Module manager: Dr Sean Fear
Email: S.Fear@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) View Timetable
Year running 2025/26
This module is not approved as a discovery module
From the Second World War to Vietnam’s withdrawal from Cambodia in 1989, a series of multifaceted and interconnected conflicts gripped the Indochina peninsula. During this time-span, the wars in Vietnam evolved from anti-colonial struggle to superpower confrontation, and were central to the decades-long global encounter known as the Cold War. As the struggle for Vietnam grew in intensity and complexity, it took on increasingly global implications, drawing in a diverse range of rival states, citizens’ movements, and other non-state actors whose interpretations and responses to the war were conditioned by a variety of competing local agendas. This module will consider a number of critical historiographical questions, including: What were the Vietnamese, Lao, and Cambodian origins of the conflict? How and why did anti-colonial Vietnamese become so divided? Why did Cold War superpowers commit so much to a small, distant country? What role did the larger Cold War play in shaping overseas powers’ decision-making? What was the impact of each party’s respective domestic politics? How and why did the conflict end the way it did? And what are the global legacies of the war? The module will consider the Vietnam War as first and foremost a Vietnamese conflict, one which acquired increasingly global significance. In addition to exploring the domestic causes and dynamics of the Vietnam War, we will also consider the conflict - a seminal episode in the global Cold War - as a lens for analysing a wide range of international events and trends. These include Empire and Decolonization; the Non-Aligned Movement; the Chinese Civil War; the American “Red Scare”; the Korean War; Development and Modernization Theory; the Sino-Soviet Split; China’s Cultural Revolution; Detente; the rise of American Conservatism; the Khmer Rouge and Cambodian Genocide; and the origins of ongoing strategic tensions in the South China Sea. Please note this is an optional module and runs subject to enrolments. If a low number of students choose this module, then the module may not run and you may be asked to choose another module.
The objective of the module is equip you with the skills needed to identify the principal causes of the Vietnam War and to explore the factors prompting global powers to intervene, including the United States, France, the Soviet Union, South Korea, China, and Cambodia.
It also aims to enable you to assess the global impact of the Vietnam War and to engage with a range of theoretical and conceptual frameworks for understanding the war.
Finally, the module will encourage you to evaluate important methodological and historiographical trends relating to the conflict
On successful completion of the module you will have demonstrated the following learning outcomes relevant to the subject:
1. Analyse a range of relevant primary and secondary sources.
2. Apply the skills acquired in formulating nuanced and sophisticated arguments supported by historical evidence
3. Apply transferable skills including effective written and oral communication, time management, and project management and completion, among others.
4. Demonstrate critical thinking and analytical skill, and the ability to articulate complex ideas and interpretations verbally and in writing.
5. Evaluate the interplay between domestic politics and foreign affairs in a wide range of global contexts.
Details of the syllabus will be provided on the Minerva organisation (or equivalent) for the module.
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Workshop | 4 | 1 | 4 |
| Supervision | 2 | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Seminar | 20 | 2 | 40 |
| Private study hours | 355.6 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 44.4 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 400 | ||
In additional to the weekly seminar, and office hours and tutorials, you will have the opportunity to discuss your essay plan in a one-to-one meeting with the module tutor and the opportunity to receive feedback on draft gobbet answers and essay plans before the OTLA.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Essay or Dissertation | Essay | 50 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 50 | |
Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated
| Exam type | Exam duration | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Online Time-Limited assessment | 48.0 Hrs 0 Mins | 50 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Exams) | 50 | |
Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated
Check the module area in Minerva for your reading list
Last updated: 28/04/2025
Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team