Ancient Assyrian antiquities in the British Museum. Early history The most Neolithic site in Assyria is at Tell Hassuna, the center of the Hassuna culture The British Museum is a Museum of human history and culture in London. In the 19th century the placing of spectacular antiquities in the new museums brought unusual interest from the general public to Oriental Studies

Oriental studies is the academic field of study that embraces Near Eastern and Far Eastern societies and cultures, languages, peoples, history and archaeology; in recent years the term Asian studies has mostly replaced the older term. B Syria - Belka Woman from Damascus Arab from Baghdadjpg|thumb|Inhabitants of the Near East late nineteenth century The Far East is a term often used by people in the Western world to refer to the countries of East Asia. Asian studies, a term that has largely replaced the older Oriental studies, is concerned with the Asian peoples their cultures languages history and politics European study of the region had primarily religious origins, which has remained an important motivation until recent times. Learning from Arabic medicine and philosophy, and the Arabic translations from Greek, was an important factor in the Middle Ages. Linguistic knowledge preceded a wider study of cultures and history, and as Europe began to encroach upon the region, political and economic factors encouraged growth in academic study. From the late 18th century archaeology became a link from the discipline to a wide European public, as treasures brought back filled new European museums. The modern study was influenced both by Imperialist attitudes and interests, and also the sometimes naive fascination of the exotic East for Mediterranean and European writers and thinkers, captured in images by artists, that is embodied in a repeatedly-surfacing theme in the history of ideas in the West, called "Orientalism". Imperialism has two meanings one describing an action and the other describing an attitude The history of ideas is a field of Research in History that deals with the expression preservation and change of human Ideas over time Orientalism refers to the imitation or depiction of aspects of Eastern cultures in the West by writers designers and artists and can also refer to a sympathetic stance In the last century, scholars from the region itself have participated on equal terms in the discipline, transforming it.

History of Oriental studies

Pre-Islam

The Western world's original distinction between the "West" and the "East" was crystallised in the Greco-Persian Wars of the fifth century BCE, when Athenian historians made a distinction between their "Athenian democracy" and that of the Persian monarchy. Athenian democracy developed in the Greek City-state of Athens The Persian Empire was a series of Iranian empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland and beyond in Western Asia An institutional distinction between East and West did not exist as a defined polarity before the Oriens- and Occidens-divided administration of the Emperor Diocletian's Roman Empire at the end of the third century CE, and the division of the Empire into Latin and Greek-speaking portions. Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus ( ca. December 22 244 The modern historian Timothy Barnes takes December 22 as his birthdate The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly The classical world had initimate knowledge of their Ancient Persian neighbours (and usually enemies), but very imprecise knowledge of most of the world further East, including the "Seres" (Chinese). The Persian Empire was a series of Iranian empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland and beyond in Western Asia Sino-Roman relations started first on an indirect basis during the 2nd century BC. Seres (Gr Σῆρες, Lat Sērēs) was the ancient Greek and Roman name for the inhabitants of the northwestern part of modern China However there was substantial direct Roman trade with India (unlike with China) in the Imperial period. Roman trade with India through the overland caravan routes via Anatolia and Persia though at a relative trickle comparative to later times antedated the southern trade route via the Red

Middle Ages

Hayton of Corycus remitting his report on the Mongols, to Pope Clement V, in 1307. Hayton of Corycus, also called Hetoum of Korykos, Haiton, Haitho, Antonius, Haython, Antonius Curchinus or Hayton The Mongol Empire ( Mongolyn Ezent Güren or mn Их Mонгол улс Ikh Mongol Uls; 1206–1368 was the largest contiguous Empire Pope Clement V' (About 1264 &ndash April 20, 1314) born Raymond Bertrand de Got (also occasionally spelled de Gouth and de

