Course Description:
When Chinggis Khan unified the Mongolian steppes in 1206, his regime was nothing more than minor polity in the shadow of larger empires. A century later, his descendants ruled over an empire that stretched from China to Eastern Europe. The Mongols have long been famous for their brutality – in their conquests hundreds of thousands were killed, cities and towns razed to the ground, and famous empires reduced to ashes. Yet scholars have increasingly began to note the positive aspects of Mongol rule – increased trade, cultural and intellectual exchange, diffusions of new technologies across Eurasia, and patronage of arts, culture, and religion. Moreover, new polities and empires that emerged in the aftermath of the Mongol Empires’ collapse influenced the creation of our modern world. So how should we assess the Mongols?
This course will focus on the impact and legacy of Mongol rule in Eurasia, with particular emphasis on how Eurasia was transformed under the Mongol Empires and how a wider Eurasian network of empires and exchange was created. We will explore 1.) how the Mongols came to power and conquered much of Eurasia, 2.) how the Mongols governed and the changes they brought, 3.) how the Mongols facilitated economic and cultural exchange, 4.) the decline and legacy of the Mongols. Heavy emphasis will be placed on China and the Chinese experience, but this course will also introduce the experiences of other regions that were under Mongol rule, such as Iran, Central Asia, the Middle East, and Russia. Students will engage with both primary sources in translation about the Mongols as well as secondary scholarship by later scholars. With regular writing assignments and feedback, students will enhance their abilities in organizing and structuring larger projects, culminating in a final paper or related project. In sum, through reading, writing, and dialogue, this course seeks to revise students’ understanding of the Mongols and how they shaped the world that we live in today.
Course Outcomes:
- Analyze the rise, expansion, and decline of the Mongols through a close reading of translated primary sources and revisionist secondary scholarship.
- Situate China into a broader Eurasian network of empires and exchange. Articulate the impact that the Mongols had on China and other parts of Eurasia through class discussions and course assignments.
- Identify, describe, and evaluate arguments in secondary sources. Read and use primary sources with a historian’s eye: “with-” and “against the grain.”
- Plan, research, and complete an analytical writing project, including practice on how to communicate arguments to an audience through outlining and turning the outline into a written draft, how to give and receive feedback on a piece of academic writing, and assemble a Chicago-style bibliography.
Select Student Testimonials:
- Mr. Ha is a great TA/instructor. He makes topics I was unfamiliar with interesting and helps to explain important historical contexts.
- This course was extremely fun and I liked the format of discussions. The content was interesting and the readings were enough to give you details for the discussion without feeling overwhelming. I would have liked at least one other session of peer review, however, and felt that the rough draft was tough to knock out between the annotated bibliography and rough draft due dates. Overall, however, Yiming made the content exciting and I do feel an appreciation for the work that historians do through reading about periodization and seeing different perspectives that may sometimes conflict.
- Professor Ha is amazing. He does a great job at explaining when you find yourself confused and that is very important in my opinion. He is kind and is passionate about the material we are learning about which is good! I would recommend him and take another one of his classes if he comes back here as an official UCLA lecturer!
- Very well organized and communicated well. I always knew what was expected and when. No surprises or anything like that. The course content was also super interesting and I enjoyed learning about it a lot!
- Yiming is an outstanding professor whose insightful lectures and clear explanations made complex concepts accessible and engaging. He consistently broke down challenging subjects into manageable parts, ensuring a deep understanding of the material. He was always well-prepared and demonstrated remarkable flexibility in adapting to students’ needs and questions. His dedication to teaching and his respect for his students created an enriching and respectful learning environment.
Yiming Ha 哈一鳴 