Americans continue to remember the Vietnam War according to Hanoi wartime propaganda recycled via the anti-war movement into textbooks, documentaries, and talking heads. This has contributed to long-term controversial effects of the war on domestic politics, foreign policy, and narratives of American history during the past half century. It has also affected Southeast Asian and East Asian area studies with Vietnam being connected to each. A new generation of scholars with language skills and archival experience is contributing fresh thought. Why is the war still important today?

Keith W. Taylor is a Professor of Sino-Vietnamese Studies in the Department of Asian Studies at Cornell University. This lecture is part of the Ronald and Janette Gatty series.