The rise of Islam and Muslim conquests in the seventh century established a sharp opposition, or even a sense of polarity, between medieval European Christendom and the medieval Islamic world (which stretched from the Middle East and Central Asia to North Africa and Andalusia). The Spread of Islam began shortly after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad in 632. The initial Arab Muslim conquests (632–732 (فتح Fatah, literally opening, also referred to as the Islamic conquests or Arab Christendom usually refers to Christianity as a territorial phenomenon The Middle East is a Subcontinent with no clear boundaries often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East. Central Asia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east and from southern Russia in the north to northern Pakistan in the south North Africa or Northern Africa is the Northernmost Region of the African Continent, separated by the Sahara from Sub-Saharan Al-Andalus (الأندلس was the Arabic name given to those parts of the Iberian Peninsula governed by Muslims or During the Middle Ages, Muslims were considered the "alien" enemies of Christendom. A Muslim (مسلم pronounced Muslim, not Muzlim) is an adherent of the Religion Popular medieval European knowledge of cultures farther to the East was poor, dependent on the wildly fictionalised travels of Sir John Mandeville and legends of Prester John, although the equally famous, and much longer, account by Marco Polo was a good deal more accurate. " Jehan de Mandeville " translated as " Sir John Mandeville " is the name claimed by the compiler of a singular book of supposed travels written in The legends of Prester John (also Presbyter John) popular in Europe from the 12th through the 17th centuries told of a Christian Patriarch Marco Polo ( September 15 1254 – January 9 1324 at earliest but no later than June 1325 was a Venetian trader and explorer

Scholarly work was initially very largely linguistic in nature, with primarily a religious focus on understanding both Biblical Hebrew and languages like Syriac with early Christian literature, but also from a wish to understand Greek and Arabic works on medicine, philosophy and science. Biblical Hebrew, also called Classical Hebrew, is an archaic form of the Hebrew language in which the Hebrew Bible and various Israelite inscriptions See Syriac (disambiguation for other uses Syriac (syr ܠܫܢܐ ܣܘܪܝܝܐ leššānā Suryāyā) is an Eastern Aramaic language Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language Early Islamic philosophy or classical Islamic philosophy is a period of intense philosophical development beginning in the 2nd century AH of the Islamic calendar This effort existed sporadically throughout the Middle Ages, and the "Renaissance of the 12th century" witnessed a particular growth in translations of Arabic texts into Latin, with figures like Constantine the African, who translated 37 books, mostly medical texts, from Arabic to Latin, and Herman of Carinthia, one of the translators of the Qur'an. The Renaissance of the 12th century was a period of many changes during the High Middle Ages. The Renaissance of the 12th century saw a major search by European scholars for new learning which led them to the Arabic fringes of Europe especially to Islamic Constantine the African ( Latin Constantinus Africanus c 1020 Carthage or Sicily&ndash1087 monastery of Monte Cassino, near Cassino Principality Herman of Carinthia or Herman Dalmatin (also known in Latin as Sclavus Dalmata Secundus was a Philosopher, Astronomer, Astrologer, Mathematician The Qur’an ( القرآن, literally "the recitation" also sometimes transliterated as Qur’ān, Koran, Alcoran The earliest translation of the Qur'an into Latin was completed in 1143, although little use was made of it until it was printed in 1543, after which it was translated into other European languages. Lex Mahumet pseudoprophete ( English: "Law of Mahomet the pseudo- Prophet " was the translation of the Qur'an into Latin Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Gerard of Cremona and others based themselves in Al-Andaluz to take advantage of the Arabic libraries and scholars there. Gerard of Cremona ( Italian: Gerardo da Cremona; Latin: Gerardus Cremonensis; c Al-Andalus (الأندلس was the Arabic name given to those parts of the Iberian Peninsula governed by Muslims or Later, with the Christian Reconquista in full progress, such contacts became rarer in Spain. The Reconquista (a Spanish and Portuguese word for "Reconquest" Arabic: الاسترداد, "Recapturing" was a period

