History 101 - The Silk Road and Premodern Eurasia

An introduction to major developments and interactions among people in Europe and Asia before modernity. The Silk Roads, long distance networks that allowed people, goods, technology, religious beliefs, and other ideas to travel between China, India, and Rome/Mediterranean, and the many points in between, developed against the backdrop of the rise and fall of steppe nomadic empires in Inner Asia. The course examines these as interrelated phenomena that shaped Eurasian encounters to the rise of the world-conquering Mongols and the journey of Marco Polo. Topics include: horses; Silk and Steppe routes; Scythians and Huns; Han China and Rome; Byzantium, Buddhism, Christianity, and other universal religions; Arabs and the rise of Islam; Turks, Mongol Empire, and medieval European trade; geography; and travel. Enrollment limited to 40.