Arkansas NCTA presents "Traveling the Silk Road: Culture & Commerce in Medieval Asia," a 6 hour, interactive workshop taking place on June 7th. This workshop offers an exciting opportunity for educators to learn about the history of the Silk Road, one of the world's most monumental globalizing systems. Register here!
This full-day seminar takes teachers on a whirlwind tour of the diverse cultures, kingdoms, merchants, and monks who forged lasting connections between Asia and the rest of world over 1000 years ago. Drawing on cutting-edge research and diverse, multimedia teaching resources, the workshop equips teachers with the sources and perspectives necessary to immerse students in one of the most important early forms of cultural exchange, highlighting the important connections to our contemporary global world. The workshop also provides participants with a copy of The Silk Roads: A New History of the World by Peter Frankopan, intended for grades 5-8. This book is an exploration of the ways in which the Silk Road inextricably linked the “East” and the “West.”
Schedule
8:30 AM: Welcome & Introduction: Why Teach the Silk Road?
9:00 AM - 10:00 AM: Mapping the Silk Roads: Geography and Commerce
10:15 AM: Break
10:15 AM - 11:30 AM: The Great Vehicle: Mahayana Buddhism Along the Silk Roads
11:30 AM - 12:30 PM: Lunch
12:30 PM - 1:45 PM: The Silk Roads at Home: Culture and Difference in Chang’an
1:45 PM: Break
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM: The Silks Roads Today: China’s Belt and Road Initiative
3:00 PM - 3:30 PM: Questions, Reflection, and Debrief
Benefits to Educators:
- 6 Hours of Continuing Education Credit
- $25 Stipend
- Expansive online materials for teaching the silk road
- Priority registration for future NCTA Programs
Presenter:
Department of History
University of Central Arkansas
Dr. Zach Smith earned his Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill, focusing on modern and late Imperial China, global history, and cultural and intellectual history. His research is on popular education and literacy in China, citizenship textbooks, colonial modernity, nationalism, and gender and sexuality in Asia. He currently serves as the director of the Asian Studies Program.
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