The war that seemed half a world away suddenly felt very close. Daily, news of the devastation beamed directly to viewers around the world, a horror impossible to ignore as it unfolded in real-time. Columbia’s campus, unable to ignore the suffering abroad and its nation’s involvement, rose in anger—at the war and, at times, seemingly at itself. US involvement in the Vietnam War ended 50 years ago this year. The consequences of that war—for the Vietnamese people, US and Vietnamese combat veterans, and society—linger. At home, the war brought new forms of protest to campuses across the country. In many ways, we live, work, and study on a campus shaped by war. This seminar considers the literature of and related to the US war in Vietnam. How might literary engagements with this earlier moment of conflict help us navigate the current day with passion and empathy?
Originally offered as a live summer seminar at Columbia University’s Center for Veteran Transition and Integration, this series is now available as a self-paced online learning experience featuring short video lectures and conversations tied to key texts. It invites learners to explore how writers, filmmakers, veterans, and activists have tried to make sense of that conflict and its aftermath.
* Engage as a personal learning journey, or use it as a reading group structure or a scaffold for a class or campus program.
COURSE SECTIONS
About the Instructor
Nick Utzig is an assistant professor of English in the Department of English and World Languages at West Point. His research focuses on representations of war in literature, and his work has appeared in Shakespeare Studies, Shakespeare Bulletin, and The Journal of War and Culture Studies. Before earning his PhD at Harvard, he served as a US Army aviation officer in Afghanistan and Iraq.