NELC515 - Land/Sea Asian Migration

In this course we will explore how migration shaped and connected Asia by land and transoceanic routes from the seventh to eighteenth centuries. In this course we will trace people moving across long spans of space, which includes merchants, soldiers, pilgrims, laborers, pirates, spies, and travelers. We will examine how cultural, religious, economic, and political institutions enabled and benefited from migration; how towns, ports, and cities developed and supported migration; how individuals and communities understood and documented their experiences about what it meant to be mobile and/or foreign; and theories of migration that help us make sense of a premodern global Asia. Sample readings include Abdul Sheriff's "Dhow Culture of the Indian Ocean: Cosmopolitanism, Commerce and Islam"; Janet L. Abu- Lughod's "Before European Hegemony: The World System A.D. 1250-1350"; and selections from the "Asia Inside Out" series ("Itinerant People", "Connected Places", and "Changing Times") edited by Helen Siu and Eric Tagliacozzo. An early assignment for the students is a map exercise. Students will be asked to create a map that highlights migration across Asia based on readings for the week. Students will be trained in an online mapmaking application and will work in pairs to create layers that address different aspects and forms of migration.