HIST3404 Historical Literature and Documents:
The Medieval World of Marco Polo

Introduction

In the year 1296, the Venetian merchant Marco Polo was captured by enemies from the rival Italian city of Genoa. While in captivity, he befriended a romance writer named Rustichello of Pisa to whom he told his amazing life story. Marco came from a family of merchants who traded in precious Chinese goods that were brought to Europe along the famous Silk Road. As a young man, he set out with his father and uncle in the year 1269 for Asia, then dominated by the powerful Mongol Yuan Dynasty of Kublai Khan. Marco would spend twenty-four years in China and become the first Westerner to gain detailed knowledge of the country and its people.

We know his story thanks to Rustichello, who wrote the work that we know today as The Travels of Marco Polo. The text is as controversial as it is interesting. Was Marco telling the truth? How reliable was Rustichello’s account? What does it say about medieval Europeans’ views of China? This course will give students the chance to explore these questions and more through a focused reading of The Travels of Marco Polo and a selection of related academic scholarship. Instead of a traditional lecture format, we will meet in seminars to discuss each week’s topic, emphasising active participation and lively discussion.

Learning Goals

This course has three main goals:

1. To introduce you to the story of Marco Polo and historical debates around the text.
2. To explore how medieval Europeans viewed China and what it reveals about pre-modern concepts of cultural difference and similarity.
3. To help you develop the fundamental skillset and sensibility of a historian: how to understand academic arguments, how to think critically about historical narratives, and how to effectively communicate your analysis to others.

Need Help?

It’s ok to ask for it! I know that you have probably not studied this subject before. If you have any difficulties with the readings, assignments, discussions, or any other aspects of the course, let me know and I will be happy to help you – that is what I am here for. You can always email me, come to my open-door hours, or just ask a question in class.

Assessment Overview

Your performance in the course will be assessed on the cumulative basis of different types of assignment (described in more detail below) and your attendance. The weighting of the assignments is as follows:

Topic Presentation                              10%
Reading Quizzes (x2)                         20%
Class Participation                              20%
Final Exam                                          50%

Your final letter grade will be determined by your overall course percentage. You will not be graded on a curve. Grades will be assigned according to the following set thresholds:

A         90%                             C+       65%
A-        85%                             C         60%    
B+       80%                             C-        55%
B         75%                             D         50%
B-        70%                             F          >50%

Grade Descriptions

A                     Exceptional: Exceeds expectations. Demonstrates impressive knowledge, clarity, analytical ability, and a firm grasp of course material.

A-                    Strong: Has most of the qualities of A-grade work but has some minor areas for improvement.

B (+/-)             Good: Shows a solid understanding of course material. Has some flaws in writing or argumentation and may contain minor errors or misunderstandings.

C (+/-)             Satisfactory: Demonstrates an acceptable level of knowledge but suffers from lack of clarity, misunderstandings, historical errors, or weak argumentation.

D                     Unsatisfactory: Achieves the minimum passing grade but fails to meet most expectations of knowledge and argumentation.

F                      Failed: Does not meet basic expectations of knowledge, understanding, and/or timeliness in submission.

Course Readings

You will be assigned approximately 50–60 pages of reading each week, which you should complete before the relevant seminar. The main text will be Nigel Cliff’s 2015 translation of The Travels of Marco Polo. You will also read an article or book chapter that sheds light on the relevant section of Marco Polo using documents or other historical evidence from outside the text. I will make each week’s readings available online on the Blackboard course site.

If you would like a general introduction to the period and the topic, I can recommend the following (non-compulsory) readings, all of which are available online or in the CUHK library:

Beckwith, C.I. Empires of the Silk Road: A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present. Princeton, NJ, 2009.

Bergreen, L. Marco Polo: From Venice to Xanadu. New York, 2007.

Ferraro, J.M. Venice: History of the Floating City. Cambridge, 2012.

Haw, S.G. Marco Polo’s China: A Venetian in the Realm of Khubilai Khan. London, 2006.

Topic Presentation

Each class will begin with a topic presentation by a student or students to get the discussion started. This will constitute 10% of your course grade and students will only be expected to present once. Depending on the size of the class, you may be presenting alongside other students, in which case you should work together on your topic presentation as a team.

Topic presentations should be about 10–20 minutes. In your presentation, you should explain what you found most interesting about the week’s readings and why. I would also like you to pose at least five questions to get the discussion moving. If you want, you can supplement your presentation with a short PowerPoint slideshow or use other kinds of visual/audio accompaniment as appropriate. Feel free to get creative – remember, the goal is to spark the most interesting discussion that you can!

Reading Quizzes

There will be two short quizzes to test your understanding of the assigned homework readings. These will be held during the tutorials of Weeks 7 and 13, and will be worth 20% of your course grade. Each quiz will last about 20 minutes and will consist of ten multiple-choice questions. The quizzes will focus on your general understanding of the ideas, arguments, and concepts in the readings; you do not have to memorise specific details.

Class Participation

Participation in both seminars and tutorials will comprise 20% of your course grade. To be clear, participating in discussions means that you will actually have to speak. Sitting in silence is not participation and will not count towards your participation score. But don’t worry! You don’t have to be an expert (or even knowledgeable) about a topic to join in the discussion. Any kind of contribution, even if it is just a simple comment or a question, will count as participation and will thus add to your course grade. So, don’t be shy!

