Subject Area: Chinese Studies
This course can also be studied in the following specialisation: History

The ‘Silk Roads’ are often considered to be the world’s greatest throughways that linked China to the Mediterranean world through different paths across greater Central Asia. The historical development of Chinese culture and civilization cannot be scrutinized without a reflective understanding of the Chinese Empire’s dynamic interactions with other Asian and Western civilizations. This course is an interdisciplinary introduction to the historical interchanges of goods, ideas and cultures across Eurasia. Through lectures, readings, films and exhibitions, we will explore subjects such as ecological features of this vast region; the interaction of nomadic and sedentary peoples; the creation and decline of empires; the spread of religions and technologies; the dynamics and mechanisms of trade; as well as the flows and contacts of musical and artistic traditions – all situated in the geographical contexts between the East and the West.

This course is taught in English and with readings in English.