When Asia was the World

This year, Ferris State University’s FLITE was awarded the Muslim Journeys book and video collection  by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Library Association. One of the Muslim Journeys books, “When Asia Was the World“, was authored by Dr. Stewart Gordon, Senior Research Scholar at the Center for South Asian Studies at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

In the words of one review, “While European civilization stagnated in the ‘Dark Ages,’ Asia flourished as the wellspring of science, philosophy and religion. Linked together by a web of spiritual, commercial, and intellectual connections, the distant regions of Asia’s vast civilization, from Arabia to China, hummed with trade, international diplomacy, and the exchange of ideas. Stewart Gordon has fashioned a compelling and unique look at Asia from AD 700 to 1500 – a time when Asia was the world – by relating the personal journeys of Asia’s many travelers.”

We are very fortunate to have Dr. Gordon visiting Ferris next week for a public talk on the book’s themes, and we enthusiastically invite all students to attend. The talk will take place next Thursday, September 26, at 11am in IRC 115.