2. Guest Lecture Series
  3. 2013

Vietnam Center and Archive Guest Lecture Series

Museum of Texas Tech University

The mission of The Vietnam Center and Sam Johnson Vietnam 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 series was made possible in 2011-2015 by a generous grant from the Helen Jones Foundation.

2013 Speakers

Major General (Ret.) W. Montague Winfield

February 21st, 2013, 7:00pm
Location: Lanier Auditorium, TTU School of Law

The current Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for POW/Missing Personnel Affairs and Director of the DPMO, General Winfield is responsible for leading the Department of Defense worldwide commitment to the fullest possible accounting of Americans missing in action from all conflicts. Winfield served in the US Army for 31 years, commanding at every level and holding staff positions up through the Joint Staff, ending his career as the Commanding General of the US Army Cadet Command. He also served as the Federal Coordinating Officer for FEMA and as the first Commanding General of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) in Hawaii. He received numerous military decorations during his distinguished military career, including the Distinguished Service Medal, two Defense Superior Service Medals, and three Legions of Merit. He is Ranger, French Commando, Airborne, and Air Assault qualified. He earned a Master's Degree in Business from the University of Pennsylvania, and Master's and Bachelor's degrees in Education from Virginia State University, and is a graduate of the Marine Command and General Staff College, the Army War College, the US Navy Lean Six Sigma College and the US Army Comptrollers School.

Lecture Video

Karl Marlantes

March 28th, 2013, 7:00pm
Location: Lanier Auditorium, TTU School of Law
Humanities Texas

Marlantes is the bestselling author of Matterhorn: a Novel of the Vietnam War and What it is Like to Go to War. The latter title was named a top book of 2011 by Amazon.com. The Washington Post called it "a well-crafted and forcefully argued work that contains fresh and important insights into what it’s like to be in a war and what it does to the human psyche." A graduate of Yale University and a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, Marlantes served as a Marine in Vietnam, where he was awarded the Navy Cross, the Bronze Star, two Navy Commendation Medals for valor, two Purple Hearts, and ten air medals.

This program was made possible in part with a grant from Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Lecture Video

Socheata Poeuv

April 25th, 2013, 6:00pm Film Showing; 7:30pm Lecture
Location: Helen DeVitt Jones Auditorium
Cosponsored by the Museum of Texas Tech University
The Museum of Texas Tech

An award winning filmmaker, scholar, and social activist, Poeuv is the founder and CEO of Khmer Legacies, an organization whose mission is to create a video archive of testimonies from survivors of the Cambodian genocide. Ms. Poeuv was born in a Thai refugee camp after her parents fled Cambodia in the midst of the Pol Pot regime. They emigrated to the U.S. when she was two years old. Her 2006 film, New Year Baby, documents her return to Cambodia to learn what happened to her family during the terror of the Khmer Rouge. The film has won multiple awards, including Amnesty International’s "Movies That Matter" Human Rights Cinema Award and the Crystal Heart Award for expressing "hope and respect for the positive values of life." The film was broadcast nationally as part of PBS’s Independent Lens series. Her presentation will include a free screening of New Year Baby.

This lecture and film showing are cosponsored by the Museum of Texas Tech University

New Year Baby is the first film in The Vietnam Center and Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive's 5th Annual APAHM Film Festival. For more information about this and the other films in the festival, including show times, see the 2013 Film Festival page.

Lecture Video

Dr. Patrick Hagopian

July 18th, 2013, 3:00pm
Location: Formby Room, Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library

Patrick Hagopian is the author of The Vietnam War in American Memory: Veterans, Memorials and the Politics of Healing, an in-depth examination of the development of many of the Vietnam War memorials in the United States and the vital role the Vietnam Veteran community played in their creation. Dr. Hagopian will be donating his papers relating to the writing of this well received work to The Vietnam Center and Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive and will speak about the collection and his experiences in writing his book on US Vietnam War memorials.

Lecture Video

Ambassador Sichan Siv

October 24th, 2013, 7:00pm
Location: TTU International Cultural Center

Sichan Siv escaped the Cambodian killing fields in 1976, resettling in Connecticut. From 1989-1993, Siv served as a Deputy Assistant to President George H.W. Bush, and as a Deputy Assistant Secretary in the State Department. In 2001, he was confirmed as the US Ambassador to the United Nations, a position he held until 2006. His is the author of two books: Golden Bones and Golden Words. A book signing will follow his lecture.

Lecture Video

Col. Mike Mullane

November 21st, 2013, 7:00pm
Location: Lanier Auditorium, TTU School of Law

A 1967 graduate of West Point, Mullane was commissioned in the USAF and served as a Weapon Systems Operator aboard an RF-4C Phantom, completing 150 combat missions in Vietnam. In 1978 he was selected as a Mission Specialist for the first group of Space Shuttle Astronauts. He completed three space missions and logged 356 hours in space before retiring in 1990. Mullane has been inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame and is the recipient of many awards, including the Air Force Distinguished Flying Cross, Legion of Merit and the NASA Space Flight Medal.

Lecture Video

Further Information

  • Admission is free and open to the public.
  • Times and dates are subject to change. Please check this page or our Facebook Page for updated information.
  • If you require special accommodations, please call Mary Saffell at 806-742-9010.
  • Disclaimer:The views and opinions expressed by these speakers are theirs alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Vietnam Center and Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive and Texas Tech University.

Guest Lecture Series and Video Links