everything.study
21H.580

From the Silk Road to the Great Game: China, Russia, and Central Eurasia

Undergraduate · Historical course

Fall 2003

Topics

  • Big Questions: World Systems and Civilizations
  • Corpses and Chariots: Mummies, Horses and the Rise of Nomadism
  • The Rise of the Silk Route Trade
  • Religions along the Silk Routes: Islam, Christianity, Manicheanism, Judaism, Buddhism
  • Cave Paintings and Sculpture: Dunhuang and Others
  • Caravans and Conquest: Marco Polo, Rabban Sauma, and Kublai Khan
  • Ming China and the Rise of Muscovy
  • Manchu Conquest of Central Asia, Russian and Mongolian Negotiations
  • 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.
  • Tibet and Xinjiang’s Role in Central Asian Politics
  • Nineteenth Century Great Game: Britain, Russia, and China
  • Twentieth Century Explorers and Looters: Aurel Stein, et. al
  • Soviet Rule in Central Asia: From Revolution to Environmental Catastrophe
  • Post-Soviet Developments in Central Asia and Xinjiang
  • Intercultural Contacts from Amsterdam to Japan: Yo-yo Ma and the Silk Road Project

Readings

  • Barfield, Thomas. The Perilous Frontier. Blackwell Publishers, 1992.
    Required
  • Bonavia, Judy. The Silk Road. Odyssey Publications Limited, 1992.
    Required
  • Brower, Daniel R., and Edward Lazzerini, Editors. Russia’s Orient: Imperial Borderlands and Peoples , 1700-1917. Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1997.
    Required
  • Foltz, Richard. Religions of the Silk Road . Palmgrave Macmillan Publishers, 2000.
    Required
  • Hopkirk, Peter. The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991.
    Required
  • Kipling, Rudyard. Kim. ([Download from Project Gutenberg]( http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/BIBREC/BR2226.HTM )) ↗
    Required
  • Xinru, Liu and Hsin-Ju Liu. The Silk Road: Overland Trade and Cultural Interaction. American Historial Association, 1998.
    Required
  • Polo, Marco and Rustichiello of Pisa. The Book of Marco Polo. ([Download Volume 1 from Project Gutenberg]( http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/BIBREC/BR10636.HTM )) ↗
    Required
  • Rossabi, Morris. Khubilai Khan: His Life and Times. University of California Press, 1990.
    Required
  • Rudelson, Justin. Oasis Identities. New York: Columbia University Press, 1998.
    Required
  • Whitfield, Susan. Life along the Silk Road. University of California Press, 2001.
    Required
  • LEC #: 4 · TOPICS: Religions along the Silk Routes: Islam, Christianity, Manicheanism, Judaism, Buddhism · READINGS: Foltz. Pp. 37-144 in Reader.
    Reading assignment
  • LEC #: 10 · TOPICS: Tibet and Xinjiang’s Role in Central Asian Politics · READINGS: Bonavia. The Silk Road.
    Reading assignment
  • Kipling. Kim .
    Listed reading
  • LEC #: 12 · TOPICS: Twentieth Century Explorers and Looters: Aurel Stein, et. al · READINGS: Bonavia. The Silk Road. Pp. 94-112, 150-8, 226-41, 248-54, 284-89, 300-05 and 313.
    Reading assignment
  • Olivier Roy. The New Central Asia. Vol. 2. [In Reader]
    Listed reading
  • Gladney. Muslim Chinese. Vol. 2. [In Reader]
    Listed reading
  • Levin. The Hundred Thousand Fools of God. Vol. 2. [In Reader]
    Listed reading
  • Schell. Virtual Tibet. Vol. 2. [In Reader]
    Listed reading
  • Barfield, Thomas. The Perilous Frontier.
    Listed reading
  • Bonavia, Judy. The Silk Road.
    Listed reading
  • Brower, Daniel R., and Edward Lazzerini, eds. Russia’s Orient: Imperial Borderlands and Peoples , 1700-1917.
    Listed reading
  • Foltz, Richard. Religions of the Silk Road .
    Listed reading
  • Hopkirk, Peter. The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia.
    Listed reading
  • Kipling, Rudyard. Kim.
    Listed reading
  • Xinru, Liu. The Silk Road: Overland Trade and Cultural Interaction.
    Listed reading
  • Polo, Marco. The Book of Marco Polo.
    Listed reading
  • Rossabi, Morris. Khubilai Khan: His Life and Times.
    Listed reading
  • Rudelson, Justin. Oasis Identities.
    Listed reading
  • Whitfield, Susan. Life along the Silk Road.
    Listed reading
Sources