Course Description:
This interdisciplinary course will provide an interactive forum for the study of Cambodian culture. An introduction to the early history of Cambodia and neighboring states will serve as a background to the main study, which will cover the time from the downfall of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge to the present day. The course will bring together such disciplines as the arts, economics, history, philosophy, political affairs and social sciences, examining how they have impacted the people of Cambodia in recent history. Through Internet technology, the course will be conducted in both Cambodia and Providence in order to provide an interactive and international learning environment. The stories of people in present-day Cambodia, as well as of Cambodians living in diaspora, will be heard.

Curriculum Goals:
This course, in keeping with the Providence College Mission Statement,... "Encourages the deepest respect for the essential dignity, freedom and equality of every person...." It emphasizes a study in diversity, both globally and locally, so that it ....."prepares its students to be responsible and productive citizens to serve in their own society and the greater world community." Thus prepared, students should be capable of working effectively with Cambodians in Southeast Asia or with Cambodians in diaspora. Students should also be capable of lecturing to schools and organizations about the Cambodian story, helping to raise awareness in a little-known field. The course will make innovative use of teaching technologies, using electronic programs.

This course will go far to bring diversity onto the College curriculum. It will welcome students of all racial and ethnic backgrounds, and will teach about a culture little known or understood by the majority local population. For specialized points of view there will be guest lecturers, especially coming from local Cambodians Americans, including Providence College alumnae. There will be one field trip, and some opportunity for service/fieldwork during the semester.

Course Objectives:
Students should understand how to view and comprehend Cambodian culture from multiple perspectives, from early times to the present day
Students should become familiar with aspects of Cambodians in diaspora
Students who are not Cambodian should become comfortable communicating with Cambodians, both at home and abroad
Students who are Cambodian should develop a greater pride of their heritage, as well as an awareness of how they may help other Cambodians, both in America and in the homeland
Students should become competent in using interactive Internet technologies
Students should feel comfortable relaying the story of present-day Cambodia through oral and written communication

Rationale:
It is a given that the forbearance of Cambodia's people and culture in the aftermath of horrific destruction wrought by the Khmer Rouge is well worth studying. Recent growth of the Cambodian population in America resulting from the war in Cambodia, specifically in the New England area, makes it imperative that students here become familiar with this complex subject. This course also contributes to the development of diversity within the College curriculum.

Texts and Articles:

Curtis, Grant - Cambodia Reborn? Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution, 1998.
Hopkins, Mary Carol - Braving a New World: Cambodian (Khmer) Refugees in an American City. Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey, 1996.
Kiernan, Ben - How Pol Pot Came to Power. London: Verso, 1985.
Livingston, Carol - Gecko Tails: A Journey Through Cambodia. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1996.
*Mabbett, Ian and David Chandler - The Khmers. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1995.
Mannika, Eleanor - Angkor Wat: Time, Space, and Kingship. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1996.
Oeur, U Sam (Ken McCullough, trans.) - Sacred Vows. Minneapolis: Coffee House Press, 1998.
Peou, Sorpong - Intervention & Change in Cambodia: Towards Democracy? New York: St. Martin's Press, 1999.
Reynolds, Craig J. - "Cosmologies, Truth Regimes, and the State in Southeast Asia", in Modern Asian Studies, vol. 34, part 1, February, 2000, pp. 1-55. Cambridge University Press.
Ross, Russell R. (ed.) - Cambodia: A Country Study. Washington, D.C.: Department of the Army, 1990.
*Swearer, Donald K. - The Buddhist World of Southeast Asia. Albany: S.U.N.Y. Press, 1995.
*Welaratna, Usha - Beyond the Killing Fields: Voices of Nine Cambodian Survivors in America. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1993.
*Zephir, Thierry - Khmer: The Lost Empire of Cambodia. New York: Abrams, 1998.

Websites: (Note - Websites such as the U.S. State Department may be more up to date in terms of some factual coverage than many publications.)

cambodianmasters.org
providence.edu/art/cambodian/
lib.umich.edu/libhome/Documents.center/foreign.html
odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/cb.html
yale.edu/cgp
pmgeiser.ch/cambodia/places/angkorwat.htm

*Starred texts are available for purchase. Other readings, including articles, will be available through library reserve. Supplementary xeroxed materials will be supplied, and relevant websites will be given throughout the semester. Channel carrying required films or full length videos will be announced one week in advance of multiple showings.

