Schedule
Fall 2009 Weekly Schedule
• Material in the Course Reader marked ‘CR’
• Material available on the course website marked with an asterisk*
• Additional charts and maps will be distributed in class and/or posted on the course website
September 15 Why are we here?
Readings
Begin reading Peter Hopkirk, Foreign Devils on the Silk Road (due Oct. 6)
September 22 Mapping the Silk Road (Blog Entry)
Geography, physical and political; overview of the ancient world; contemporary world map
Charts and Maps
Review maps “The Silk Road,” and “The Silk Road in Central Asia”
Readings
Frances Wood, The Silk Road: Two Thousand Years in the Heart of Asia (hereafter: The Silk Road), Chpts. 1-3
Continue reading Peter Hopirk, Foreign Devils on the Silk Road
September 29 Defining ancient cultures (Map Quiz)
Language, culture, ethnicity, and related problems
Charts and Maps
“The Indo-European Family of Languages”
Readings
Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language, selections (“Ethnic and National Identity,” “How Many Languages?” “The Origins of Language,” “Families of Languages,” “The Indo European Family,” “Other Families,” and “Language and Religion”) (CR)
Encyclopedia of Cultural Anthropology, selections (Asia, Central; Culture; Cultural Relativism; Ethnicity) (CR)
October 6 Foreign Devils on the Silk Road (Paper 1)
The colonial enterprise, Orientalism
Readings
Peter Hopkirk, Foreign Devils on the Silk Road
Edward Said, Orientalism, “Introduction” (CR)
October 13 Northern barbarians and the Han dynasty (Blog Entry)
Chinese-Foreign relations in the Han; Zhang Qian and his journey west
Charts and Maps
“China during the Han”
Readings
Frances Wood, The Silk Road, Chpt. 4
*Daniel Waugh, comp., “Selections from the Han Narrative Histories”
October 20 Sogdians and the merchant trade (Blog Entry)
Charts and Maps
“Sogdiana and Surrounding Regions”
Readings
Boris Marshak and N.N. Negmatov, “Sogdiana” (CR)
Frances Wood, The Silk Road, Chpt. 5
*Sogdian Letters
October 27 The Study of Religion (Group Topic – NO CLASS)
Religion, definition and classification of; emergence of World Religions as a concept
Readings
Encyclopedia of Cultural Anthropology, “Religion” (CR)
*Encyclopedia of Religion, selections (Religion; The Study of Religion: An Overview; World Religions)
*Review the website Studying Religion
November 3 Zoroastrianism (Blog Entry)
Indo-Europeans and Indo-Iranians; ideas, art, and architecture of ancient Persia; Modern reconstruction of Indo-Iranian religion; Zaratushtra’s ancestors and successors; the Avesta
Readings
Mary Boyce, “Zoroastrianism” (CR)
Williams Malandra, trans., An Introduction to Ancient Iranian Religion, selections (Avesta: Yasna 29, 30.3-6, 45.2, and 44; Inscriptions of Darius I; Xerxes’ Inscription; Yasht 1, 10; Yasna 9-11, 62 Vendidad 5.1-44, 7.53-58, 9, and 16) (CR)
November 10 Early Indian Buddhism (Blog Entry)
Life of the Buddha; King Asoka; early Buddhist sangha; rise of the Mahayana; Xuanzang and Buddhist pilgrimage
Charts and Maps
“Travels of Xuanzang”
Readings
*Asokan edicts (skim online)
Donald S. Lopez Jr., Buddhism in Practice, Introduction (CR)
Burton Watson, trans., “Excerpts from the Lotus Sutra” (CR)
Sally Hovey Wriggins, “The Buddhist Holy Land” (CR)
November 17 Origins of the Buddha image (Paper 2)
Alexander the Great; Greek kingdoms of Central Asia; Hellenism; Buddhism under Kaniska; Gandhara
Charts and Maps
“Alexander’s Route,” and “Gandhara”
Readings
Stanley Abe, “Inside the Wonder House: Buddhist Art and the West” (CR)
Stanislaw J. Czuma, “Kushan Sculpture: Images from Early India” (CR)
November 24 Dunhuang: Caves of the Thousand Buddhas (Group Topic)
Readings
“Dunhuang: Official and Religious Life” (CR)
Frances Wood, The Silk Road, Chpts. 6-7
December 1 Introduction of Buddhism into China (Paper 3)
Sinification of Buddhism, religious syncretism