There was vague but increasing knowledge of the complex civilizations extant in China and India, from which luxury goods (notably cotton and silk textiles as well as ceramics) were imported. This article attempts to list every significant event in the history of the European exploration of Asia. China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National This article is about the history of South Asia prior to the Partition of British India in 1947 Cotton is a soft staple Fibre that grows around the seeds of the cotton plant ( Gossypium sp Silk is a natural Protein Fiber, some forms of which can be woven into Textiles The best-known type of silk is obtained from cocoons Ceramics and ceramic art in the art world means artwork made out of clay bodies and fired to form a ceramic. Although the Crusades produced relatively little in the way of scholarly interchange, the eruption of the Mongol Empire had strategic implications for both the Crusader kingdoms and Europe itself, and led to extended diplomatic contacts. The Crusades were a series of military campaigns of a religious character waged by much of Christian Europe against external and internal opponents The Mongol Empire ( Mongolyn Ezent Güren or mn Их Mонгол улс Ikh Mongol Uls; 1206–1368 was the largest contiguous Empire The Crusader states were a number of mostly 12th- and 13th-century feudal states created by Western European Crusaders in Asia Minor, Greece and Many attempts were made towards forming a Franco-Mongol alliance between the mid-13th and early 14th centuries starting around the time of the Seventh Crusade. From the Age of Exploration, European interest in mapping Asia, and especially the sea-routes, became intense, though mostly pursued outside the universities. The Age of Discovery or Age of Exploration was a period from the early 15th century and continuing into the early 17th century during which Europeans explored Antiquity Babylon in Southwest Asia is at the center of the very earliest world maps, beginning with the Babylonian world map in the 6th As European exploration and colonisation occurred, the distinction between illiterate peoples (i. Colonisation (also known as Colonization) occurs whenever any one or more species populates a new area e. in sub-Saharan Africa and the Americas) and the literate cultures of the East became entrenched. Sub-Saharan Africa is a geographical term used to describe the area of the African continent which lies south of the Sahara, or those African countries The Americas are the lands of the Western hemisphere or New World, consisting of the Continents of North America and South America

Renaissance to 1800

Matteo Ricci (left) and Xu Guangqi (徐光啟) (right) in the Chinese edition of Euclid's Elements (幾何原本) published in 1607. Xu Guangqi ( 1562–1633 Courtesy name Zixian (子先 was a Chinese bureaucrat agricultural scientist astronomer and mathematician in the Ming Dynasty Euclid's Elements ( Greek:) is a mathematical and geometric Treatise consisting of 13 books written by the Greek

University Oriental studies became systematic during the Renaissance, with the linguistic and religious aspects initially continuing to dominate. There was also a political dimension, as translations for diplomatic purposes were needed, even before the West engaged actively with the East beyond the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish A landmark was the publication in Spain in 1514 of the first Polyglot Bible, containing the complete existing texts in Hebrew and Aramaic, as well as Greek and Latin. The Complutensian Polyglot Bible is the name given to the first printed polyglot of the entire Bible, initiated and financed by Cardinal Francisco Jiménez de Aramaic is a Semitic language with At Cambridge University there has been a Regius Professor of Hebrew since 1540 (the fifth oldest regular chair there), and the chair in Arabic was founded in about 1643. The University of Cambridge (often Cambridge University) located in Cambridge, England, is the second-oldest university in the The Regius Professorship of Hebrew, founded by Henry VIII, a professorship at both Cambridge and Oxford Universities The Sir Thomas Adams's Professorship of Arabic is the senior professorship in Arabic at the University of Cambridge. Oxford followed for Hebrew in 1546 (both chairs were established by Henry VIII). Distinguished scholars included Edmund Castell, who published his Lexicon Heptaglotton Hebraicum, Chaldaicum, Syriacum, Samaritanum, Aethiopicum, Arabicum, et Persicum in 1669, whilst some scholars like Edward Pococke had travelled to the East and wrote also on the modern history and society of Eastern peoples. Edmund Castell (1606-1685 was an English Orientalist. He was born at Tadlow, in Cambridgeshire. Edward Pococke (1604-1691 was an English Orientalist and biblical scholar The University of Salamanca had Professors of Oriental Languages from at least the 1570s. The University of Salamanca (Universidad de Salamanca located in the town of Salamanca, west of Madrid, is the oldest university in Spain (the older In France, Colbert initiated a training programme for "Les Jeunes de langues", young linguists with the diplomatic service, like François Pétis de la Croix, who like his father and his son served as Arabic interpreter to the King. François Pétis de la Croix (1653&ndash1713 was a French Orientalist. Study of the Far East was pioneered by missionaries, especially Matteo Ricci and others in the Jesuit China missions, and missionary motives were to remain important, at least in linguistic studies. The Far East is a term often used by people in the Western world to refer to the countries of East Asia. Matteo Ricci SJ ( October 6 1552 &ndash May 11 1610;; Courtesy name: 西泰 Xītài was an Italian Jesuit priest The history of the missions of the Jesuits in China in the early modern era stands as one of the notable events in the early history of relations between China and

