Conference Call for Papers and Panels
“1970:  Nixon and Discord during the Vietnam War”

April 9-11, 2020, Lubbock, Texas

The Vietnam Center and Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive (VNCA) and the Institute for Peace & Conflict (IPAC) at Texas Tech University are pleased to announce a conference focused on the year 1970. We expect in this conference to approach a wide range of historical events and topics by hosting presenters who examine diplomatic, military, international, regional, and domestic aspects of the Vietnam War. We also seek presentations that reflect the recent and emerging scholarship on the policies, strategies, and decisions of President Nixon, General Abrams, and their advisors and deputies as they sought to bring about a successful conclusion to the Vietnam War. At the same time, 1970 was a year of major domestic discord inside the United States, including the shootings at Kent State University, the Hard Hat Riot in New York City, among various antiwar and anti-draft protests. Additional areas of interest include major combat operations such as the Battle of Fire Support Base Ripcord, as well as the political, strategic, and tactical decision-making to expand the war into Cambodia with the Cambodian Incursion and into Laos with Operation Tailwind. We also encourage presentations that examine the social and religious aspects of the war, the effect of journalism and reporting on the war, and the efforts to end the conflict through international diplomacy.  We seek presentations that reflect the perspectives of all participants, including those of the US, RVN, DRV, NLF, and all other nations involved.

This two-day conference will be hosted in Lubbock, Texas. Conference organizers welcome both individual presentation proposals as well as pre-organized panel proposals that include a moderator/commentator and three individual presentations. Conference sessions will follow the standard 90-minute format to include 60 minutes for presentations (20 minutes per presentation) followed by 30 minutes for commentary, questions, and discussion. Presentations by veterans are especially encouraged, as are presentations by graduate students. Graduate student travel honoraria will be competitive and made available to select students. All presentations will be video recorded and made publicly available after the conference via the Vietnam Center and Archive website. Select papers may also be published in a collection by the TTU Press or other entity.

Proposal submission deadline is February 15, 2020. Please submit a 250-word abstract and separate two-page CV/resume to VietnamConference.TTU@gmail.com. The program committee of Ron Milam, Steve Maxner, Justin Hart, Dave Lewis, and Laura Calkins will evaluate all paper proposals and develop a program that reflects the many remarkable aspects of 1970. If submitting a panel proposal, please include separate abstracts for each proposed presentation and CVs/resumes for each speaker.

Thank you for your interest in participating in this conference.