INQ-270 | The Silk Road

Full Title: The Silk Road: East-West Contact and Globalization in Pre-modern World

Topic Description:

Did globalization exist in the pre-modern period? How did people travel, exchange ideas, and manage business two thousand years ago? Can contemporary globalization be traced back to the ancient and medieval period? We will approach these questions through the examination of the Silk Road across Eurasia. The Silk Road was the first transcontinental trading route between East and West, connecting the eastern end of the Asian continent (China, Japan, and Korea) to the Roman Empire as it passed through Mongolia, Central Asia, Middle East, India, Southeast Asia, and the Mediterranean area. Through this long-lasting transportation channel, people not only traded luxury goods and commodities, but also exchanged ideas, religious beliefs, artifacts, various foodstuffs, and forms of entertainment.

Counts as Global? Yes

Topic Approved: December 2010