OSHER 99 - Travels Along The Silk Road

The Silk Road represents an early phenomenon of how political and cultural integration can occur due to inter-regional trade. At its height the Silk Road sustained an international culture that strung together groups as diverse as the Magyars, Armenians, and Chinese. Trade between East and West developed on the sea as well as land, extending from Venice in Italy to Alexandria in Egypt to Guangzhou in China. Like the Silk Road itself the class will travel over time and distance to explore the changes that took place from east to west. Today these changes are mainly visible in architecture, art forms and literature of the cultures that were influenced by the existence of the Silk Road. Extending our study of this early "internet" system that connected Europe and Asia the course will also explore connections to the Middle East and Africa.