Historian Pete Kakel will follow up his popular spring 2017 lecture, "Rethinking the Vietnam War: A Twenty-First Century Perspective," with a critical discussion of the new 10-part Ken Burns/Lynn Novick film that has been airing on PBS Sunday nights since Sept. 17. Using the revelatory testimony of nearly 80 witnesses, the film presents an immersive 360-degree narrative exploring the Vietnam War from all sides: Americans who fought in the war and others who opposed it, as well as North and South Vietnamese combatants and civilians. According to the filmmakers, the film aims for healing and reconciliation, and it hopes to spark a new conversation about the Vietnam War and its lingering impacts. Ken Burns believes that the deep divisions plaguing Americans today had their origins in, and metastasized during, the American war in Vietnam. The class will look at the Burns and Novick film analytically and critically, and participants will discuss their own personal responses to it.
918.139.01 Homewood campus
Thursdays, Oct. 26, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Cost: $30 (1 session)
JHU full-time faculty staff are eligible for 80 percent tuition remission; spouse/same-sex domestic partners, 50 percent. You will be unable to register online and receive the discount. Contact 410-516-8516 for more information.
