Thompson Werk

Back in January, I discussed my growing fascination with the Vietnam War.  Last week I officially changed my doctoral concentration from the First World War to the Vietnam War. While this required changing committee chairs and some paperwork, the process removed a great deal of stress from my shoulders. There is no doubt in my mind that my academic career led me to the Vietnam War. The only reason why it took me so long to concentrate on Vietnam is because of the strong political and personal bonds many people have to the war. Now that I have realized that such political allegiance can be dealt with, I am excited to be involved in such an active field. With many topics poorly covered in the literature, or simply overlooked, the possibilities for fresh research are far too tantalizing for me to ignore.

At present, I am not certain as an exact dissertation topic. Having always been interested in the relationship between the United States and the British Commonwealth, I am contemplating a dissertation that would examine how the armed forces of America and Australia interacted prior to, and during, the Vietnam War. Granted that a fair amount of literature covers such a topic, I hope further reading will afford me a better understanding of issues that require additional analysis. In between many summer commitments, I hope to read-up on Australia in the Vietnam War so that by the fall I will have a more refined dissertation topic.