Accompanying slides for this lesson may be found here:  https://ucdavis.box.com/s/i727ez2y90mqh9avrr7emusgvs03wbnn 

1. Warm-Up (5 minutes)
   1. Ask students to share their favorite genre(s) of music. Allow students to share with a peer.
2. Lesson Introduction: Show “Tung Bay and Cò Lả by Paris by Night” music video (10 minutes)
   1. The video can be found in the link here: (subtitles) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OSqOhweCx0 
   2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzsfHIEWG-o (no subtitles)
      1. The lyrics can be found in the handouts section (see: “Flying in the Air and the Wandering Stork (Medley) Lyrics”)
   3. During the video, the teacher will have students get out a piece of paper and write down as many adjectives as possible that they would use to describe Vietnamese American music based on this video.
      1. Responses should touch upon the two sections of the video: modern, cosmopolitan, poppy, sexy vs. traditional, alluring, beautiful, and dignified.
   4. After the video is done playing, the teacher will give students one to two minutes to talk with a partner on what they wrote and how they would describe Vietnamese American music.
   5. The class will come together and share their answers.
      1. Discussion questions:
         1. Does this music video feel Vietnamese? Does it feel American? Both?
         2. How would you describe the two different sections of the video?
         3. How do you feel Vietnamese American music has evolved and become unique? How do you think it changed since 1975 when the first Vietnamese refugees came to the US?
3. Shared Learning: History of Vietnamese Refugee Music (15–25 minutes)
   1. The teacher will pass out, or have students access on devices: three articles, “A Brief History of Paris by Night, the Anchor of Vietnamese Culture Abroad”, “This is the Music of Vietnamese Refugees,” and Source 1: “History of Vietnamese Refugee Music”
   2. The articles can be found here:
      1. “A Brief History of Paris by Night, the Anchor of Vietnamese Culture Abroad”: https://saigoneer.com/saigon-music-art/25830-a-brief-history-of-paris-by-night,-the-anchor-of-vietnamese-culture-abroad
      2. “This is the Music of Vietnamese Refugees”: https://dvan.org/2022/10/music-vietnamese-refugees/
      3. Source 1: “History of Vietnamese Refugee Music”: found in the handout “Source Sheet: Vietnamese American Music”
   3. The teacher will have students get into six groups and read their assigned reading together (two groups per reading).
   4. Recommended for teachers to share the presentation with discussion. Teachers can screencast the presentation so students can pre-watch and re-watch or interact with them independently. Ask students to explain what the content means after each slide.
   5. The teacher will share a link to a Google Slides presentation (or equivalent) with the class with six questions for each group to discuss:
      1. Overview of Vietnamese Music
         1. How did the Vietnamese refugee community inherit and evolve music in South Vietnam before 1975 into its own musical culture?
         2. How did the themes and styles of music by Vietnamese Americans evolve in the second generation? Did they retain any aspects of their parents’ generation?
      2. Saigoneer 
         1. How did "Paris by Night" serve as a cultural touchstone for the Vietnamese diaspora, capturing the essence of nostalgia, hope, and loss, and how did its evolution reflect the changing sentiments and needs of the displaced Vietnamese community over the years?
         2. Describe the journey challenges did Tô Văn Lai face in both establishing and maintaining "Paris by Night" as an emblematic hallmark of Vietnamese culture abroad?
      3. History of Vietnamese Refugee Music
         1. How has Vietnamese music served as a bridge connecting Vietnamese refugees and immigrants to their homeland and memories, and how has this connection influenced the evolution of Vietnamese American music?
         2. In what ways have political, cultural, and commercial pressures shaped Vietnamese American musical themes, particularly in terms of nostalgia and innovation?
   6. Each group will be assigned one of the six questions (according to their specific reading), and the teacher will instruct each group to create one slide in the Google Slides shared to the class.
      1. Each group will write down several bullet points (and possible images) to the questions on the slide that they are assigned together.
