The Korean War

HIS 285 (Spring 2012)

MW, 12:30 1:45 PM, Classroom: WILMT 116
Instructor: Dahpon D. Ho Office: Rush Rhees Library 459; dho2@mail.rochester.edu Office Hours: Mon. & Wed. 2:00-3:00 PM, and by appointment Teaching Assistant: Samuel Claussen, samclaussen@gmail.com Office Hours: Rush Rhees 449, Wed. 10:00-12:00

THEIR STORY, OUR STORY The Korean War claimed over 3 million lives and led to the division of Korea, the isolation of China, and the rise of postwar Japan. In America, it helped push massive military buildup and McCarthyism. It was the first battlefield of the Cold War, the first jet war, and the first limited war whose battlefieldsChosin, Heartbreak Ridge, and Pork Chop Hilltaught Americans painful lessons that were all too quickly forgotten as the United States stumbled into Vietnam just over a decade later. This course covers modern Korean history, the role of Soviet and American intervention, Chinas entry into the war, and the trauma of a Korean nation divided between North and South. Through history books, memoirs, and films, we will remember the Forgotten War and its lessons for American history and world history. This course is centered on class discussion of the readings. A significant portion of our class is devoted to group projects based on the analysis of documentary and fictional films.

EXPECTATIONS & GRADING Your final grade will be based on the following 100 total points: Class Participation Four group film projects (10 pts. each) Ten short reading quizzes (3 pts. each) Final research project: The DMZ project 10 40 30 20

You are expected to attend every session and actively participate in discussions. The assigned readings should be completed before each class meeting indicated in the schedule. Repeated absences or failure to keep up with assignments will hurt your performance in this class. Please plan ahead. Required books: 1. Koreas Place in the Sun: A Modern History (Updated Edition, 2005), by Bruce Cumings (hereafter: Korea) 2. The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War by David Halberstam (hereafter: Winter) 3. Voices from the Korean War: Personal Stories of American, Korean, and Chinese Soldiers by Richard Peters and Xiaobing Li (hereafter: Voices) 4. The Forgotten War Remembered: A War Correspondents Notebook and Todays Danger in Korea by Bill Shinn (hereafter: Remembered) 5. Valleys of Death: A Memoir of the Korean War by Bill Richardson and Kevin Maurer (Valleys) 6. War Trash: A Novel by Ha Jin

CLASS SCHEDULE
Note: ** means that the PDF Article is posted on our class Blackboard. # DATE Introduction Part I: KOREA 02 01/23/12 MON 03 01/25/12 WED 04 01/30/12 MON 05 02/01/12 WED 06 02/06/12 MON Land of the Morning Calm The Decline of Chosn Korea Korea Annexed READING QUIZ: Independence and Crisis The War through Korean Eyes Korea, 7-76 Korea, 76-138 Korea, 139-184 Korea, 185-236 Remembered, xi-55 Korea, 237-283 Voices, 76-84; 156-172; 185-198; 206-209 MEETING None READING DEADLINES

01 01/18/12 WED

Part II: FIRE AND ICE 07 02/08/12 WED 08 02/13/12 MON 09 02/15/12 WED Warning Shots of the Hot Cold War MacArthur, Truman, & Acheson READING QUIZ: The Loss of China and the American China Lobby 1950: The Victorious In-Min-Gun Winter, 1-85 Winter, 89-168 Winter, 169-250 Film Project 1: Tae Guk Gi

10 02/20/12 MON 11 02/22/12 WED 12 02/27/12 MON

13 02/29/12 WED 14 03/05/12 MON 15 03/07/12 WED

Winter, 251-290 Remembered, 59-110 Inchon: The Tide Turns Winter, 291-363 Remembered, 113-150 READING QUIZ: Winter, 364-473 The Coldest Winter: China enters **Christensen, The Lessons of Maos Korean War Telegrams Ridgeways War Winter, 474-588 Remembered, 150-186 No Peace but Stalemate Winter, 589-630 Remembered, 187-251 READING QUIZ: Winter, 631-657; 667-669 The True Tragedy (END and Afterword) Korea, 283-298 **Young, Korea: The Post-War War 03/12 03/16 *** NO CLASS SPRING BREAK ***