Robert H. Sharf, “Introduction: Prolegomenon to the Study of Medieval Chinese Buddhist Literature” (CR)
----------, “The Scripture in Forty-two Sections” (CR)
*Encyclopedia of Religions, "Syncretism"
***Winter 2010 Tentative Weekly Schedule***
January 5 Cosmopolitan Chang’an (Blog Entry)
Nestorian Christianity, Tang China
Readings
Valerie Hansen, “Daily Life in the Capital” (CR)
Edward Schafer, “The Glory of the Tang” (CR)
Willard G. Oxtoby, “Christian Origins” (CR) [recommended but not required]
David D. Bundy, “Missiological Reflections on Nestorian Christianity in China during the Tang Dynasty” (CR)
*Nestorian Tablet
January 12 Manichaeism (Group Topic)
Readings
Hans-Joachim Klimkeit, Gnosis on the Silk Road, selections (CR)
Ellen Bradshaw Aitke, “The Cologne Mani Codex” (CR)
January 19 The Mongols and the Missions to Asia (Paper 4)
Readings
Christopher Dawson, Mission to Asia (read entire book)
Frances Wood, The Silk Road, Chpts. 8-9
January 26 Class visit to the Royal Ontario Museum (Final Project Proposals Due)
February 2 Islamization of the Silk Road (Blog Entry)
Rise and spread of Islam
Readings
Carl W. Ernst, Following Muhammad, selections (CR)
Mahmoud M. Ayoub, “The Spread of Islam” (CR)
February 9 Discussing Islam Today (Blog Entry)
Studying Islam in a Post-9/11 world
Readings
*Edward Said, “The Clash of Ignorance,” The Nation, October 22, 2001 (http://www.thenation.com/doc/20011022/said)
*Charles Hirschkind and Saba Mahmood, “Feminism, the Taliban, and Politics of Counter-Insurgency” (http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/anthropological_quarterly/v075/75.2hirschki...)
February 16 Reading Week – No Class
February 23 The Great Game and Contemporary Central Asia (Blog Entry)
Readings
Frances Wood, The Silk Road, Chpts. 10-14
March 2 The ethics of collecting and preserving cultural property (Paper 5)
UNESCO and its mission
Readings
Encyclopedia of Race and Ethnic Studies, selections: United Nations, UNESCO (CR)
In addition, please skim through the CULTURE section on the UNESCO website: http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.phpURL_ID=34603&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&U..., and specifically the articles on:
1. Cultural Diversity
http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.phpURL_ID=34321&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&U...
2. World Heritage
http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.phpURL_ID=34323&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&U...
3. Intangible Heritage
http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.phpURL_ID=34325&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&U..., especially the section on “Movable Heritage and Museums”
4. International Code of Ethics for Dealers in Cultural Property (http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.phpURL_ID=35190&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&U...)
March 9 The Buddhas of Bamiyan (Group Topic)
Watch: “Charlie Rose – March 26, 2001” (YouTube)
Readings
*Finbarr Barry Flood, “Between Cult and Culture: Bamiyan, Islamic Iconoclasm, and the Museum” (Art Bulletin 84.4.2002)
Francesco Francioni and Federico Lenzerini, “Afghan Cultural Heritage and International Law: The Case of the Buddhas of Bamiyan” (CR) [recommended but not required]
March 16 Islam in China (Paper 6)
China’s Muslim minorities: the Hui and Uyghurs
Readings
Drew Gladney, Ethnic Identity in China: The Making of a Muslim Minority, selections (CR)
Graham E. Fuller and Jonathan N. Lipman, “Islam in Xinjiang” (CR)
March 23 Judaism along the Silk Road (Blog Entry)
Readings
Lena Cansdale, “Jews on the Silk Road” (CR)
Sui-jeung Chan, The Jews in Kaifeng: Reflections on Sino-Judaic History, selections (CR)
March 30 Life on the Silk Road Today (Final Projects/Electronic Portfolios Due)
Silk Road and tourism, travel writing
Readings
Frances Wood, The Silk Road, Chpt. 15 and Epilogue