Location of the longest war in American history where nearly 60 000 American lost their lives Vietnam has a long tradition of resistance to foreign powers seeking to influence its affairs.The Vietnamese achieved independence after 1 000 years of Chinese rule and in the 19th century endured over 80 years of French imperial domination before expelling them.Though much of the country is hilly and even mountainous rich agricultural land in the north and south are capable of feeding the populace… Lay of the Land Over 1 000 miles in length from north to south Vietnam forms the eastern edge of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia.It is bordered by China to the north Laos and Cambodia to the west the Gulf of Thailand to the south and west and the South China Sea to the east. Vietnam has an area of 128 527 square miles slightly larger than the state of New Mexico or almost the size of Germany.

This just might be the best spam comment ever left on this site.  The spammer sure knows how to cram generic bits of Vietnam information into a single post.  Thank you observant spammer!

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.

After the fall of South Vietnam in 1975, U.S. Col. Harry Summers remarked to his North Vietnamese counterpart, “You know you never defeated us on the battlefield.” After a moment, the North Vietnamese officer replied: “That may be so, but it is also irrelevant.”

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This semester I am taking a course solely on the Vietnam War. Incidentally, this is my first true post-Second World War American history course. Needless to say my understanding of the Cold War era leaves a lot to be desired. All of that aside, my escalating interest in Vietnam might cause me to shift my Civil War to Second World War focus to one that encompasses America’s more modern conflicts. The World Wars onwards might be a better focus simply because of the amount of literature that needs to be written. That realization has started to make me wonder what would happen if my interest in the Vietnam war led to changing my dissertation topic to one that dealt with some aspect of America’s turbulent foray into Southeast Asia. At present the idea of centering on 20th Century warfare seems far less drastic and would allow for my Great War topic.

Granted I have comps to worry about first, I still find it prudent to ponder these questions before I start asking certain professors to join my committee. For instance, if I shift to a more modern topic it would help to have professors whose strengths lie in Cold War-era topics. Alternatively, perhaps I just worry too much! Any outside thoughts and suggestions are welcome.

1. It helps to be as organized as possible. Losing syllabuses halfway through the semester must be avoided. Aside from the misplacing of syllabi, it would be beneficial to create a list of all assignments and their respective due dates. This technique can be attributed to a colleague of mine who demonstrated throughout the semester just how magnificent this method of consolation helps one keep track of the numerous papers due in multiple classes.
2. While a centralized list of assignments goes a long way in managing one’s time more efficiently, one must plan out and complete those tasks with enough time left for proper revisions and edits to be made. Consequently, having to write a couple papers over the course of a single weekend could be avoided if one planned ahead.
3. Be more confident in you reading abilities. While taking notes on the material is important, being able to express your understanding of the literature to professors is invaluable.

Again, these are just some suggestions on how to improve my academic performance while preserving my sanity. As always, outside input is welcome.