1. The teacher will begin by showing all nine of the photographs (one at a time) from Vandy Rattana’s Bomb Ponds series. https://ucdavis.box.com/s/wihk1qockjsoag95k1vu6wf5urs6pvsn They will do so without revealing the title, purpose, or context of the series. 
   • The teacher will ask students to answer the questions below in writing. These questions center on how the photographs (and scenes pictured) make them feel: 
     • What is presented in each photograph? 
     • How does each photograph make you feel, and why? (A “Human Emotions Chart” is an available handout)
     • What words come to mind for you that accurately describe each photograph? (Examples may include nature, serene, green, grassy, forest, etc.)
     • Can you identify a common theme among this collection of photographs? If so, what do you think it is?  
   • Next, the teacher will ask students to share their answers to the above questions with the class. 

2. After a number of students have shared their answers, the teacher will explain that the photographs are part of a larger audiovisual project entitled “Bomb Ponds” by Cambodian artist Vandy Rattana. All of the ponds pictured are actually water-filled craters that were left by the bombs dropped on Cambodia by the United States during the Vietnam War.
   • The instructor may ask: How does this contextual information change your feelings about each photograph and the collection as a whole? (Have students refer to their original responses of emotions evoked from viewing the photos). 
   • The instructor may also ask students what they imagine the artist’s purpose for this project to be.

3. The teacher will play the video entitled “Artist Profile: Vandy Rattana’s ‘Bomb Ponds’ Photographs and Video” (the video lasts 6 minutes and 54 seconds total) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2or7FwayP4. Content Warning: This video features some very emotionally charged scenes from Rattana’s documentary film, Bomb Ponds, where victims of the bombings provide their testimonies. 
   • After watching the video, the instructor will lead a class discussion regarding major points of emphasis. Some of these may include: 
     • Guggenheim Museum curator June Yap proposes an interesting question regarding the “Bomb Ponds” photo series: “What about this appears so natural, but so artificial at the same time?” 
       • How do the photographs contain elements of both nature and the unnatural?
       • How do these components interact and what might these relationships tell us (about war and violence, for example)? 
     • June Yap informs the viewer that, “There aren’t many other traces of the bombing.” She declares, “[Vandy] Rattana is documenting this portion of history that is forgotten.” 
       • Why do you think this history has been forgotten across generations in Cambodia?
       • And why might this history be forgotten here in the United States?
       • What purposes does forgetting serve in these two contrasting contexts? What are some ways that these histories could be preserved, and, therefore, remembered? 

4. The teacher will play the documentary film Bomb Ponds, which lasts 22 minutes and 56 seconds. Content warning: This film includes graphic descriptions of violence and resulting forms of trauma. 

Notes for Instructor:

There are three survivors of the bombing profiled in this film: Noun Veoun (man with a collared shirt), Heng Ty (woman with short, cropped hair), and Mi Mot (man with the scarf around his neck). It is important to use their names when talking and writing about this film. The instructor may decide to introduce them before the film to prepare students to relate to these individuals in a more direct fashion. The teacher may also speak to the courage of these individuals for sharing their stories with the filmmakers and, thus, with all who view the film.

• Teacher may decide to explain the following terms in order to enhance comprehension and quality of discussion:
  • Memory (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/memory)
  • History (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/history)
  • Oral History (https://dictionary.apa.org/oral-history)
  • Trauma (https://dictionary.apa.org/trauma)

5. The teacher will lead a discussion of the film. Prior to this discussion, however, students will answer the following prompts in writing:
   • What specific moments in this film had the greatest emotional impact on you and why were they so impactful? 
   • What do the bomb ponds represent to the people who lived through the U.S. bombing of Cambodia?
   • Define the term ‘violence.’ 
     • Does this definition include the Earth? Can violence be inflicted upon land, air, or water, for example? Why or why not?
   • Next, the teacher will ask students to share their answers to the above questions with the class. The instructor can also ask students to contribute to a class definition of the term ‘violence.’ The act of defining this term will help to clarify the numerous dimensions of violence. The instructor may also direct discussion regarding the concept of ‘legitimate,’ or state-sanctioned, violence (including acts of war or police aggression, for example). 

6. Students will write a one-page reflective essay that includes answers to the following prompts and questions (some of the questions have been asked in earlier parts of the lesson, but this final essay assignment will give students additional time to consider and develop their initial responses). Optionally, teachers can provide student choice in selecting only two or three questions to respond to and not all questions.
   • Alternatives to a one-page written or recorded essay:
     • Students can complete a video reflection and share it on a platform such as Padlet or Flipgrid.
     • Students can also write their responses and have a verbal discussion with various peers through a Lines of Communication or Give One, Get One activity. 
   • Prompts/Questions:
     • What specific moments in this film had the greatest emotional impact on you and why were they so impactful? 
     • In what ways does the remaining toxicity in the bomb pond waters speak to the enduring nature of violence and war? (Examples may include the degradation of the environment, of people’s land, habitats, etc.)
     • Why do you think this history has been forgotten across generations in Cambodia?
       • And why might this history be forgotten here in the United States?
         • What purposes does forgetting serve in these two contrasting contexts?
     • What are some ways that these histories could be preserved, and, therefore, remembered? (Examples may include the testimony of survivors, investigative reporting, museums, official investigations, etc.)
       • What impact could these forms of preservation have on future generations?
     • Finally, how does the term ‘Vietnam War’ serve to obscure the violence visited upon non-Vietnamese peoples, including Cambodians?