During the eighteenth century Western scholars reached a reasonable basic level of understanding of the geography and most of the history of the region, though knowledge of the areas least accessible to Western travellers, like Japan and Tibet, and their languages, remained limited. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. Definitions of Tibet See also Definitions of Tibet Name In English The English word Tibet, like the word for Tibet in most European Enlightenment thinkers characterised aspects of the pagan East as superior to the Christian West, in Montesquieu's Lettres Persanes or Voltaire's ironic promotion of Zoroastrianism; others, like Edward Gibbon, praised the relative religious tolerance of the Islamic East as opposed to the intolerant Christian West, and many, including Diderot and Voltaire, the high social status of scholarship in Mandarin China. The Age of Enlightenment or The Enlightenment is a term used to describe a phase in Western philosophy and cultural life centered upon the eighteenth century Charles-Louis de Secondat baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (Eng François-Marie Arouet ( 21 November 1694 30 May 1778) better known by the Pen name Voltaire, was a French Zoroastrianism (ˌzɔroʊˈæstriəˌnɪzəm is the religion and philosophy based on the teachings Edward Gibbon ( April 27, 1737 January 16, 1794) was an English historian and Member of Parliament. Denis Diderot ( October 5, 1713 – July 31, 1784) was a French Philosopher and writer François-Marie Arouet ( 21 November 1694 30 May 1778) better known by the Pen name Voltaire, was a French A Mandarin was a Bureaucrat in Imperial China, and also in the monarchist days of Vietnam where the system of Imperial examinations and

The end of the century saw the beginnings in the great increase in study of the archaeology of the period, which was to be an ever-more important aspect of the field through the next century. Archaeology, archeology, or archæology (from Greek grc ἀρχαιολογία archaiologia – grc ἀρχαῖος archaīos Egyptology led the way, and as with many other ancient cultures, provided the linguists with new material for decypherment and study. Egyptology (from Egypt and Greek grc -λογία -logia. علم المصريات مصر شناسی is a major field of Archaeology

Nineteenth century

The old building of the Asiatic Society in Calcutta, founded by William Jones in 1784. The Asiatic Society was founded by Sir William Jones ( 1746 - 1794) on January 15, 1784 in a meeting presided over by Sir Robert Sir William Jones ( September 28, 1746 &ndash April 27, 1794) was an English philologist and student of ancient India

