Course Description

Instructor: Bill Fletcher, Retired Emory professor

Chinese elements in Persian painting came over the Silk Road with the Mongols -- but what was the Silk Road? When, where, who, how, and finally...why silk? The answers to these questions involve a history of more than fifteen hundred years in which time the idea of exchange and migration is paramount – from East to West and from West to East. We will begin with a brief survey of the historical facts followed by “treasures:� cities and architecture, religious objects, metal work, ceramics, silk textiles, painting, and more. Required text (choose either or both): The Silk Road in World History (Liu), and The Silk Road: Two Thousand Years in the Heart of Asia (Wood).