Vietnamese
Culture
Spring 2009
Dr. Wynn Gadkar-Wilcox NWC 103 Sec 01
218 Warner Hall (Office) TR
(203) 837-8565 (work); (516) 532-6861 (cell) 114
White Hall
Office Hours: TR
A Photograph of Turtle Pagoda in
Course
Description: This
course is a general introduction to the study of Vietnamese cultures. Rather than being a comprehensive survey of
the vast diversity of Vietnamese cultural experiences, we will instead enjoy a “sampler
plate” of Vietnamese culture. Thus,
this course will provide an introduction to six different aspects of Vietnamese
culture: contemporary
Course
Objectives: This course aims to:
·
Introduce
students to the basic themes, problems, and key events in Vietnamese culture;
·
Use this
foundation in Vietnamese contemporary cultural issues as a
base from which to introduce students to basic themes and concepts in Vietnamese history, religion, and
literature
·
Introduce
students to some current methods of analyzing modern Vietnamese culture and
society, including (but not limited to) trends in scholarship on Vietnamese history, religion, literature, and film;
·
Most
importantly, introduce methods for thinking critically about history and
culture through writing and public speaking assignments emphasizing the
evaluation of arguments and evidence.
Required
Reid, Anthony J.S.,
and Nhung Tuyet Tran (eds.).
Sachs, Dana. The House on
Thu-Huong Nguyen Vo, The Ironies of
Freedom.
Vũ Trọng Phụng. The Industry of Marrying Europeans [1934] Translated by Thuy
Tranviet.
A
few short articles and excerpts that have been put on ERES on the library’s
website, which are marked on the syllabus with an asterisk (*).
Grading
and
Expectations: Final grades for this course will be based on the
following elements:
1. Discussion participation (30 percent).
2. Two three-page preliminary papers (20 percent
each)
3. One five-page final paper (30 percent)
More information on these elements can be found at the
end of this syllabus.
COURSE SCHEDULE
PART ONE: MODERN
January 27: Course Introduction
January 29: Food and Language in
February 3:
February 5: Cross-Cultural
Understanding and the Ghost of the Vietnam War
February 10: Love
and the Weather
February 12: Waking
up from Dreams of Vietnam
February 17: Endings
February 19: A
New Life
February 24: Evaluations
Reading:
Sachs, 300-end.
PART TWO: PREMODERN VIETNAMESE HISTORY
February 26: An Outline of Vietnam until the
end of Chinese Control (to 939AD)
March 3: Wild Buddhist
Monarchs: Vietnamese Culture and Society in the Lý and Trần
Periods (1009-1400)
March 5: First
three-page paper due. The Hồ Dynasty, the Ming Interregnum , and the Lê Dynasty (1407-1600)
March 10: From The Southern March (nam tiến), the Trịnh/Nguyễn Split, and the Tay Son Wars
(1600-1802)
Reading:
Taylor, “Nguyen Hoang and the Beginning of
Vietnam’s Southward Expansion,”*; Tran and Reid, 147-218.
PART THREE: MODERN VIETNAMESE HISTORY THROUGH THE STORY OF
A VIETNAMESE FAMILY
March 12: The Nguyen
Dynasty and the Origins of French Colonization (1802-1862)
March 17: Acceptance and
Resistance to French Imperialism (1862-1945)
March 19: The French War,
1945-1954
March
23-28 No classes. Happy
Spring Break!
March 31:
April 2: The
Americans Come: The Beginnings of the Conflict, Escalation, and the Tet Offensive (1963-1968)
April 7: The End of the War and Its Aftermath
(1968-1975)
Reading: Elliott, 337-end.
PART FOUR: EUROPEANIZATION AND VIETNAMESE
LITERATURE
April 9: An
Introduction to Modern Vietnamese Literature
April 14: The Hypocrisy
of Modernization
April 16: The Ironies of
Marrying Well
Reading:
Vu Trong Phung, 46-end. Second three-page paper due.
.
PART
April 21: Prostitution
and Economic Liberalization
April 23: National Identity and
Sex
April 28: Medical
Expertise and Sex Policy
April 30: Intervening in
the Sex Industry
May 5: Gender
and the Market
PART SIX: CONTEMPORARY
May 7:
May 12: End
Film: Three Seasons. General Discussion.
May
19: Final six page paper due in
HARD
COURSE REQUIREMENTS IN DETAIL
Three-Page Papers
You will be required to write two
three-page papers in this class. The
first is due on March 5 and the second is due on April 16. Your assignment is the same for both
papers: to identify an argument or position taken
in any one of the readings in class and systematically disagree with
that argument or position, using your own analysis and the evidence from other
sources in class to provide evidence as to why the argument or position taken
by the reading is wrong. The “three page” part of the paper should be viewed as a guideline (no
automatic grading down will occur if the paper is 2 ½ pages or 4 pages). The key of this assignment will be providing
me with a paper that contains critical analysis, original and innovative
arguments, creative and unusual thought, and readability. For more guidance, refer to the “standards for
grading” handout.
Final Six Page Paper
Your final six-page paper will be
due on May 19th. In the final
paper, you will rebut one of the two three-page papers that you
have written, using, among other sources, at least one of the sources that we
will read in the last month of the class.
Defend the argument of the author that you disagreed with in your first
paper against the arguments you have raised against his/her position.
Discussion Participation
This course is based predominantly on discussion; thus, a
substantial portion of your grade will be based on your participation.
Participation
will be evaluated as follows: on most
days, I will put a debate question on the board, and you will have five
minutes to write out a brief answer of a few sentences. I will pick a different three or four of you
to read out or paraphrase your answers and then I will ask others to join
in. I will evaluate your participation
based on the frequency and the quality of your discussion of these questions in
class and your level of knowledge and interest in the topic as indicated by
your written answers. A corollary to
this point is that regular unexcused absences will negatively affect your
participation grade, since you cannot be participating if you are absent.