Course Requirements

 

There will be a take-home final exam, six in-class “half-hourly” quizzes (including a skills quiz), and two 5-7 page (12-point font Times New Roman font, double-spaced, 1” margins, paginated) "think piece" papers.  The first paper will be due in class on Friday, March 3rd. The second paper is due in class on Friday, April 21st.  The schedule for the six in-class quizzes is noted in the lecture schedule. The take-home final exam will be handed out in class on Monday, May 1st and it must be turned in to me no later than 3 p.m. on Monday, May 8th.  Attendance at all lecture and discussion sections is expected.  Moreover, the completion of all required written assignments is necessary for a passing grade.

 

I will require that all students establish e-mail accounts with Internet access.  This course will occasionally involve interaction between the instructor and students outside of the lecture period.  Please set up these accounts as soon as possible.  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

 

Grading

                        “Half-hourly” quizzes   40% (8% each)

                        Map Quiz                     Ungraded "practice quiz"

                        Paper #1                       15%

Paper #2                       15%

                        Final Exam                   15%

                                Class Participation               15%

 

“Half-hourly” Quizzes

The quizzes will cover materials from the assigned readings, lectures, films, and other in-class presentations.  I will go over all assigned readings, either during lectures or during discussion sections.  You are responsible for anything that is covered in class, whether or not you were present for a given class period.

 

No Make-up Quizzes

No make-up quizzes will be offered for this class.  Instead, you may drop one of your five graded quizzes, only if you have taken the ungraded skills quiz at the beginning of the semester.  Once you have missed one quiz, all subsequent missed quizzes will be graded at 0% credit.

 

Final Take-home Examination

There is a 5 page, typed take-home exam.  I will distribute three or four questions on the last day of the course, and you will be required to construct an essay that clearly answers the question while using the primary sources provided for the class.  The exams will be due in my office (242 McIver) no later than 3pm on Monday, May 8th.  We’ll talk more about this exam later in the course.

 

Classroom Discussions

Discussion and the exchange of ideas are very important components of this course. Everyone will be required to participate, and you should feel free to ask questions in every class during lecture.  When a film is shown in class, we will, if time allows, follow the presentation with a short discussion.  Following each film you will submit responses to a set of film questions, due in the following class period. 

 

Students will be graded on their contribution to the formal discussion groups and on their participation in informal class discussions.  Each student will come to class having read the texts and prepared to discuss them. I will not hesitate to call on all students to participate.  However, you should feel free to speak with me before class, if you find it difficult to speak in a public setting.  In that case, you may submit your questions before each class in writing. 

 

Short Discussion Response Exercises 

Following discussions led by student discussion groups, I will require that you submit a two (2)-paragraph response to the five questions posed by that week's discussion group.  One (1) paragraph will be a response to one of the five questions submitted by the group. One (1) paragraph will be a personal reflection on the whole classroom discussion that week.  Was anything left out of the general discussion?  Do you have an observation that you wish to offer in greater detail?  These exercises will be graded on a check, check-plus, or check-minus scale.  If you receive straight “checks” for all exercises, you will have earned a “B” for this part of the course.  To earn a “check-plus” you need to demonstrate that you have thought imaginatively about the question and have put some genuine effort into your answer.  The purpose of these exercises is to gain experience in writing, and they should therefore help prepare you for the paper and the take-home exam.  Please include your name with each submission.  You will be required to submit at least five (5) responses this semester.

 

Web-site

I have created a Web site for this classroom, which I will continue to expand as the semester progresses.  Students can access course information, such as scheduled events (i.e. the syllabus you now hold in your hand), as well as terms mentioned in lecture.  I will also list links to web sites of interest to our class.  I will also include additional materials on the library's Electronic Reserve list.  Please refer to the class Web site periodically for such materials.

 

“Think Piece” Paper

The “think piece” paper, to be written on assigned topics, will be based on your readings, section discussions, and the lectures. The first paper will be based on the Folz and Whitfield books, and the second paper will be based on the Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta books.  These papers are not research papers; therefore, no outside reading is required.  However, the quality of your writing, particularly the clarity and persuasiveness of your argument, will factor into the final grading.  Late papers will be penalized half a letter grade for each day beyond the original due date

 

Web-based exercise

During the first weeks of classes I will ask you to visit the web site Sacred Sites of Asia at the URL  http://www.sacredsites.com/explore/asia.htm.  Please choose a sacred site from this list that is located on the network of travel routes collectively represented as the Silk Road. In a short three-sentence response please describe the kind of pilgrim that might visit this site.  Use the e-mail address you will most often access during the semester, and send the responses to jamie_anderson@uncg.edu

 

Required Books

 

1.       Foltz, Richard C. Religions of the Silk Road: Overland Trade and Cultural Exchange from Antiquity to the Fifteenth Century. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2000. ISBN: 0312233388.

 

2.       Whitfield, Susan. Life Along the Silk Road. Berkeley: Univ. California Press, 2000. ISBN: 0520232143.

 

3.       Polo, Marco The Travels of Marco Polo. New York & London: Penguin Classics; Reissue edition, 1958.  ISBN: 0140440577.

 

4.       Ibn Battuta. The Travels of Ibn Battuta: in the Near East, Asia and Africa, 1325-1354. Samuel Lee, Trans. New York: Dover Publications, 2004. ISBN: 0486437655.

 

5.       Levathes, Louise When China Ruled the Seas: The Treasure Fleet of the Dragon Throne, 1405-1433 Paperback Reprint edition. Oxford University Press, 1999. ISBN: 0195112075.

 

All other materials for this course will be available on e-reserve (electronic reserve) at the library.