Required Reading (latest editions: 5 books)

Dorai, Francis. 2006. Insight City Guide Bangkok. Insight Guides. (ISBN-10: 9812582479)

Wyatt, David K. (2003) Thailand: A Short History. Yale Univ. Press. (ISBN-10: 0300084757)

Halberstam, David. (2007) Ho. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. (ISBN-13: 978-0742559936)

Pham, Andrew X. (2000), Catfish and Mandala: a Two Wheeled Voyage through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam. Picador. (ISBN-13: 978-0312267179)

Ray, Nick, Peter Dragicevich, and Regis St. Louis (2007). Lonely Planet: Vietnam Lonely Planet Publications. 9th ed. (ISBN-13: 978-1741043068)

 

Recommended Reading

Hanh, Thich Naht. Miracle of Mindfulness or Living Buddha, Living Christ.

 

Course Description and Format

This interdisciplinary course combines international travel with traditional class work. We will travel first to Thailand, to explore the city of Bangkok and then to Vietnam to explore the cities of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The course looks at these two countries and three cities and their culture and civilization. We will reflect on our international and multicultural experience. Students may explore history, culture, people, and place and engage in a project which will be partly researched in these Southeast Asian cities. There will be class sessions both before and after the trip; dates and times will be planned around participants= schedules. This course can be expanded for graduate credit.

 

Course Goals

Students will demonstrate:

1. the ability to articulate the role of travel in enhancing their experience of another culture

2. knowledge of some of the important historical, social, cultural, political, and economic issues pertaining to Thailand and Vietnam

3. critical thinking skills and ability to engage in discussions

4. awareness of some of the major influences in Asian art  

 

Honors G.E. Goals. (Social Science G.E. for Honors Students)

               Students will demonstrate:

1. knowledge of theories (e.g., immigration, wealth distribution, trafficking) used to understand human behavior by drawing upon various social science disciplines  

2. direct knowledge of another cultural tradition or country

3. reflection upon the experience in writing (to be included in the Honors Portfolio) which integrates the multicultural experience with knowledge of the political or psychological or economic or sociological aspects of the Southeast Asian cultural tradition(s).

 

Course Requirements and Grading Policy (unless a change is announced publicly)

All students will attend and participate in pre-departure classes, will give a five minute oral presentation on a Thai or Vietnamese monument. All students will keep a travel journal while in Thailand and Vietnam and will submit it at the required time. Students who register for two or three credits will select a topic, submit it for approval, and do research both before and during the trip. They will write a paper (length depends upon the number of credits and whether graduate or undergraduate) upon their return and present it at one of the meetings after spring break.

 

Required of all students:

Attendance and participation on the trip and on campus course sessions. (There is a morning check in at breakfast while in Southeast Asia.)

 

Discussion of assigned readings

  

Travel journal Students will use the "Travel Journal Guidelines" (attached) to organize the required student travel journals. It is highly recommended (by us and by the students from the previous trips) that you keep up with the travel journal, writing a couple of pages every day rather than trying to remember sites and experiences later. Due date: March 26, 2008.

 

In class Presentations (c.5 min.; singly or in groups of two).

You are to be a virtual tour guide for one place of interest that we will be visiting. Have fun and make the location/building/museum/attraction/monument/site come alive for the class (e.g., pictures, costumes). Why is it historically important?

Choices: 1. Grand Palace; 2. Wat Phra Kaeo and the Emerald Buddha; 3. Wat Traimit and the Golden Buddha; 4. Wat Po and the Reclining Buddha; 5. Ayutthaya; 6. Chao Sam Phraya National Museum; 7. Meaning and role of the Elephant in Thailand; 8. Halong Bay; 9. Hanoi (brief history); 10. One-Pillar Pagoda and Tran Quoc Pagoda; 11. Hoa Lo Prison; 12. Ho Chi Minh City (brief history); 13. Cu Chi Tunnels; 14. War Remnants Museum (brief history Vietnam War)

 

            Required for students earning 2 or 3 units:

Research Paper or Project (for 3 units: 8-12 pages; for 2 units: 6-8 pages; graduate papers: 15-20p; ) on a topic of the student=s choice. Focus must be on some aspect of Thailand or Vietnam. All topics are to be approved by the faculty, yet you may consult with any member of the faculty attending the course. Notes and bibliography (c.7 scholarly sources including print sources; c.12 for graduates) are required. Students must spend some time researching their topic while in Southeast Asia. The paper must reflect how the academic subject was enriched by being in the country. Students will orally present their papers to the class after the trip at the final two class sessions. Preliminary topic and bibliography due 12 February. Paper due: Mid-April 2008

 

Graduate Students

For one unit graduate students will need either to read a book on Thailand or Vietnam and then write a book review of it or write a short research paper or project (c. 5 pages).

 

Course Grade (unless a change is announced publicly)

 

                                       2-3 units                             1 unit

Discussion                   15%                                  25%

Presentation                      15%                                  25%

Journal                               30%                                  50%

Project                               40%

 

Failure to turn in the project will result in a grade of D.

 

Special Needs

If a student has a documented learning or other disability, s/he is entitled by law to appropriate, reasonable accommodations. Please see Kathryn Mulholland in Academic Support (257-0187) in Bertrand Hall for more information first and then consult with us.