With a great increase in knowledge of Asia among Western specialists, increasing political and economic involvement in the region, and in particular the realisation of the existence of close relations between Indian and European languages, by William Jones, there emerged more complex intellectual connections between the early history of Eastern and Western cultures. Sir William Jones ( September 28, 1746 &ndash April 27, 1794) was an English philologist and student of ancient India Some of these developments occurred in the context of Franco–British rivalry for control of India. Liberal economists, such as James Mill, denigrated Eastern civilizations as static and corrupt. James Mill (6 April 1773 &ndash 23 June 1836 was a Scottish Historian, Economist, Political theorist, and Philosopher. Karl Marx characterised the Asiatic mode of production as unchanging, because of the economic narrowness of village economies and the State's role in production. In the theory of Historical materialism, the term Asiatic mode of production describes a widespread pre- Capitalist Mode of production, in which Oriental despotism was generally regarded in Europe as a major factor in the relative failure ro progress of Eastern societies. In Sociology, Oriental Despotism is a Polemical term used to describe a Despotic form of government that opposes the Western tradition. The study of Islam was central to the field since the majority of people living in the geographical area termed 'the Orient' were Muslims. Interest in understanding Islam was partly fuelled by economic considerations of growing trade in the Mediterranean region and the changing cultural and intellectual climate of the time. ^[1]

In the course of the century Western archaeology spread across the Middle East and Asia, with spectacular results. The new national museums provided a setting for the finds, most of which were in this period bought back to Europe, and put Orientalists in the public spotlight as never before.

The first, serious European studies of Buddhism and Hinduism were by scholars Eugene Burnouf and Max Müller. Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices Hinduism is a religious tradition that originated in the Indian subcontinent. Eugène Burnouf ( April 8, 1801 &ndash May 28, 1852) was a French Orientalist. For the Danish Colonel Max Müller see Second War of Schleswig. In that time, the academic study of Islam also developed, and, by the mid-nineteenth century, Oriental Studies was a well-established academic discipline in most European counties, especially those with imperial interests in the region. Scholars in Islamic studies are both Muslim and non-Muslim scholars who work in one or more fields of Islamic studies. Yet, while scholastic study expanded, so did racist attitudes and stereotypes of "inscrutable", "wily" Orientals. List of racism-related topics|Racism by country Racism, by its simplest definition is the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that Scholarship often was intertwined with prejudicial racist and religious presumptions, ^[2] to which the new biological sciences tended to contribute until the middle of the following century. Foundations of modern biology There are five unifying principles

Twentieth century

The participation in academic studies by scholars from the newly-independent nations of the region itself inevitably changed the nature of studies considerably, with the emergence of post-colonial studies and Subaltern Studies. Postcolonialism ( postcolonial theory, post-colonial theory) is an intellectual discourse that holds together a set of theories found among the texts and The Subaltern Studies Group (SSG or Subaltern Studies Collective are a group of South Asian scholars interested in the Postcolonial and post- imperial The influence of Orientalism (in the sense used by Edward Said in his book of the same name) in scholarship on the Middle East was seen to have re-emerged and risen in prevalence again after the end of the Cold War. Orientalism refers to the imitation or depiction of aspects of Eastern cultures in the West by writers designers and artists and can also refer to a sympathetic stance Orientalism is the 1978 book by Edward Said that has been highly influential in postcolonial studies. It is contended that this was partly a response to "a lacuna" in identity politics in international relations generally, and within the 'West' particularly, which was brought about by the absence of Soviet communism as a global adversary. ^[3] The post-Cold War era has been marked by discussions of Islamist terrorism framing views on the extent to which the culture of the Middle East region and Islam, its predominant religion, poses a threat to that of the West. The essence of this debate reflects a presupposition for which Orientalism has been criticised - that the 'Orient' is defined by Islam. Such considerations as these were seen to have occurred in the wider context of the way in which many Western scholars responded to international politics in the post-Cold War world; and they were arguably heightened following the terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001. ^[4]

Symbolic of this type of response to the end of the Cold War was the popularisation of the 'clash of civilisations' thesis. Cold War is the state of conflict tension and competition that existed between the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR and their respective allies from the The Clash of Civilizations is a Theory, proposed by Political scientist Samuel P This particular idea of a fundamental conflict between East and West was first advanced by Bernard Lewis in an article entitled "The Roots of Muslim Rage", written in 1990. Bernard Lewis (born May 31, 1916 in London, England) is a British - American Again, this was seen as a way of accounting for new forms and lines of division in post-Cold War international society. The 'clash of civilisations' approach involved another characteristic of Orientalist thought; namely, the tendency to see the region as being one, homogenous 'civilisation', rather than as comprising various different and diverse cultures and strands. It was an idea that was taken on more famously by Samuel Huntington in his 1993 article in Foreign Affairs, called "The Clash of Civilisations?". Samuel Huntington is a human name and may refer to Samuel Huntington (statesman (1731-1796 American jurist statesman and revolutionary leader Foreign Affairs is an influential American Journal on International relations published by the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR ^[5]

