This seminar, which includes a spring break field trip to Vietnam, examines how that country’s twentieth century wars for independence have been remembered, memorialized, and represented by the Vietnamese state, by citizens and scholars, and by the ever growing number of international tourists who visit Vietnam each year. In advance of the trip, students will read a number of scholarly works on war, memory, and modern Vietnamese history that will prepare them to think critically and knowledgeably about the representations of Vietnam’s recent past that they encounter inside that country’s borders. On March 22, 2015 the class arrives in Ho Chi Minh City for a two week visit including stops in the Mekong Delta, the Cu Chi Tunnels, Hanoi, and Ha Long Bay. Look here for their blog posts written along the way!