There are many University of Washington courses which deal with subjects related to the Silk Road. We will eventually post a much more extensive descriptive list. Please remember that it is possible to audit UW courses and that there is a special "Access" program for auditors sixty years of age or older which requires only a nominal fee. Auditing is on a space-available basis. For more information on the Access Program, click here.

Here are five courses, the first three being ones scheduled for Spring Quarter 2002:

NEAR E 496/596 A
SPECIAL STUDIES: TURKIC LITERATURE IN TRANSLATION

After discussing the earliest written Turkic literature available in translations, such as the Orkhon Inscriptions (8th century A.D.), Old Uighur religious texts and poetry (9th-10th centuries), the Kharakhanid didactical poem Kutadgu Bilig (11th century), the poetry of Alisher NavaÕi (1441-1501), and the Memoirs of Babur (16th century), the course will take us to the regions of the newly independent republics of Kazakhstan, Kirghizstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Specific literary and social-political developments and conditions, as, e.g., the transition from the oral literature of the nomadic Kazakhs and Kirghiz to a written literature during the 1920's and the development of new literary genres, such as the novel and the play, will be analyzed. The severely restrictive literary policies of the Soviet Union will be examined in the context of the influence they had on Turkic writers and intellectuals. We will learn what censorship meant for them and how they coped with the oppressive rule of Soviet colonialism and Stalinism, often having to pay with their lives for their courage and convictions. Major literary figures and their works will be discussed, such as the Uzbek writer Abdulla Qodiriy (1894-1938) and the Kirghiz writer Chinghiz Aitmatov (born 1928) who has been a forceful voice against colonization and its alterations of history, memory and the destruction of the environment. Current issues of national identity formation through oral and written literature will be addressed within the post-colonial literary discourse reflective of other countries. The course will make use of films and documentaries based on oral and written literature.

Instructor: Prof. Ilse Cirtautas (Near Eastern Languages and Civilization), who is a specialist on the Turkic languages and literature of Central Asia.

SLN: 5633/5638. 3 credits.
T,Th, 300-4:20. Denny Hall 213.

NEAR E 496 C. NOMADIC CULTURES AND TRADITIONS OF CENTRAL ASIA: PAST AND PRESENT

The goal of the course is to introduce students to the unique lifestyle, worldview and culture of the Central Asian nomadic peoples such as Kyrgyz, Kazakhs, Turkmens, and Mongols. Although, the course will give a general introduction to the socio-cultural life of the Central Asian nomads, discussions will be divided into specific topics such as the essence of nomadic life; the role of elders and shamans, Islam and shamanism; oral tradition; traditional games; customs and rituals. The course also covers historical nomadic and sedentary interaction and the Central Asian nomads' colonial experience under the Russian Empire. Special attention will be given to the role and status of women in nomadic and sedentary societies of Central Asia in the past and in the present.

The second half of the course will focus on issues of national identity and nationalism by analyzing the legacies of nomadic culture and traditions and their role in the process of nation building and in the formation of national identities in contemporary Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Mongolia.

Instructor: Elmira Köçümkulkïzï, Ph.D. candidate in Middle Eastern Studies.
SLN 5635. 3 credits. Spring Quarter 2002.
T, Th 1:30-250; Denny Hall 205

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HIST 225/SIS 225/HUM 200B. THE SILK ROAD

The course is an introduction to the history of cultural and economic interchange across Eurasia from approximately the beginning of the Common Era (CE=Christian Era [AD]) to approximately the beginning of the eighteenth century. The term "Silk Road" commonly designates the East-West overland trade routes, established around the beginning of the Common Era when Chinese silk began to reach the West and falling into disuse primarily because of Europeans' opening of sea routes to the East beginning in the late fifteenth century. Even well before the appearance of European ships in the Indian Ocean at the end of the fifteenth century, it is likely that in many earlier times the east-west maritime trade was more significant than the overland trade. While that sea trade will enter our discussions, the focus here will nonetheless be on the traditional land routes.

Here "Silk Road" will be used in a general sense. The routes were many. Some of the most important exchange was not east-west but north-south and was cultural rather than economic (the latter certainly involving more than silk). Moreover, it was relatively rare for those involved in the Silk Road to travel the whole route. The most persistent patterns of interaction were regional, and the actors more often than not indigenous. Thus the historic features of the Silk Road arguably continued well beyond the "opening of the sea routes"--even into the twentieth century. The course will examine subjects such as the importance of Inner Asian physical geography, the interaction of nomadic and sedentary peoples, the spread of important religions and resulting cultural syncretism, and, of course, the mechanisms and products of trade.

For a preview of the course, consult the syllabus for the last time it was taught, in 2001. This year's version will be quite similar.

Instructor: Assoc. Prof. Daniel C. Waugh (History and International Studies), who is the principal coordinator of "Silk Road Seattle."

HIST 225--SLN 4034; SIS 225--SLN 4034; HUM 200B--SLN 4235. 5 credits. Spring Quarter 2002.
MWF, 1:30-2:50; Savery Hall 249

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Courses already offered this year on topics relating to the Silk Road include those listed below. It is likely that they will be offered again during the coming academic year.

This course concerns the origins of writing and its spread through ancient Asia and Europe; its subsequent developments in medieval and modern times; the basic principles underlying writing and the different types of writing systems (logographic, syllabic, alphabetic, etc.); the relationships between written and spoken language; and the decipherments of ancient scripts and languages.

"Folktales connect nations. They are not the property of a single people" (Ludwig Denneke). Although this statement applies to all regions of the world, we can argue that it has a stronger bearing on the folktales told along the Silk Road. Merchants, traveling along this ancient trade route and its connecting roads to India in the south and the Eurasian steppe in the north, not only transported goods but also spread religions and ideas. Stopping for a rest at way stations, or caravansarays, they would listen to the tales and stories of other merchants and travelers, coming from far away places. When these stories were retold, they would be adjusted to local tastes and traditions. Often new motifs would be adopted as well as adapted into existing stories.

The course will introduce folktales from Mongolia at the eastern end of the Silk road, and proceeding westwards we will get acquainted with Uzbek, Tajik, Kazakh, Kirghiz, Turkmen and Turkish folktales. After discussing the various types of folktales and their structure we will trace the origin and changes of certain motifs, such as the motif of the king with the ears of a donkey or horns (Alexander Legend), or the motif of the "Return of the Hero" (Odyssey).

The course will also pay attention to the question of the origin of the folktale itself and its connection to other oral literary genres as, e.g., the epic song. Certain types of stories, namely the animal stories, seemed to have first been told at hunting grounds to appease the animals about to be hunted. Generally stories were told in a ritual fashion, i.e., preceded by an introductory song praising "the bygone times, when men and animals lived peacefully together." Finally, the question needs to be asked what role the storyteller performed and how this role changed once the originally nomadic Mongolian and Turkic peoples became sedentary.

The instructor is Professor Ilse Cirtautas of the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilization, who is a specialist on both the modern and historic languages of Central Asia and on Central Asian culture.