Final Exam

The course will end with a final 3-hour exam held during the exam period at the close of term. This will consist of a set of a primary source analysis question and an essay question.

The primary source question will present you with eight short excerpts of Marco Polo’s Travels, of which you should choose three. You will then have to explain historical details about your chosen excerpts, their content, and why they are significant. The essay question will offer you a choice of six topics, of which you should choose one. Each topic will require you to draw on your overall knowledge and understanding of the course themes to produce a persuasive argument supported by relevant historical evidence. I will give you more details about the exam (and advice on how to answer the questions) later in the term.

World History Seminar

This term, the History department will be holding the seventh series of its World History Seminar. This will take place online on Zoom roughly every two weeks for a lecture by a leading world historian. At the end of the lecture, members of the audience will have the chance to engage in a Q&A with the speaker. A complete schedule of events, with topics, dates, and times, will be released soon.

Since this seminar has a clear relevance to our course, I would like you to attend no fewer than three meetings of the World History Seminar. You should also ask at least one question during one of the Q&A sessions. Your attendance and participation in this seminar will form part of your overall participation grade for this course. If you are unable to attend three meetings of the World History Seminar, you may supplement it with attendance at the RIH Digital Humanities Talk Series.

Attendance and Absences

You are expected to attend all seminars and tutorial sessions. For every class that you miss without my permission, 1% will be deducted from your final course grade. If you have a valid reason for being absent from a lecture or tutorial (such as a doctor’s appointment), please contact me as soon as possible to ask for permission.

T.B.A.

Plagiarism and Academic Ethics

Studying at university requires a high standard of professionalism and honesty in your academic work and personal conduct. This falls under the broad category of academic ethics, which I take very seriously (and so should you). I expect you all to behave in an honest and respectful manner in class and in your assignments. Unethical behaviour, including plagiarism, will not be tolerated. You can find more information on university policy at http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/policy/academichonesty/.

If you are unsure about the definition of plagiarism or academic ethics, feel free to ask me and I will be happy to discuss it with you in more detail.

Policy on A.I. Use

The use of generative A.I. tools is closely related to issues of plagiarism and academic ethics. While there are legitimate ways to use A.I. to help you learn, it is important that you do not use A.I. to replace learning. You may use A.I. to aid in your personal study if you wish, but you should be aware of its limitations and problems. Always make sure to double-check what an A.I. tells you against reputable, peer-reviewed, academic sources. You may not use A.I. to produce any of your graded assignments for this course.

Please do not use A.I. to write emails to me. If you send me an A.I. email, I will not respond.

Add/Drop Period

During the second week of term (13^th–19^th January), students are allowed to change their course enrolments by adding and dropping courses on CUSIS. You are welcome to either add or drop this course during that period for any reason.

Please note that it is not possible to late-drop the course after the add/drop period unless there are exceptional circumstances (e.g. if a medical emergency or similar makes it impossible for you to continue the class). In the unfortunate event that such circumstances arise, you must provide sufficient documentary proof such as a medical diagnosis from a clinical professional stating that you are unable to complete the course. Ordinary sick leave notes are not acceptable.

Grade Appeals

You can find information on the grade appeals process here: http://www.res.cuhk.edu.hk/en-gb/general-information/procedures-for-dealing-with-student-complaints.

I deal with grade appeals on a case-by-case basis. I am happy to correct your grade if there has been a technical error or oversight. Otherwise, you should be aware that grading is entirely at my discretion. I do not accept appeals just because a student disagrees with their grade.

Open Door Hours

I try to set aside time every Friday afternoon between 2 and 5pm for ‘Open Door Hours’, when students can come and see me in my office without an appointment. This is a chance for you to come and talk to me about anything you want, even if it is not related to the course. If you cannot make it on Friday afternoon, you are always welcome to make an appointment to see me at another time. Just send me an email and I will arrange a time to speak with you in my office (Fung King Hey Building, Room 123).

Attention is drawn to University policy and regulations on honesty in academic work, and to the disciplinary guidelines and procedures applicable to breaches of such policy and regulations. Details may be found at http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/policy/academichonesty/.

With each assignment, students will be required to submit a signed declaration that they are aware of these policies, regulations, guidelines and procedures.

• In the case of group projects, all members of the group should be asked to sign the declaration, each of whom is responsible and liable to disciplinary actions, irrespective of whether he/she has signed the declaration and whether he/she has contributed, directly or indirectly, to the problematic contents.
• For assignments in the form of a computer-generated document that is principally text-based and submitted via VeriGuide, the statement, in the form of a receipt, will be issued by the system upon students’ uploading of the soft copy of the assignment.

Assignments without the properly signed declaration will not be graded by teachers.

Only the final version of the assignment should be submitted via VeriGuide.

The submission of a piece of work, or a part of a piece of work, for more than one purpose (e.g. to satisfy the requirements in two different courses) without declaration to this effect shall be regarded as having committed undeclared multiple submissions. It is common and acceptable to reuse a turn of phrase or a sentence or two from one’s own work; but wholesale reuse is problematic. In any case, agreement from the course teacher(s) concerned should be obtained prior to the submission of the piece of work.