   7. Discussion and Sharing (15 minutes)
      1. After the slides are completed, each group will present their slide to the class.
      2. The teacher can use the discussion questions to help facilitate the conversation:
         1. What are some of the most important themes in Vietnamese American music and how do they reflect the community in general?
         2. How does Vietnamese American music provide the refugee community a sense of identity and belonging when they are refugees away from their homeland?
         3. Is the need by older generations to preserve the themes and styles of the past a good or bad thing for the community? Does this nostalgia need to change, or is it important to the community?
         4. Thinking about newer generations, what do you think is the future of Vietnamese American music? What parts will the future inherit? What parts will evolve? Is this change a good or bad thing for the community? 
   8. Stop and Think (5 minutes)
      1. On a piece of paper, the teacher will have students write down an answer to the following question or chat with a partner their thoughts to the following question: How does music reflect the resilience, identity, and sense of belonging in a community, especially regarding the Vietnamese American community?
4. Anticipatory Set (10 minutes)
   1. The teacher will show the two images below with the following descriptions (teachers make sure students can read the descriptions):
      1. Image 1: The following is a poster advertising the 18th ASIA show, produced by Asia Entertainment, one of the most popular music entertainment shows in the Vietnamese refugee community. This year’s show is entitled, “Remember Sài Gòn,” with an image of Sài Gòn before 1975 and singers looking somber in black and white. 
         1. https://ucdavis.box.com/s/mb4ldfg1fmozma8kuis44o4gchyekhjf or original source: https://cdnhacviet.blogspot.com/2014/05/asia-018-nho-sai-gon-asia-dvd.html 
      2. Image 2: The following is a poster advertising the 29th Paris by Night show, produced by Thuý Nga Entertainment, one of the most popular music entertainment shows in the Vietnamese refugee community. This year’s show is entitled, “In Las Vegas,” with images of Las Vegas, couples dancing the tango/waltz, opera singers, and flashing lights.
         1. https://ucdavis.box.com/s/97bjxxnefrwhqi7z95gpuze6xbuexk1f or original source: https://parisbynightcentre.blogspot.com/2009/03/pbn-29-in-las-vegas-pic-recap.html  
   2. The teacher will then show and/or ask the following question: 
      1. The following pictures are advertising flyers of ASIA 18: Remembering Sài Gòn, along with Paris By Night 29: In Las Vegas. Compare how the imagery compares and contrasts one another. How do these two flyers differ in how Vietnamese and Vietnamese American identity is presented to the world/community?
   3. The teacher will give students time to write down as many adjectives that they would give to each flier. 
   4. Afterwards, the teacher will have students talk in pairs for one to two minutes.
   5. The class will then come together and talk about the differences between the two flyers.
      1. This will provide a brief introduction into the two main Vietnamese American music entertainment companies, Asia Entertainment and Thuý Nga Entertainment, and will also set the tone for how the two companies represent two different visions for a Vietnamese identity after 1975.
5. The teacher will pass out “Paris By Night vs. Asia Sources” (see handouts section) with particular focus on sources 4a and 4b, which focus on the differing approaches and expressions of Vietnamese identity in the diaspora.
6. The teacher will have students complete notes in which they make a list of the distinctive features of Paris by Night and ASIA (10 minutes)
   1. Students will be instructed to keep in mind the following question when note taking: How do Paris by Night and ASIA differ in the way that they portray “Vietnamese identity” in the refugee community as the community attempts to rebuild a culture away from their homeland?
7. After completing their notes, the teacher will present the following slide images below: (15 minutes)
   1. Text of slides: 
      1. Slide 1: Beginning Stages of Vietnamese Refugee Music
         1. Thúy Nga Productions (Paris by Night) and Asia Entertainment . Anh Bằng (founder of Asia): soldier, playright, band member of group Lê Minh Bằng in South Vietnam. Fled in 1975 and founded Dạ Lan Entertainment in Westminster, CA, 1981. Tô Văn Lai (founder of Thúy Nga): teacher and music producer of Thúy Nga productions that existed in South Vietnam previously fled in 1976 to France, unsuccessfully tried to rebuild Thúy Nga in France and decided to move to Southern CA in 1983 after meeting Anh Bằng and seeing the large Vietnamese American community.