Course Structure and Grading:
Taped interviews and videos from Cambodia, and guest lecturers from the local Cambodian-American community will be an integral part of the course, which will be held in seminar format. A class website will be continually updated, and will include links to other relevant material.

Attendance, keeping up with assignments, and active class participation are expected. More than two unexcused absences may result in failure of the course.
Grading: 92-100 =A
87-91 =B+
82-86 =B
77-81 =C+
72-76 =C
67-71 =D+
62-66 =D

Grades will be based on the following:
Major research paper 30%
Journal of content critiques 15%
Critical analyses of readings 15%
Attendance; Class Participation 10%
Examinations and Quizzes 30%

A Journal with analyses and critiques on readings, videos, and related subjects is to be kept throughout the course. It should be brought to class, and can aid in discussions. Please see "Ethics" page for information on research practices and plagiarism.

This course will have its own interactive website which will be continually updated with current material from both Cambodia and America. Announcements will be made in advance about required online participation, assignments and quizzes.

Course Outline:

Week 1. Southeast Asia Background; Early History of Cambodia;
Indianization and the Concept of "Devaraja"
Reading: Ross, pp. xiii - 137; Mabbett, pp. 1-77.

Week 2: Early Arts of Cambodia: Angkor; Buddhist and Hindu Iconographies
Reading: Zephir, all; Reynolds, all; Mabbett, pp. 78-124.

Week 3: Historical Developments in Cambodia
Reading: Welaratna, pp. 11-36; Mabbett, pp. 125-236.

Week 4: Cambodia in the 20th Century; The Khmer Rouge and the "Killing Fields"
Reading: Kiernan, all; Mabbett, pp. 237-260. [film: The Killing Fields]

Week 5: Memoirs of the "Killing Fields": Cambodian Survivors
Reading: Oeur, all.

Week 6: Memoirs of the "Killing Fields": Cambodian-American Survivors I
Reading: Welaratna, pp. 37-161.

Week 7: Memoirs of the "Killing Fields": Cambodian-American Survivors II
Reading: Weleratna, pp. 165-277.

Week 8: Contemporary Cambodia: Creating a State; The Aid Market; Civil Society
Reading: Curtis, pp. 1-149. [video: Samsara]

Week 9: Rebuilding, Rehabilitation and Regeneration in Cambodia Today
Reading: Curtis, pp. 150-183; Livingston, pp. 1-35, 191-262; Ross, pp. 141-238.

Week 10: Cambodian Religion: Popular Tradition; Buddhism as Civil Religion
Reading: Swearer, pp. 5-161.
[Class visit to Cambodian Buddhist Temple, Providence - to be scheduled]

Week 11: Artistic Renewal in Cambodia: Music, Theater and Dance
Reading: xerox. (website: cambodianmasters.org; tapes, video clips)

Week 12: The Arts, East and West: Cambodian Artists in Cambodia and America
Reading: Hopkins, pp. 99-124. (websites; video clips)

Week 13: Cambodians in America: Braving a New World
Reading: Hopkins, pp. 1-98, 125-156.

Week 14: Towards Democracy in Cambodia; Returning to Cambodia
Reading: Peou, pp. 289-431 (websites; video clips)

ETHICS:

Plagiarism (taking credit for the work of others) in any form is unacceptable at Providence College. (Thanks to Professor Michael Hayes for the following clarification.)

"Please remember that plagiarism involves the submission of thoughts or formulations of other persons as part of one's own work without citation or credit being given for those thoughts/formulations. For this reason:

You must put quotation marks around any written use of another's specific words
and cite the source and page in APA[*] format.

You must cite the source in APA [*] format of any thoughts or formulations you have
‘Changed into your own words.'

Please err on the side of scrupulous in these matters!***

Good scholarly practice requires that you maintain notes and/or xerox copies for all materials used to prepare a paper. [**] If any questions were to be raised about the source of any of the content of your work, you should be able to show your notes or copies of materials used in manuscript preparation."

*APA = American Psychological Association gives citation and reference guidelines in its Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 4th ed. (Washington: APA, 1994).

Other documentation guide books include:

The Modern Languages Association's MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 5th ed.
(New York: MLA, 1999).

The Chicago Manual of Style, 14th ed. (Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1993).

** Please print out websites used for research. Websites may change or disappear, and the source proof may be lost. For an electronic citations guides: Electronic Style: A Guide to Citing Electronic Information (Westport: Meckler, 1993); http://www.uvm.edu/~ncrane/estyles/apa.hlml

*** A student handing in plagiarized work will automatically receive an "F" for the course.

MLA

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