The History of Oriental Studies

Service Description

This course examines the history of Oriental studies as an academic and intellectual field from the early modern period to the contemporary era. It focuses on the practices through which knowledge about the ‘Orient’ was collected, classified, translated, institutionalised and interpreted in Europe (including, the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union). The course traces major transformations in Oriental studies from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries through the nineteenth-century professionalisation of the field, the development of philology and comparative linguistics, the emergence of new approaches to the study of religion and language, and the formation of Russian and Soviet traditions of Oriental studies. Particular attention is paid to the relationship between knowledge production, academic institutions, political power, colonialism, and the status of non-European sources and informants. Session 1. Orientalist Practices in the Early Modern Period: Collecting, Cataloguing, and Translation Sessions 2—3. Enlightenment: Religion, Knowledge, and the Transformation of Oriental Studies Session 4. Romanticism and the Professionalisation of Oriental Studies Session 5. The Second Oriental Renaissance: Religion and New Academic Paradigms Session 6. The Belle Époque and Its Intellectual Rebellion Session 7. Informants, Archives, and the Production of Knowledge Session 8. Oriental Studies in Russia: Empire, Scholarship, and Institutionalisation Session 9. Soviet Oriental Studies: Revolution, Institutions, and Changing Concepts Session 10. Late Soviet Scholarship and its specificities Dr. Anton Ikhsanov is a Ph.D. in History (Russian history), National Research University, Russia * The course starts during the first week of October and concludes in the second week of December, spanning 10 weeks (10 sessions). The exact days and times will be scheduled based on the availability of both the instructor and the learners. * Once learners enroll, Silk Road Academy will coordinate the class schedule, process payments, and manage administrative details. * Silk Road Academy can issue invoices so learners can request reimbursement from their affiliated universities or institutions. * Class days and times may be adjusted in accordance with the request of enrollees. * Registered participants will receive full access to recorded session videos and all course materials.