HIST 142 The Mongol Empire: Fire and Silk across Eurasia
Genghis Khan has a fearsome reputation as one of history's bloodiest world conquerors. But the hemisphere-spanning Mongol Empire that he and his descendants created in the 1200s was also a great paradox. Even as it was built through considerable violence, it also facilitated unprecedented exchange--of silk clothes, porcelain bowls, scientific knowledge, food, and even genes--across cultures. In this class, we'll explore the good, the bad, and the ugly of this major world empire, as well as its seminal figures, like Genghis Khan and Marco Polo, and the legacy it left to the modern world. Along the way, we'll consider the historical methods at our disposal to piece together the story of an empire that spanned the medieval world from Hungary to the Middle East to Korea. This course counts as a foundational course in History or Political Theory within the liberal arts core requirements.