Overview

This module will cover several critical historiographical questions, including: What were the Asian origins of both conflicts? How and why did the anti-colonial nations of Korea and Vietnam become so divided? Why did the Cold War superpowers commit so much to small and peripheral countries? What role did the larger Cold War play? How and why did the conflicts end? What are the global legacies of both wars?

Topics covered on the module include: Introducing the Korean War; Stalin, Mao, and Kim Il-sung; MacArthur and the U.S. Occupation of North Korea; Domestic Manifestations of the Korean War in the U.S.; Introducing the Vietnam War; LBJ and the Decision to Escalate; Vietnamese Women; Vietnam War protest; Southeast Asia and the Vietnam War.

Assessment Strategy

-threshold -D+Work is marked D+ if it: shows evidence of acceptable amounts of reading, but does not go much beyond lecture notes and/or a basic textbook; covers much of the necessary ground but fails to discuss one or a few vital aspects of a topic; deploys relevant material but partly fails to combine it into a coherent whole, or sustains a clear argument only for the greater part of the piece; deploys some evidence to support individual points, but sometimes fails to do so, or shows difficulty in weighing evidence, or chooses unreliable evidence; displays an awareness that the past can be interpreted in different ways but without devoting sustained discussion to this; is for the most part correctly presented but has sections where there are serious problems in presentation, style, spelling, grammar, or paragraph construction (but see guidelines on dyslexia); and uses references and bibliography where needed but occasionally misunderstands their appropriate use or makes mistakes in their presentation.DWork is marked D if it: shows evidence of an acceptable minimum of reading, based partly on lecture notes and/or a basic textbook; covers some of the necessary ground but fails to discuss some large and vital aspects of a topic; deploys some relevant material but partly fails to combine it into a coherent whole or sustains a clear argument for only some parts of the piece; deploys some evidence to support individual points but often fails to do so or shows difficulty weighing evidence or chooses unreliable, atypical or inappropriate evidence; shows some awareness that the past can be interpreted in different ways but the differences will not receive sustained discussion or analysis; is often correctly presented but has sections where there are serious difficulties in presentation, style, spelling, grammar, or paragraph construction (but see guidelines on dyslexia); and uses references and bibliography where needed but sometimes misunderstands their appropriate use or makes serious mistakes in their presentation.D-Work is marked D- if it: shows evidence of an acceptable minimum of reading, based largely on lecture notes and/or a basic textbook; covers parts of the necessary ground but fails to discuss some large and vital aspects of a topic; deploys some potentially relevant material but fails to bring it together into a coherent whole or sustains a clear argument for only parts of the piece; occasionally deploys evidence to back some individual points but often fails to do so or shows difficulty weighing evidence or chooses unreliable, atypical, or inappropriate evidence; may show some awareness that the past can be interpreted in different ways but the differences will not receive sustained discussion or analysis; is in part correctly presented but has sections where there are serious difficulties in presentation, style, spelling, grammar, or paragraph construction (but see guidelines on dyslexia); and uses references and bibliography where needed but sometimes misunderstands their appropriate use or makes serious mistakes in their presentation. -good -B+Work will receive a B+ mark if it is consistently strong in covering the necessary ground in depth and detail; advancing a well-structured, relevant, and focused argument; analysis and deployment of an appropriate range of historical evidence and consideration of possible differences of interpretation; and is correctly presented with references and bibliography where appropriate.BWork will receive a B mark if it is clear that it is based on solid reading; covers the necessary ground in depth and detail; advances a well-structured, relevant, and focused argument; analyses and deploys an appropriate range of historical evidence and considers possible differences of interpretation; and is correctly presented with references and bibliography where appropriate.B-Work will receive a B- mark if it is clearly based on solid reading; covers the necessary ground in some depth and detail; advances a properly structured, relevant, and focused argument; analyses and deploys an appropriate range of historical evidence and considers possible differences of interpretation; and is correctly presented with references and bibliography where appropriate. -excellent -A*At this level, first-class work earns its mark by showing genuine originality. It may advance a novel argument or deal with evidence which has not been considered before. Such originality of ideas or evidence is coupled with the standards of content, argument, and analysis expected of first-class