Cultural Exchange in Afro-Eurasia
Teacher Resources
Driving Question: What were the causes and consequences of scientific and cultural exchange?
The networks of exchange across Afro-Eurasia also enabled the transfer of goods, diseases, and people—but often less immediately visible were the profound transfers of science, technology, and culture. Religions spread, as well as advancements in fields such as astronomy, medicine, and mathematics. The spread of all these innovations contributed to the development of a global body of knowledge.
- Learn about the consequences of regional exchange networks including the transfer of artistic, scientific, and technological ideas that occurred throughout this period.
- Assess the religious conflicts that took place in this era as new ideas about Christianity and the Catholic Church spread throughout Europe.
- Practice informal writing skills as you evaluate networks and production and distribution from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.
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Guiding Questions
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Note: For more detailed directions on completing the three close reads below, refer to the Three Close Reads – Introduction activity.
Skim
Before you read, you should quickly skim the article, by looking at the headings of each section and the charts. Read the questions below as well, so you know what to look for when you read!
Key Ideas
- Did most people in Afro-Eurasia travel extensively between 1200 and 1450?
- In this same period, what two main regions/cultures of Afro-Eurasia made the most remarkable contributions to technology throughout other regions?
- What were some of the major technological contributions made by China and the Islamic world in this period, 1200 to 1450?
- What different religious traditions came together in Southeast Asia in this period?
- What shape did Islam take in many of its movements and adaptations around the region?
Evaluate
- This article gives some examples about how ideas, including religions, were adopted in new areas in this period. Based on evidence from the article, why do you think people were willing or even enthusiastic to adopt ideas coming in from other places? What were their motives?
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Guiding Questions
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Note: For more detailed directions on completing the three close reads below, refer to the Three Close Reads – Introduction activity.
Skim
Before you read, you should quickly skim the article, by looking at the headings of each section and the charts. Read the questions below as well, so you know what to look for when you read!
Key Ideas
- What was the Renaissance?
- What did Renaissance thinkers and artists in Italy believe they were doing?
- How did historians in the nineteenth century use the Renaissance to build narratives?
- How did different types of people experience the Renaissance?
- How did trade help start the Renaissance?
- How does the author use connections with the Islamic world to challenge the narrative that the Renaissance was all about reviving Greek and Roman culture?
- What does the author argue that the painting, “The King’s Fountain,” shows us about life in Renaissance Europe?
Evaluate
- How would you describe the Renaissance to somebody who knew nothing about it? Use evidence from the article to support, extend, or challenge the idea of a uniquely European cultural movement that started in fourteenth-century Italy.
The Reformation
Key Ideas
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Guiding Questions
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Before you watch
Before you watch the video, it’s a good idea to open and skim the video transcript. And always read the questions below so you know what to look and listen for as you watch!
While you watch
- What sixteenth-century practices of the Catholic Church and its pope led people to accuse the church of corruption?
- What criticisms of the Catholic Church did Martin Luther make in his 95 Theses?
- Why was Protestantism appealing to women and what contributions did some women make to the movement?
- How did the Reformation lead to the deaths of millions of people?
- Who were the Jesuits and why was this order created?
- What was ironic about the North American colonists fleeing Europe due to religious persecution?
After you watch
- In what ways is the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation still relevant today?
