KSCB095 China and Europe along the Silk Road(s) (from its origins until 1800) – seminar

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2025
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Taught in person.
Teacher(s)
Antonio De Caro, Doctor of Philosophy (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. et Mgr. Dušan Vávra, Ph.D.
Department of Chinese Studies – Asia Studies Centre – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Antonio De Caro, Doctor of Philosophy
Supplier department: Department of Chinese Studies – Asia Studies Centre – Faculty of Arts
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 30 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/30, only registered: 0/30, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/30
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 6 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives (in Czech)
The overarching aim of this course is to reconstruct the historiographical relevance of Sino-European encounters along the Silk Road(s). The seminar will include a preliminary session introducing selected case studies on the encounters between Chinese and European individuals along the Silk Roads and the opposite theoretical viewpoints on the notion of “Silk Roads” itself. Subsequently, the students will present one selected case study related to the course and they will discuss the main sources adopted for their presentation.
Learning outcomes (in Czech)
At the end of the course the students will have a general understanding of the debates related to the notion of “Silk Roads” and they will all engage in discussing one specific aspect of the theoretical and historical framework adopting secondary and primary sources.
Syllabus (in Czech)
  • 1) Introduction to concept of Silk Road(s): connecting Europe and China 2) From Han to Yuan: imagining and crossing the commercial routes 3) The Ming dynasty and the Qing dynasty: a new globalized network The subsequent lessons will be presentations by the students concerning a selected topic of the course. The students will be free to choose one of the following research areas: a) Han dynasty and the Roman empire commercial exchanges; b) Tang dynasty cosmopolitism and “foreign” religions; c) Mongol era exchanges between Europe and China; d) Ming dynasty and Qing dynasty exchanges between China and Europe until 1800.
Literature
    recommended literature
  • Peter Frankopan, The Silk Roads: A New History of the World, London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2015
  • Lauren Arnold, Princely Gifts and Papal Treasures: The Franciscan Mission to China and Its Influence on the Art of the West, 1250-1350, Los Angeles, Desiderata Press, 1999
  • Empires and Exchanges in Eurasian Late Antiquity: Rome, China, Iran, and the Steppe, ca. 250–750, edited by Nicola Di Cosmo and Michael Maas, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018.
  • Between Rome and China: History, Religions and Material Culture of the Silk Road, edited by Samuel N. C. Lieu and Gunner B. Mikkelsen, London: Brepols, 2016
  • Richard Foltz, Religions of the Silk Road: Premodern Patterns of Globalization, London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010
  • The Journey of Maps and Images on the Silk Road, edited by Philippe Forêt and Andreas Kaplony, Boston: Brill, 2008
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
The course is taught once in two years.
The course is taught: every week.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2022.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2025, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2025/KSCB095