Themes:
- Parents and children- family relationships, older parents divorcing (or not), seeing your parents as people with lives apart from you;
- Motherhood- becoming a mother, women’s healthcare issues, the trauma of losing a child, working mothers, mother-daughter relationships;
- The Vietnam War, effects of colonialism, American/foreign interference, American views/reporting of the war, after-effects for the Vietnamese people;
- Trauma- different kinds of trauma, generational trauma, the war, family trauma;
- Migration- refugee migration, acculturation, going “home” to a country you don’t remember, being in-between cultures, questions about America and the world’s role/responsibility in refugee resettlement.
Potential Activities:
- Essay prompts
- Reading Journals – read an excerpt or chapter, reflect in a journal, and have a discussion.
- Group Discussions
- Presentations
- Digital Humanities projects (maps, timelines)
- Speeches
Have questions? Contact a Librarians on the OCOB Committee. Librarians are available to help you with access questions, as well as the development of activities for using The Best We Could Do in your class.