New Class on “Vietnam War Writing” in Spring 2008 Also Offers Travel and Study Opportunity to Vietnam

A new course that will be offered during the spring 2008 semester will not only focus on the literature of the Vietnam War but will also offer students the opportunity to travel to Vietnam for two to three weeks once the semester is over to tour first-hand the country where the controversial war took place.

Lea Williams, Assistant Professor of English, will teach the course as well as accompany students to Vietnam.  Williams’ academic expertise is the war writing of non-combatants. 

In addition to Williams, Michael Nelson, a specialist in military history and faculty member at Presbyterian College in Clinton, South Carolina, will be part of the tour as will his students.     

Because of the unique academic and travel experience, the Department of English, strongly suggests that students begin planning now if they intend to register for the course. Professor Williams has already begun a provisional enrollment list and will travel to Vietnam, herself, this spring to establish the trip itinerary and arrange accommodations.

Like many other English courses, the “Literature of the Vietnam War” can count as an English, humanities, or free elective and is perfectly suited to students from a variety of disciplines—history, communications, international studies, studies of war and peace, criminal justice, psychology—in addition to English majors.

The reading syllabus will be comprised of autobiographies, novels, oral histories, films, and popular culture venues that contend with the war and its aftermath.

Highlights of the trip will include Hanoi, the capital city and home to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, the Ha Lo Prison Museum (formally known as the Hanoi Hilton) and the Air Force Museum.

Professor Williams’ office is located Webb 305, her phone extension is 2601, and her email address is lwilliam@norwich.edu.