Film Project 2: Pork Chop Hill

Part III: THE FACE OF WAR 16 03/19/12 MON Americans at War Valleys, xi-195 Voices, xiii-xvi; 51-75; 97116; 127-155; 201-205 **Williams, Kill em All **Ackerman, Digging Too Deep at No Gun Ri **Young, An Incident at No Gun Ri **Conway-Lanz, Refugees and the US Military War Trash, 3-98 Voices, 85-94; 117-124; 173-184 **Jervis, Impact of the Korean War on the Cold War **Pierpaoli, Trumans Other War War Trash, 99-227 Voices, 35-48; 213-258 **Roskey, The POW Impasse War Trash, 228-352 (END) Valleys, 197-324 (END)

17 03/21/12 WED

READING QUIZ: War Crimes: No-Gun-Ri

18 03/26/12 MON

Chinese at War

19 03/28/12 WED

READING QUIZ: The Home Front: McCarthyism and the Rise of the Military-Industrial Complex Prisoners of War

20 04/02/12 MON

21 04/04/12 WED

Camps of Life and Death

Part IV: AFTERSHOCKS 22 04/09/12 MON READING QUIZ: The Pueblo Incident and the Quiet War **Release of Crew of USS Film Project 3: Pueblo (1968) The Manchurian **Sarantakes, The Quiet Candidate (1962) War: 1966-1969 **Lerner, A Failure of Perception Korea, 299-341 **Minns, Rise and Decline of the Developmental State in South Korea **Gartner & Myers, Body Counts as Success in Korea and Vietnam **H.S. Kim, Koreas Vietnam Question **S.J. Kim, South Koreas Involvement in Vietnam Korea, 342-403

23 04/11/12 WED

South Koreas Economic Miracle

24 04/16/12 MON

READING QUIZ: Korea and Vietnam

25 04/18/12 WED

The Hard Road to Democracy

26 04/23/12 MON

North Korea: A Country of its Own

27 04/25/12 WED

READING QUIZ: Bombs and Circumstances

28 04/30/12 MON

Panmunjom and the DMZ

29 05/02/12 WED

READING QUIZ: A World without Kim Jong-il

**Oh & Arrington, Democratization and AntiAmericanism in S. Korea Korea, 404-447 ** Kang, Rethinking North Korea Remembered, 255-296 (END) **Kang, International Relations Theory and the Second Korean War **S.Y. Kim, Staging the Cartography of Paradox: DMZ Special Exhibition **Healy, Korean DMZ as Peace and Nature Park **OHanlon, Stopping a North Korean Invasion Korea, 448-513 (END) Film Project 4: **Sanger, Kim Jong-il J.S.A. (Joint Dies (Dec. 2011) Security Area) DMZ final project due

**

Submit the final project via Blackboard by 12:00PM (noon) on Friday, May 11

The Film Projects There will be four film interpretation projects in this class. Students will form groups of three to work on each project. Each group will be responsible for viewing and discussing the assigned film and constructing a comprehensive analytical paper on the film that consists of the following aspects: 1) An analysis of the historical accuracy of the film: what parts of the film have a historical basis in fact? What aspects are non-historical or fictional constructions? 2) The messages contained in the film: in what context was the film made? What political or cultural messages might it have contained for its target audience(s)? How do those messages look today? 3) A comprehensive critical review of the film as both a work of cinematic art and a historical artifact. The DMZ Project The class will be split in half along a demilitarized zone representing North and South Korea and asked to research this dividing line and its military, political, and cultural implications. This project will be explained in detail in the middle of the term. I wont spoil the surprise for now. Final project due on Blackboard by noon on Friday, May 11 and HAVE A WONDERFUL SUMMER!