'Recollecting Vietnam: The Stories Americans Tell'

The Tuesday Faculty Lunch Series welcomes Brenda Boyle presenting “Recollecting Vietnam: The Stories Americans Tell.” The stories we tell about war not only shape how we think about a particular war but also influence our willingness to engage in future wars. Fiction and non-fiction narratives about American involvement in Viet Nam before and during the 1965-1973 Vietnam War tell historically contextualized tales of Americans arrogantly following in the steps of their French allies, whose war to recolonize Viet Nam after World War II the United States funded and then took up after the French defeat in 1954 and the division of the country into North and South Vietnam.