Vietnam Center & Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive News and Updates

Friday, January 25, 2013

2013 Vietnam Center Conference – Vietnam, 1963

The preliminary agenda for the Vietnam Center’s 2013 conference is now available online.

The Vietnam Center and Archive is proud to announce that we will host our 2013 annual conference in partnership with the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration and the Department of Defense 50th Anniversary of the Vietnam War Commemoration. The conference will take place at the McGowan Theater in the National Archives in Washington, DC, Sept. 26-28, 2013. To organize this conference, we have worked very closely in collaboration with three important scholars of the Vietnam War to include Dr. Lien-Hang T. Nguyen (University of Kentucky), Dr. Edward Miller (Dartmouth College) and Dr. Larry Berman (Georgia State University).

The intellectual objectives of this conference are to examine the year 1963 as it has long been viewed as a watershed in both the history of the Vietnam War and in the evolution of the United States’ intervention in that conflict. The Battle of Ap Bac, the “Buddhist crisis” and the self-immolation of Thich Quang Duc, the abortive “Kennedy withdrawal” of U.S. military advisors from South Vietnam, the overthrow and death of Ngo Dinh Diem in the Saigon coup of November, the Kennedy assassination that same month, the Ninth Plenum of the Vietnam Worker’s Party—all of these events and many others shaped the subsequent escalation of the Vietnam War and contributed to its transformation into a major international conflict. This conference (which will take place during the fiftieth anniversary year of these events) will highlight recent research on various aspects of 1963 in Vietnam. In addition, we expect the conference to use 1963 as a means to explore the larger themes and trends running throughout the history of the Vietnam War. This conference will bring together specialists in the history of the Vietnam War, U.S. foreign relations, international history, the Cold War, and Vietnamese studies.

More information will be added to the conference website as it becomes available.

Vietnam Center Conference – Vietnam, 1963
September 26th-28th, 2013
McGowan Theater, NARA
700 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, DC

Conference website: www.vietnam.ttu.edu/events/2013_Conference

Preliminary Agenda: http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/events/2013_Conference/agenda.htm

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Please Join Us As We Celebrate the Vietnamese Lunar New Year, Tet

2013, the Year of the SnakeTet, the Vietnamese New Year
Friday, February 15th
3:00-5:00pm
The International Cultural Center’s Hall of Nations, Texas Tech University

This is a free event and open to the public.

Traditional Vietnamese food will be served, and entertainment may include a special presentation by the Vietnamese Student Association at Texas Tech. Please join us and learn more about the rich heritage and culture that makes Vietnam so remarkable.

February 10, 2013, ushers in the Lunar Year of the Snake. In Vietnam, one of 12 animals of the zodiac represents each year. In many Asian cultures, including Vietnam, the Year of the Snake is believed to be a year of peace and prosperity. The snake is an important part of life in Vietnam. People born in the Year of the Snake are endowed with wisdom and excel in finding solutions to problems. They are usually successful in life and lucky with money.

The Vietnamese people regard Tet as their most important holiday. Food preparation for Tet is very time consuming and often requires days of cooking and, prior to the celebrations, people clean, paint, and decorate their homes. People avoid cleaning during Tet so that good luck will not be “swept away.”

We hope you will be able to join us on February 15, 2013 as we celebrate this special event!

For more information, please call 806-742-3742.

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

New Baby for Archivist Amy Mondt

We here at the Vietnam Center and Archive would like to congragulate our co-worker Amy Mondt and her husband David on the birth of their first child.  Both mother and child are doing great.  We

Posted by at 4:25 pm
Labels: announcements
Thursday, January 10, 2013

Latest Issue of the Friends of the Vietnam Center Newsletter Available Online

The Fall 2012 issue of the Friends of the Vietnam Center Newsletter is now available online.  This issue contains articles on the VNCA’s partnership with the 50th Anniversary of the Vietnam War Commemoration, information about our 2013 Annual Conference, to be held in September in Washington, DC, and more.

If you would like to receive a full color printed version of this newsletter in your mailbox, please consider becoming a friend of the Vietnam Center. Membership information can be found on our Friends of the Vietnam Center webpage.

