The Vietnam War, refugees and remembrance

The Vietnam War was one of the major conflicts in which Australia was engaged and led to Australia’s intake of a significant refugee group and its first experience of large-scale non-European immigration. The end of the war in 1975 led to one of the most visible refugee movements of the late twentieth century, in which over two million Vietnamese left their homeland. In this unit, you will explore key issues in the study of the Vietnam War and ongoing shifts in how to understand its history as well as post-war forced migration. The Vietnamese community is not only the largest refugee community in Australia but also its fourth largest Asian community. You will study the war and its contested history, the aftermath of war, refugees’ journeys and experiences, and the nature of remembrance.