Colloquium
Term: Spring 2023 - Full Term (01/24/2023 - 05/08/2023)
Grade Mode: Letter Grading
CRN: 50195
Times & Locations
Start Date | End Date | Days | Time | Location |
---|---|---|---|---|
1/24/2023 | 5/8/2023 | T | 2:10pm - 5:00pm | NESM G13 |
The Silk Road, often characterized as the world’s first great superhighway, linked China and Japan to the Mediterranean World across Central Asia from ancient times, via caravans and bazaars, to modern periods via new transportation and communication networks. As much of an idea as a reality, its role in world history is unique and complex. The peoples along the way not only traded luxury goods, but also ideas, religions, art, culinary and musical traditions. Through lectures, reading and films, we will explore the trade links between East and West, and the material traded along the way. Primary-source literature will help us understand the great ideas and movements of the times-Buddhism, Islam, Christian crusading and Mongol expansion. Students may choose final topics that draw on the "old" silk road or the "new" silk road.