Understanding and Teaching the Vietnam War (The Harvey Goldberg Series for Understanding and Teaching History)

Just as the Vietnam War presented the United States with a series of challenges, it presents a unique challenge to teachers at all levels. The war had a deep and lasting impact on American culture, politics, and foreign policy. Still fraught with controversy, this crucial chapter of the American experience is as rich in teachable moments as it is riddled with potential pitfalls—especially for students a generation or more removed from the events themselves. Addressing this challenge, Understanding and Teaching the Vietnam War offers a wealth of resources for teachers at the secondary and university levels. An introductory section features essays by eminent Vietnam War scholars George Herring and Marilyn Young, who reflect on teaching developments since their first pioneering classes on the Vietnam War in the early 1970s. A methods section includes essays that address specific methods and materials and discuss the use of music and film, the White House tapes, oral histories, the Internet, and other multimedia to infuse fresh and innovative dimensions to teaching the war. A topical section offers essays that highlight creative and effective ways to teach important topics, drawing on recently available primary sources and exploring the war's most critical aspects—the Cold War, decolonization, Vietnamese perspectives, the French in Vietnam, the role of the Hmong, and the Tet Offensive. Every essay in the volume offers classroom-tested pedagogical strategies and detailed practical advice. Taken as a whole, Understanding and Teaching the Vietnam War will help teachers at all levels navigate through cultural touchstones, myths, political debates, and the myriad trouble spots enmeshed within the national memory of one of the most significant moments in American history. Honorable Mention, Franklin Buchanan Prize for Curricular Materials, Association for Asian Studies and the Committee for Teaching about Asia

Winner of The 1963 National Book Award for Fiction

The hero of J.F. Powers's comic masterpiece is Father Urban, a man of the cloth who is also a man of the world. Charming, with an expansive vision of the spiritual life and a high tolerance for moral ambiguity, Urban enjoys a national reputation as a speaker on the religious circuit and has big plans for the future. But then the provincial head of his dowdy religious order banishes him to a retreat house in the Minnesota hinterlands. Father Urban soon bounces back, carrying God's word with undaunted enthusiasm through the golf courses, fishing lodges, and backyard barbecues of his new turf. Yet even as he triumphs his tribulations mount, and in the end his greatest success proves a setback from which he cannot recover.

First published in 1962, Morte D'Urban has been praised by writers as various as Gore Vidal, William Gass, Mary Gordon, and Philip Roth. This beautifully observed, often hilarious tale of a most unlikely Knight of Faith is among the finest achievements of an author whose singular vision assures him a permanent place in American literature.

About the Author:

J.F. Powers(1917-1999) was born in Jacksonville, Illinois and studied at Northwestern University while holding a variety of jobs in Chicago and working on his writing. He published his first stories in The Catholic Worker and, as a pacifist, spent thirteen months in prison during World War II. Powers was the author of three collections of short stories and two novels-Morte D'Urban, which won the National Book Award, and Wheat That Springeth Green-all of which have been reissued by New York Review Books. He lived in Ireland and the United States and taught for many years at St John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota.

Katherine A. Powers is the eldest of J.F. Powers's five children. She writes a literary column for the Boston Sunday Globe and lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with her two sons.

Library Journal

This duo constitutes the author's full career: 1962's Morte D'Urban was the author's first novel (and a National Book Award winner), 1988's Wheat his second and last book. Both of these comic novels spoof religious life and feature clerical protagonists who though none too saintly ultimately do the right thing. Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.\

Taken As A Whole, Understanding And Teaching The Vietnam War Will Help Teachers At All Levels Navigate Through Cultural Touchstones, Myths, Political Debates, And The Myriad Trouble Spots Enmeshed Within The National Memory Of One Of The Most Significant Moments In American History. Reflections On Teaching The Vietnam War. Teaching The Vietnam War: A Life History / Marilyn B. Young -- Teaching The Vietnam War: Recollections And Reflections From More Than Thirty Years / George C. Herring -- Methods And Sources. Putting Students In Their Shoes: A Decision-making Approach To Teaching The Vietnam War / Kevin O'reilly -- Understanding The Vietnam Era Through Music / Hugo A. Keesing -- We Must Bear A Good Deal Of Responsibility For It: The White House Tapes And The War In Vietnam / Mitchell B. Lerner -- Movies And The Vietnam War / Scott Laderman -- The Books We Carry: Teaching The Vietnam War / Maureen Ryan -- Teaching The Vietnam War In The Internet Age: Libraries, Websites, And Information Literacy / Richard Hume Werking And Brian C. Etheridge -- Hearts, Minds, And Voices: The Vietnam War And Oral History / Andrew Darien -- Understanding And Teaching Specific Content. Nationalism, Communism, And The Vietnam War / Matthew Masur -- From The French To The Americans / Kathryn C. Statler -- Teaching The Antiwar Movement: Confronting Popular Myths, Teaching Complexity / David Steigerwald -- The Vietnamese Sides Of The American War / Tuan Hoang -- America's Most Loyal Allies: The Hmong And The War / Chia Youyee Vang -- Vietnamese Americans In The Context Of The Vietnam War / Karin Aguilar-san Juan -- The Tet Offensive In The Classroom / Adrew Wiest -- Teaching The Collective Memory And Lessons Of The Vietnam War / David Fitzgerald And David Ryan -- Teaching The Vietnam War In Secondary Schools And Survey Classrooms / Stephen Armstrong. Edited By John Day Tully, Matthew Masur, Brad Austin. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. "Father Urban is a man of the cloth who is also a man of the world. Charming, with an expansive vision of the spiritual life and a high tolerance for moral ambiguity, Urban enjoys a national reputation as a speaker on the religious circuit and has big plans for the future. But then the provincial head of his dowdy religious order banishes him to a retreat house in the Minnesota hinterlands."--Page 4 of cover Taken as a whole, this book will help teachers at all levels navigate through cultural touchstones, myths, political debates, and the myriad trouble spots enmeshed within the national memory of one of the most significant moments in American history