Links:

Fall 2011 Issue: http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/virtualarchive/items.php?item=999nl0052

Newsletter Back Issues: http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/friends/newsletters.php

Membership Information: http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/friends/

Monday, December 17, 2012

Website Unavailability on December 19th

The Vietnam Center and Archive website and the Virtual Vietnam Archive may be unavailable for periods of time between 6pm-11:59pm (UTC/GMT -6) on Wednesday, December 19th. During this time Texas Tech University will be performing network upgrades, and our websites will be inaccessible while upgrades are performed on our building. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Posted by at 11:28 am
Labels: virtual vietnam archive,website
Sunday, November 11, 2012

Veterans Day 2012


The staff of the Vietnam Center and Archive would like to take a moment to say Thank You to all veterans, their families, friends, and loved ones for their service.

Posted by at 2:45 pm
Labels: general news
Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Reminder: Rocky Bleier This Friday

Vietnam War veteran and former Pittsburgh Steeler football player Rocky Bleier will speak this Friday at 7:00pm as part of our 2012 Guest Lecture Series. The lecture will be in the Lanier Auditorium of the Texas Tech School of Law.  Admission is free and open to the public.

The mission of the Vietnam Center and Archive Guest Lecture Series is to enrich the intellectual and cultural life of students, faculty, and the community at large by bringing distinguished individuals to campus for presentations on specific aspects of the Vietnam War, its lasting impact on American politics, society and culture, and on contemporary issues in Southeast Asia.

This lecture series is funded in part by a generous grant from the Helen Jones Foundation.  For more information on the 2012 VNCA Guest Lecture Series or about Rocky Bleier see http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/GLS.

Posted by at 7:00 am
Labels: announcements,Guest Lecture Series
Thursday, October 25, 2012

The Guest Lecture Series Presents Rocky Bleier

The Vietnam Center and Archive is proud to present Rocky Bleier on Friday, November 9th at 7:00pm in the Lanier Auditorium of the Texas Tech University School of Law.  The lecture is free and open to the public.

A star football player at Notre Dame, Bleier was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1968. He also received a US Army draft notice that year. Leaving the NFL, Bleier served in Vietnam with the 196th Light Infantry Brigade. Wounded when his platoon was ambushed, doctors told Bleier he would never play football again. With the support of Steelers owner Art Rooney, his coach and teammates, Bleier trained for two years and eventually became a star running back for the Steelers during their four Super Bowl wins in the 1970s.

The mission of the Vietnam Center and Archive Guest Lecture Series is to enrich the intellectual and cultural life of students, faculty, and the community at large by bringing distinguished individuals to campus for presentations on specific aspects of the Vietnam War, its lasting impact on American politics, society and culture, and on contemporary issues in Southeast Asia.

This lecture series is funded in part by a generous grant from the Helen Jones Foundation.  For more information on the 2012 VNCA Guest Lecture Series see http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/GLS, or contact Mary Saffell at 806-742-9010 or mary.saffell@ttu.edu.

Posted by at 6:00 am
Labels: announcements,Guest Lecture Series
Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Reminder: Dick Rutan This Thursday

USAF Vietnam War pilot Dick Rutan will speak this Thursday at 7:00pm as part of our 2012 Guest Lecture Series. The lecture will be in the Lanier Auditorium of the Texas Tech School of Law.  Admission is free and open to the public.

The mission of the Vietnam Center and Archive Guest Lecture Series is to enrich the intellectual and cultural life of students, faculty, and the community at large by bringing distinguished individuals to campus for presentations on specific aspects of the Vietnam War, its lasting impact on American politics, society and culture, and on contemporary issues in Southeast Asia.

This lecture series is funded in part by a generous grant from the Helen Jones Foundation.  For more information on the 2012 VNCA Guest Lecture Series or about Dick Rutan see http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/GLS.

Posted by at 7:00 am
Labels: announcements,Guest Lecture Series
Friday, September 21, 2012

National POW/MIA Recognition Day

The third Friday in September is National POW/MIA Recognition Day.  There are 83,414 Americans listed as MIA since WWII, including 1,655 from the Vietnam War.  Please take a moment today to remember those who are still missing from the Vietnam War and all other wars.

To learn more about efforts to account for and recover all of our missing personnel, visit the Defense Prisoner of War Missing Personnel Office (DPMO).

Posted by at 9:10 am
Labels: reference/outreach
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