Required Texts
Barfield, Thomas. The Perilous Frontier. Blackwell Publishers, 1992.
Bonavia, Judy. The Silk Road. Odyssey Publications Limited, 1992.
Brower, Daniel R., and Edward Lazzerini, Editors. Russia's Orient: Imperial Borderlands and Peoples, 1700-1917. Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1997.
Foltz, Richard. Religions of the Silk Road. Palmgrave Macmillan Publishers, 2000.
Hopkirk, Peter. The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991.
Kipling, Rudyard. Kim. (Download from Project Gutenberg)
Xinru, Liu and Hsin-Ju Liu. The Silk Road: Overland Trade and Cultural Interaction. American Historial Association, 1998.
Polo, Marco and Rustichiello of Pisa. The Book of Marco Polo. (Download Volume 1 from Project Gutenberg)
Rossabi, Morris. Khubilai Khan: His Life and Times. University of California Press, 1990.
Rudelson, Justin. Oasis Identities. New York: Columbia University Press, 1998.
Whitfield, Susan. Life along the Silk Road. University of California Press, 2001.
Daily Reading Assignments
| LEC # | TOPICS | READINGS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Big Questions: World Systems and Civilizations The Pivotal Role of Central Eurasia | Study Maps in Reader. |
| 2 | Corpses and Chariots: Mummies, Horses and the Rise of Nomadism | Mair, Anthony, et. al. Articles #2, 3, 4, 5 in Reader. Barfield. P. 1-31. |
| 3 | The Rise of the Silk Route Trade Han, Xiongnu, and Roman Empires | Liu Xinruxt. Creel and Perdue. Articles #6, 7 in Reader. Barfield. Pp. 33-80. |
| 4 | Religions along the Silk Routes: Islam, Christianity, Manicheanism, Judaism, Buddhism | Foltz. Pp. 37-144 in Reader. |
| 5 | Cave Paintings and Sculpture: Dunhuang and Others | Whitfield. Mair. Article #8 in Reader. Barfield. Pp. 131-163. |
| 6 | Caravans and Conquest: Marco Polo, Rabban Sauma, and Kublai Khan | Fletcher. Article #9 in Reader. Marco Polo. Rossabi. |
| 7 | Ming China and the Rise of Muscovy | Barfield. Pp. 229-65. Rossabi. Article #10 in Reader. Khodarkovsky. "Ignoble Savages." Edited by Brower, and Lazzerini. Pp. 9-26 [In Reader]. |
| 8 | Manchu conquest of Central Asia, Russian and Mongolian Negotiations | Perdue. "Three Qing Emperors and the Northwest." Barfield. Pp. 266-303. Slezkine. "Naturalists vs. Nations." Edited by Brower, and Lazzerini. Pp. 27-57. |
| 9 | There will be a film shown in the first session of this week, during class time. It is NOT optional. You will have to write a 1-2 page commentary on it | |
| 10 | Tibet and Xinjiang's Role in Central Asian Politics | Bonavia. The Silk Road. |
| 11 | Nineteenth Century Great Game: Britain, Russia, and China | Hopkirk. Pp. 57-68, 77-108, 165-87, 295-338, 430-64 and 502-24. Brower. "Islam and Ethnicity." Edited by Brower, and Lazzerini. Pp. 115-137. Kipling. Kim. |
| 12 | Twentieth Century Explorers and Looters: Aurel Stein, et. al | Bonavia. The Silk Road. Pp. 94-112, 150-8, 226-41, 248-54, 284-89, 300-05 and 313. |
| 13 | Soviet Rule in Central Asia: From Revolution to Environmental Catastrophe | Olivier Roy. The New Central Asia. Vol. 2. [In Reader] Mcneill on the Aral Sea. Vol. 2. [In Reader] |
| 14 | Post-Soviet Developments in Central Asia and Xinjiang | Rudelson. Oasis Identities. Gladney. Muslim Chinese. Vol. 2. [In Reader] Becquelin. Vol. 2. [In Reader] |
| 15 | Intercultural Contacts from Amsterdam to Japan: Yo-yo Ma and the Silk Road Project The Dalai Lama in the Modern World Richard Feynman "goes" to Tuva | Levin. The Hundred Thousand Fools of God. Vol. 2. [In Reader] Schell. Virtual Tibet. Vol. 2. [In Reader] Goodman. Vol. 2. [In Reader] Crombe. Vol. 2. [In Reader] |