work graded at A or A+. At this level, the work exhausts relevant secondary material, includes unanticipated primary evidence and betrays no factual or interpretative inaccuracy. It can also show a mastery of theory and deploy hypotheses subtly and imaginatively. In the case of essays, work of this standard will be impeccable in presentation and will be publishable.A+At this level, first-class work will have its argument supported by an impressive wealth and relevance of detail but will further deploy the evidence consistently accurately and give indications of deploying unexpected primary and secondary sources. It will habitually demonstrate a particularly acute and critical awareness of the historiography and/or interdisciplinary debate, including conceptual approaches, and give a particularly impressive account of why the conclusions reached are important within a specific historical debate. It will show a particularly sophisticated approach to possible objections, moderating the line taken in the light of counterexamples, or producing an interesting synthesis of various contrasting positions. It will be original work. The standards of content, argument, and analysis expected will be consistently first-class work. Standards of presentation will be very high.AAt this level, first-class work will have its argument supported by an impressive wealth and relevance of detail. It will usually also demonstrate an acute awareness of historiography and give an impressive account of why the conclusions reached are important within a specific historical debate. It may show a particularly subtle approach to possible objections, moderating the line taken in the light of counterexamples, or producing an interesting synthesis of various contrasting positions. Overall, the standards of content, argument, and analysis expected will be con-sistently superior to top upper-second class work. Standards of presen-tation will be high.A-A first-class mark at this level is often earned simply by demonstrating one or more of the features of a good upper-second class essay to a peculiar degree, for example presenting a particularly strong organization of argument, strong focus, wide range of reading, engagement with the historiography, depth of understanding, an unobjectionable style, and strong presentation. -another level-C+ Work will receive a C+ mark if it: shows evidence of solid reading, but remains partially superficial; covers the important aspects of the relevant field, but in some places lacks depth; advances a coherent and relevant argument; employs some evidence to back its points; and is presented reasonably well with only a few mistakes. It will also contain appropriate references and bibliography, which may, however, be slightly erratic and/or partially insufficient.C Work will receive a C mark if it: shows evidence of solid reading, but remains superficial; covers most of the important aspects of the relevant field, but lacks depth; advances a coherent and largely relevant argument; employs some limited evidence to back its points; and is presented reasonably well with only limited mistakes. It will also contain appropriate references and bibliography, which may, however, contain some mistakes or be slightly erratic and/or partially insufficient.C- Work will receive a C- mark if it: shows evidence of solid reading, but little knowledge of in-depth studies; covers most of the important aspects of the relevant field, but lacks depth or misses a significant area (this may mean that it fails to deploy the historical details found in specialist literature); advances a coherent, and sometimes relevant argument, but drifts away from tackling the task in hand (for example, by ordering the argument in an illogical way, becoming distracted by tangential material, or lapsing into narrative of only partial pertinence); usually employs evidence to back its points, but occasionally fails to do so or deploys an insufficient range; displays an awareness that the past can be interpreted in different ways, but may fail to get to the heart of the central scholarly debate or fully understand a key point (this may extend to a failure to discuss important subtleties or ambiguities in the evidence, or to a lack of awareness of the current state of historical debate); is reasonably well presented and contains appropriate references and bibliography, but makes some mistakes in presentation or appropriate use.

Learning Outcomes

• Demonstrate wide-ranging and comparative knowledge of the overall development of the Korean War and the Vietnam War as well as of the Cold War contexts in which they were embedded.

• Evaluate primary sources and use the insight gained from them as an integral part of historical argument.

• Form and present clear arguments about aspects of the Korean War and the Vietnam War and back these arguments with detailed historical evidence, thus applying transferable skills including effective written and oral communication as well as time and project management.

• Judge between competing historical interpretations of the period, including current historiographical positions.

• Show detailed knowledge of specific aspects of the Korean War and the Vietnam War, evaluating the interplay between domestic politics and foreign affairs in a range of global contexts.