Algerian and Vietnam Wars

Spring 2011

War and Remembrance: Comparing the Algerian and Vietnam Wars

Listed in: European Studies, as EUST-76  |  History, as HIST-81

Faculty

Kathryn Edwards (Section 01)

Description

(Offered as HIST 81 [^C] and EUST 76.)  This seminar will explore the creation and transmission of collective memory through a comparison of two particularly traumatic conflicts: the French-Algerian war and the U.S.-Vietnam war. We will begin by studying the similarities between these "undeclared" wars: the use of guerrilla tactics and the targeting of civilians, the use of torture, consequences for colonial populations that sided with French or American forces, protest movements, refugee crises, and the experiences of veterans. We will then examine representations of these conflicts through analysis of commemorative activities and monuments, film, memoirs, and literature. One class meeting per week.

Limited to 15 students. Not open to first-year students. Spring semester. Visiting Professor Edwards.

Offerings