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Mustafa
Tuna Journey to Eurasia S pring 2011 Monday-Wednesday 13:15-14:30HISTORY184s SES184s |
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For over a thousand years, the lands connecting Europe and Asia have been one of the most contested arenas of political rivalry, has hosted some of the most sophisticated and influential cultures of the world, and have enabled some of the liveliest and most productive exchanges over long distance. In this seminar students will reconstruct the history of that political rivalry, cultural vivacity, and cross-cultural or trans-regional exchange through a critical reading of eyewitness accounts, mostly travel notes. Our personal narratives range from the travels of a Taoist master summoned by Chingis Khan in the 1210s to the memoirs of a Chechen surgeon struggling to save lives during the war in his homeland (Chechnya in the Caucasus) in the 1990s. These personal narratives are fun, but students will also be assigned secondary sources in order to engage in a discussion aimed at understanding the environmental, political, economic, social, and cultural circumstances that made these texts possible, including the agendas of their authors. An effort to learn the geography of Eurasia, in addition to its history, and a 15 to 20-page analytical essay based on at least one primary source are expected.
The reading requirement will be around 100 pages a week. All required readings will be digitized. In addition to the required readings, you will need to consult searchable digital maps (such as Google Earth and Expedia Maps) on a regular basis while preparing for the class.
Here is a select list of some personal narratives that we will read:
The Travels of an Alchemist: the Journey of the Taoist, Ch'ang-ch'un, from China to the Hindukush at the Summons of Chingiz Khan
Marco Polo, The Book of Ser Marco Polo
Ibn Khaldun, Ibn Khaldun and Tamerlane
Ying-Yai Sheng-Lan, "The Overall Survey of the Ocean's Shores (1453)"
Duarte de Sande, "An Excellent Treatise of the Kingdom of China (1590)"
M. M. Kaye ed., The Golden Calm: an English Lady's Life in Moghul Delhi
Jonas Hanway, An Historical Account of the British Trade over the Caspian Sea
Joseph Wolff, Narrative of a Mission to Bokhara in the Years 1843-1845
General Gordon, General Gordon's Private Diary on His Exploits in China
John Scott, Behind the Urals
Derk Bodde, Peking Diary: A Year of Revolution, 1950
Halide Edip Adivar, Inside India
Khassan Baiev, The Oath: A Surgeon under Fire