            1. Teacher Notes: In slide 1, the teacher will go over a brief history of how the two music entertainment companies, Asia Entertainment and Thúy Nga Entertainment, became the new most recognizable companies that showcased the best of Vietnamese American popular culture and music.
   2. Slide 2: Paris by Night vs. Asia Entertainment. What does a Vietnamese refugee identity mean after 1975? This was the overarching question for every artist instilled in a culture that emphasized culture as an agent of Vietnamese modernity and civilization.
      1. Paris by Night/Asia Entertainment: This ideal Vietnamese image is reflected on a stage that “grapple[s] with immigration, alienation, and displacement in a manner reflecting a newly forged bourgeois identity” (Lieu 2007, 206).
      2. Flashy, cosmopolitan, modern, glamourous, transnational, transcends politics, evolving culture. Vietnamese refugee identity as a proud inheritor of the golden age culture of South Vietnam and situating it within modern, American pop culture.
      3. Anti-communism as modus operandi, uniquely pre-1975 Vietnamese, politics premised on refugee identity, maintaining culture
      4. Teacher Notes: In slide 2, the teacher will have students share what they wrote in their graphic organizers.
         1. The teacher will also show students the main differences in style in the chart on the slide and compare it to student responses.
         2. Discussion questions:
            1. What are the two conceptions of Vietnamese identity that are presented by the two companies?
            2. What do you think these two styles say about the way the refugee community attempts to grapple with the need to both preserve and evolve Vietnamese culture and identity abroad
            3. How do both companies contribute to the building of a unique Vietnamese refugee identity abroad? How does this factor in as the refugee community is cognizant that both styles of music are restricted or banned in Vietnam from 1975 to the 1990s?
            4. What is the importance of these companies besides entertainment for the refugee community? How do you think the refugee community sees the growth of Vietnamese culture and music abroad?
               1. Possible answer: that since Vietnamese culture has ‘died’ and been restricted in VN, those abroad have a duty to ensure that Vietnamese culture continues to evolve into modernity while also preserving its best elements before 1975.
   3. Slide 3: Paris by Night vs. Asia Entertainment https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PNt8GKQFSo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZ9Cmyyhf_I
      1. Teacher Notes: Teacher shows slide three to the class, which shows the posters from the warm-up, as well as two music videos, one from Paris by Night and one from ASIA
8.  Community Collaboration (10 minutes)
   1. The teacher will play both videos: 
   2. ASIA: “Remembering Mother” (Nhớ Mẹ): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZ9Cmyyhf_I (subtitles) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5QI4H5rHbo (no subtitles)
   3. Paris by Night: “What's the Point of Love?” (Yêu Làm Chi): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PNt8GKQFSo (subtitles) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xNrS9l3qGU (no subtitles) 
   4. During the video, the teacher will ask students to append to their graphic organizer with observations on imagery, sound, tone, mood, lyrics, and meaningful quotes.
9. The teacher will do a final activity in which pairs are instructed to stand up as a team. The teacher will ask a number of questions for students and pairs will move and explain to another pair that has a differing view why they agree or disagree. (10 minutes)
   1. Each question round should be around one to two minutes.
      1. Questions:
         1. Which song or company do you think represents Vietnamese culture better? Why or why not?
         2. Which song or company style fits your taste better? Why or why not?
         3. In 2023, which style do you think has been more successful? In the US? In Vietnam? In the Vietnamese refugee community? Why or why not?
10. Reflection Closure (10 minutes)
    1. After the questions, the class will come back together for a final discussion and reflection.
    2. Student pairs will share their thoughts on one of the three lesson questions. 
    3. Extension reflection: Discussion question by teacher: Thinking about your answers, what do you think the future of Vietnamese American music will look like? Will it be more like Paris by Night or like ASIA? Is this future a good or bad thing for the refugee community and why?