MCC will host an educational, cultural and entertaining community event, “The Silk Road,” in the MCC Theatre at 6:30 p.m. April 15. The evening will include a lecture, music, dance performances and an exhibit of arts and objects related to the theme.
The Silk Road was an ancient network of trade routes, over land and sea, that connected the East and the West, from China to the Mediterranean Sea. It spanned the world’s great empires and linked the major cities and trading centers of Asia and Europe.
Trade flourished over the Silk Road for 1,000 years, from about A.D. 500 to 1500.
Merchants traded textiles made of silk, cotton and wool as well as spices, foods, medicines, paper and gems. Along with trade came the exchange and spread of culture: ideas, art, science, philosophy and religion.
Assisted by a team of interested colleagues at MCC, Shahin Monshipour, assistant professor of sociology and anthropology, has designed and organized this broadly inclusive event. The Silk Road was chosen to showcase examples of art and cultures of so many societies and nations in the world, and their close connections and impacts on each other. In addition, many MCC students come from these diverse cultures and have parents who are first-generation American immigrants from these lands with rich histories, beautiful arts and expressions of all kinds, and ways of life that we can learn about.
Supported by MCC’s Diversity Council, “The Silk Road” furthers MCC’s initiative to globalize education at the college. It will involve the collaboration of MCC students, faculty, staff and administrators, local artists and representatives from area colleges. In addition, it will involve unprecedented participation and contributions from Rochester’s international communities, such as Chinese-Americans, Afghan-Americans, Turkish-Americans and other ethnic groups representative of those that settled on lands along the Silk Road.
The event is free and open to the public. Watch the Tribune for more information in the next few months. Or e-mail Professor Monshipour at smonshipour@monroecc.edu.
Shahin Monshipour
Anthropology-History-Political Science-Sociology
01/19/2010 |