The "Silk Roads" is a term that conjures images of romance and the exotic. And it was all of that. But it was more. It joined the East and the West for over 2,000 years. It was a conduit, not just of goods and wealth, but of ideas and cultures. It died with the Age of Exploration but the effects of it still live today, and there are thousands of kilometres of sites and treasures. This course looks at the history of the Silk Roads.

DELIVERY MODE

• Hybrid (Face-to-Face & Online simultaneously)

SUGGESTED READING

• Peter Frankopan, The Silk Roads: A New History of the World

COURSE OUTLINE

• The Silk Roads in Ancient Times
• The Silk Roads in the Middle Ages
• The Silk Roads during the Renaissance and early modern Europe
• The demise of the Silk Roads

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

1. Understand the importance of the Silk Roads to both Europe and the East over the centuries
2. Understand the importance of the trade to the growth of Europe and the development of the Renaissance
3. Be aware of the different time periods and the major players in each
4. Know why the demise of the Silk Roads was so important and how it affected people in the East