HIST 215 Ancient Worlds: the Foundations of World Civilization
This course will first examine comparatively the formation and development of the earliest civilizations in the ancient Near East and Egypt, China, India, and the Mediterranean world from ca. 3000 BCE to 500 CE. It will then focus on the inter-regional contacts and cultural exchanges of the Eurasian world after 100 CE, made possible by the existence of a chain of empires extending from Rome via Parthia and the Kushan Empire of India to China, forming an unbroken zone of civilized life from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans. This cultural area provided an important channel of trade exchange, e.g. along the silk road; transmission of artistic styles, technology and institutions, e.g. the influence of Greek sculptural styles on Buddhist art in India and China; and, most importantly, the dissemination of the great world religions, Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, and Christianity. This will be a reading, viewing, and discussion course based mainly on primary texts, with lectures and brief secondary materials providing background. Class will regularly visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art and other museums as appropriate.
Prerequisite
WRIT 101 or permission of department