There will also be brief written assignments and on-line discussions. There will also be a number of traditional and on-line assignments that will be part of this component of your grade.

 

Attendance: will be taken daily. As stated in the General Bulletin: “A student is permitted absences totaling two times the number of lecture meetings per week.” Thus for classes that meet two times a week, students are permitted no more than four absences. Attendance is taken only at the beginning of class. Students who exceed six absences, including times when they come in late, will have their final grades reduced for each additional absence, i.e., a B- will become a C+.

 

Late Written Assignments: will have a grade deducted for that component for each class that they are late -- a B- will become a C+.

 

Make-up Exams and Quizzes: are generally not permitted. In extraordinary cases, with appropriate documentation, a student may be permitted to make items up.

 

Plagiarism, Cheating and Computer Usage and Piracy: any student determined to have violated these policies as defined in THE NET (see The Net http://www.spc.edu/resources/downloads/NET2002-03.pdf) will automatically fail the class. The name of any student who violates these procedures will immediately be given to the Office of the Academic Dean.

 

Standards for Classroom Behavior: the classroom is a place for mutual respect. While debate is welcome, as defined in THE NET, such disruptive actions as the use of cell phones and beepers as well as leaving the classroom once class has begun without authorization are prohibited.

 

 

 

 

Stanley Karnow, Vietnam: A History, New York: Penguin Books, 1997

Assigned Articles ‑ these articles will be distributed during the term.