For centuries, Europeans and other western observers have had an enduring fascination with Central Asia. From romantic invocations of the Silk Road and isolated nomads to medieval barbarisms of the Taliban, Western media and popular culture often portray Central Asia as a region out of step with time. Central Asia, however, has long been a center for culture, innovation, and political power. This course traces the transformation of Central Asia from Genghis Khan’s thirteenth century conquests to the present, covering the territories of former Soviet Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan), Western China (Xinjiang), and Afghanistan. Although the course covers nearly a thousand years of history, the primary emphasis is on imperial schemes and transformations over the past 300 years, particularly the comparative imperialism and colonialism of Russia, the Soviet Union, Britain, and China. In this course, we move beyond predominantly external views to understand Central Asia on its own terms, and, as often as possible, through the eyes of Central Asians themselves.
Instructor: Anna Whittington
11:00AM-12:20PM, TTR, David Kinley Hall