This page contains the information for HST241 – America’s Controversial War: Vietnam – at Anna Maria College.
I. EXCERPTS FROM THE SYLLABUS
A. CONTACT INFO
College Email: jlimanek@annamaria.edu
Personal Email: jesse@proflimanek.com
B. TEXTS:
Required: Herring, George, America’s Longest War: the United States and Vietnam, 1950-1975; 6th Edition; McGraw Hill ©2020; ISBN13: 9781259922503
C. ASSIGNMENTS:
Exams:
To make the content more manageable, the course will be divided into four sections. For each section, there will be one exam given upon completion. Each exam will only contain material from the preceding section. Meaning, none of the exams will be cumulative.
• Exams #1, #2, & #3 will each count as 15% of your final grade.
• Exam #4 (final) will count as 35%
The exams will be multi-faceted, consisting of matching, multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, and short-essay questions. All students enrolled in the course must be present on the day of the exams to receive full credit. Penalties may be applied for all work not completed when assigned (10 points per day late).
Research Paper:
Additionally, there will be a short college-level research paper (approximately 6-8 pages in length), which will count as 20% of your grade. For grading procedures, please refer to the “paper” section of my website for the specific details of this assignment. The paper will be due on the second to last week of class. It will be submitted via email – no hard copies will be accepted. Topics for your paper are due by the third week of class. This may be submitted via email, but final approval will occur during class. Penalties will be imposed if either is late without prior approval by the professor.
Extra Credit:
TBA
D. ATTENDANCE POLICY:
Attendance:
You are required to come to class on time every scheduled meeting. However, there may be times when situations arise which are beyond your control. With that in mind, I will allow you to miss NINE classes per term without penalty.
You will be penalized 3 points off of your final average for each absence over the allowed limit.
For example, if you miss eleven classes, 6 points will be deducted from your final grade. So, hypothetically, a B of 85 will become a C+ of 79.
NOTE: While I do my best to keep an accurate tabulation of attendance throughout the term, any penalty incurred for missing more classes than allowed will not be deducted until your final average in totaled.
On the other hand, you will receive a bonus of 3 points if you are actively present for every scheduled class session. This too will be added to your final average.
Due to the constraints of missing too many classes, you will fail the course if you miss more than TWELVE scheduled meetings.
NOTE: because I allow you to miss NINE classes without penalty, there will be no “excused” absences granted under any circumstance unless you are granted a medical leave of absence from the college or you are involved in a college-related event (ex. away game; nursing practical, etc) . So, be sure to use your absences wisely.
It is your responsibility to see if you missed anything. Be sure to check with either me or your classmates after class to find out any important info you may have missed. Due to time constraints, you must schedule an appointment with me to review any missed notes. NOTE: if your absences results in you missing a quiz, you will not be granted a makeup because a) quizzes in almost every class amount to extra-credit points and b) I typically review the answers when the quizzes are collected.
Attendance – Tardies
Please arrive on time. I almost always begin the moment your class is scheduled to start. As you will see, several things occur at the start of class: a) I will check attendance, b) I give a quiz, c) I will present items of importance to the class such as exam dates or assignments, and/or d) I will review the major points from the previous session.
Generally, no penalty will be applied if you arrive to class late. The only time you will receive a penalty is if your tardiness is habitual. If you are frequently late, you will first receive a personal warning. Thereafter, every two tardies will count as an absence.
If you are late, it is your responsibility to check-in at the conclusion of class to ensure that your presence was noted. If you fail to do so, you may be marked absent. It is also your responsibility to see if you missed anything. Be sure to check with either me or your classmates after class to find out any important info you may have missed. Due to time constraints, you must schedule an appointment with me to review any missed notes (same as if you were absent). NOTE: if miss you tardiness causes you to miss a quiz, you will not be granted a makeup because a) quizzes in almost every class amount to extra-credit points and b) I typically review the answers when the quizzes are collected.
E. COURSE OUTLINES:
For Exam #1
Topic I – Intro thru Sino-French War
Topic II – Early Vietnamese Revolutionary Movements
For Exam #2
Topic III – Marxism-Leninism; Ho Chi Minh
Topic IV – Post WWII & the Cold War
For Exam #3
Topic V – Division of Vietnam & US Involvement
Topic VI – JFK & Vietnam
Topic VI – Kennedy Administration – Coming Soon