Few countries have had a more glorious past and more difficult present than Cambodia, the destination of this evening’s armchair tour. Over the course of five centuries, Khmer rulers created Angkor, one of the world’s greatest cities, and held sway over the largest and most powerful empire ever seen in Southeast Asia. Following the downfall and abandonment of Angkor, Cambodia was buffeted by its neighbors until coming under the domination of France. Since independence, Cambodia has fallen victim to war, violence, and genocide, a shadow from which it is only now emerging.

Through visuals, sounds, and lecture, scholar Michael Coe places Cambodia in its geographical setting, examines the rise and fall of Angkor, and follows the Khmer people into the 21st century. Visit Cambodian rice farmers, explore some of the Khmer’s greatest temples—such as the world-renowned Angkor Wat—and learn how modern technology is revolutionizing the study of the Khmer past.

Coe is a professor emeritus of anthropology and curator emeritus in the Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale University. He is the author of Angkor and the Khmer Civilization and Breaking the Maya Code.

CODE: 1P0-079

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