 

Writing Policy and Academic Honesty

Throughout this course students are encouraged to work with other students to share ideas and develop their understanding of world history. Discussing ideas is wonderful; copying the words or ideas of another (even if you change some words) is not. A college-level paper is punctual, responds appropriately to the assignment, is neatly typed (double-spaced with appropriate font and one inch margins), is well-organized, has correct syntax throughout, and contains few if any spelling and punctuation errors. It should demonstrate that you have learned something from the assignment. Every page should be numbered; significant deficiency in any one or more of these areas is grounds for a grade below a C. Appearance is also a factor in the grade for a paper. All intellectual accomplishments--examinations, papers, lectures, experiments, and other projects--should adhere to the highest standards of academic integrity and ethics.

 

Students are responsible for adhering to the Dominican University policy for academic honesty which can be found in the 2006-2008 university catalog on pages 23-25 and on line at http://www.dominican.edu/academics/catalog. Violating this policy (e.g., plagiarism) is grounds for failure in this course. When using the words of others, students must employ double quotation marks and cite the source. Plagiarism occurs intentionally or unintentionally when students fail to give due credit to the words or ideas of another person. Using words close to those in a source is also plagiarism. Students need to be meticulous in taking notes from sources and use quotation marks when copying exactly. Students may need to show the research notes to the teacher. The details regarding acknowledging sources are found in any standard writing manual, such as MLA or Turabian. Students should avoid academic dishonesty in all of its forms, including plagiarism, cheating, and other forms of academic misconduct. The University reserves the right to determine in any given instance what action constitutes a violation of academic honesty and integrity.

 

 

Diversity Commitment

In keeping with Dominican University's commitment to foster a positive and respectful learning atmosphere for all of its students, this course provides the opportunity to explore the meaning of "diversity" in all of its forms.

 

Pre-Travel Course Meetings (proposed)

Field trip possibilities: Asian Art Museum. (The S.F. museum has one of the most important collections of Thai paintings outside of Thailand.) Thai Buddhist Temple in Fremont.

 

4 December:  Organizing Meeting. 5:30-6:30 Psychology Conference Room

 

Class 1: Thursday, Jan 17, 6-8pm: 

Introduction Ayutthaya–LeeAnn; Vietnam War–Sr. Pat

Guest speaker: Maureen O=Brien, art historian, AAsian Art@

Choose topic of presentation

 

Class 2: Friday, Feb. 1, 3:30-5:30

Guest speaker: Luis Calingo, Dean of the School of Business  

Map Quiz.

 

Class 3: Sunday, Feb. 10, 3-5pm

Understanding Buddhism

Guest speaker: Kathy Whilden, Zen Buddhist priest

Thailand by LeeAnn Bartolini

Oral presentations.

Read before class: David K Wyatt, Thailand: A Short History.

 

Class 4: Tuesday. Feb 19, 8:15-10:15pm

Guest speaker: tba

Vietnam by Sr. Patricia Dougherty

Discussion: David Halberstam, Ho

Oral presentations.

Read before class: Halberstam, David. (2007) Ho.

          Lonely Planet: Vietnam  (the history section)

 

Class 5: Sunday, Mar. 2 5:30 (Lissa is organizing a menu for us to share)

Dinner at Saigon Village (720 B Street; San Rafael)

Discussion of Catfish and Mandala: a Two Wheeled Voyage through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam.

Read before class: Andrew X. Pham, Catfish and Mandala:

 

Trip Thursday, March 6 - 16, 2008.

 

 

Post-Travel Course Meeting Dates and Times 

 

Class 6: Debriefing of Trip.

Class 7: Presentation of project/paper. (optional for one unit students)

Class 8: Presentation of project/paper. (optional for one unit students)

On Line Resources There are a number of excellent websites which will be very helpful before and after the trip. Listed below are some of the better ones. Most have links to other helpful sites.

 

THAILAND

Lonely Planet: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/worldguide/destinations/asia/thailand

 

VIETNAM:

Lonely Planet: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/worldguide/destinations/asia/vietnam/

 

Center for Disease Control website http://wwwn.cdc.gov/travel/default.aspx

http://www.cdc.gov/travel/seasia.htm 

World Health Organization website http://www.who.int/en

 

Thailand

-Bangkok newspaper in English; currency rates; travel information http://www.bangkokpost.com/

-Thai currency http://www.seasite.niu.edu/Thai/basic_reading/currencies/notes&coins.htm

-Eating in Thai http://www.seasite.niu.edu/Thai/basic_reading/food/restaurant_talk.htm

-More on food http://www.seasite.niu.edu/Thai/basic_reading/food/food.htm

- A profile of  the Thai language http://www.seasite.niu.edu/Thai/ThaiLLF/profile.htm

-Thailand Travel Tips  http://www.asia-discovery.com/thailand_travel_tips.htm

 

Vietnam

-Map of Southeast Asia: http://grunt.space.swri.edu/visit/maps/viet1.gif

-History, Photos, and Culture of Vietnam http://www.ibiblio.org/vietnam/

-WWW Virtual Library for Vietnam  http://grunt.space.swri.edu/visit/maps/viet1.gif

-Peter M. Geiser's Internet Travel Guide http://www.pmgeiser.ch/index.php?id=Vietnam   

-On-line Magazine: Vietnamnet http://english.vietnamnet.vn/  

-Phong Nguyen - Vietnamese Scholar and Musician http://www.phong-nguyen.com/

 

United States Government Sites

U.S. State Department Official Web Site http://www.state.gov/countries/

Consular Information Sheet http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_954.html

CIA-The World Factbook https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html

United States Government SitesU.S. State Department Official Web Site http://www.state.gov/countries/ Consular Information Sheet http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_954.html CIA- The World Factbook https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html