"Orientalism" and Oriental studies

Edward Said

Main article: Orientalism

The term Orientalism has come to acquire negative connotations in some quarters and is interpreted to refer to the study of the East by Westerners shaped by the attitudes of the era of European imperialism in the 18th and 19th centuries. Edward Wadie Saïd MRSL ( إدوارد وديع سعيد,; 1 November 1935 &ndash 25 September Orientalism refers to the imitation or depiction of aspects of Eastern cultures in the West by writers designers and artists and can also refer to a sympathetic stance Imperialism has two meanings one describing an action and the other describing an attitude The 18th century lasted from 1701 to 1800 in the Gregorian calendar, in accordance with the Anno Domini / Common Era numbering system The 19th century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1801 and ended on December 31, 1900, according to the Gregorian calendar When used in this sense, it often implies prejudiced, outsider-caricatured interpretations of Eastern cultures and peoples. This viewpoint was most famously articulated and propagated by Edward Said in Orientalism (1978), a critical history of this scholarly tradition. Edward Wadie Saïd MRSL ( إدوارد وديع سعيد,; 1 November 1935 &ndash 25 September Orientalism is the 1978 book by Edward Said that has been highly influential in postcolonial studies. In contrast, the term has also been used by some modern scholars to refer to writers of the Imperialist era who had pro-Eastern attitudes, as opposed to those who saw nothing of value in non-Western cultures. ^[6]

From "Oriental Studies" to "Asian Studies"

Like the term Orient, Orientalism derives from the Latin word oriens (rising) and, equally likely, from the Greek word ('he'oros', the direction of the rising sun). The Orient is a term which simply means the " East " It originated in Western Asia to describe that part of the world "Orient" is the opposite of Occident. The term Western world, the West or the Occident ( Latin: occidens -sunset -west as distinct from the Orient) can have multiple meanings In terms of The Old World, Europe was considered The Occident (The West), and its farthest-known extreme The Orient (The East). The Old World consists of those parts of Earth known to Europeans Asians and Africans in the 15th century The Occident ( 1843 - 1869) was the first general Jewish Periodical published in the United States. The Orient is a term which simply means the " East " It originated in Western Asia to describe that part of the world Dating from the Roman Empire until the Middle Ages, what is now, in the West, considered 'the Middle East' was then considered 'the Orient'. The Middle East is a Subcontinent with no clear boundaries often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East. However, use of the various terms and senses derived from "Orient" has greatly declined in the twentieth century, not least as trans-Pacific links between Asia and America have grown; nowadays, Asia usually arrives at the USA from the West.

In most North American universities, Oriental Studies has now been replaced by Asian Studies localised to specific regions, such as, Middle Eastern or Near Eastern Studies, South Asian studies, and East Asian Studies. Asian studies, a term that has largely replaced the older Oriental studies, is concerned with the Asian peoples their cultures languages history and politics The Middle East is a Subcontinent with no clear boundaries often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East. This reflects the fact that the Orient is not a single, monolithic region but rather a broad area encompassing multiple civilisations. A Civilization is a society in which large numbers of people share a variety of common elements The generic concept of Oriental Studies, to its opponents, has lost any use it may have once had and is perceived as obstructing changes in departmental structures to reflect actual patterns of modern scholarship. In many universities, like Chicago, the faculties and institutions have divided; the Biblical languages may be linked with theological institutes, and the study of ancient civilisations in the region may come under a different faculty to studies of modern periods.

In 2007 the Faculty of Oriental Studies at Cambridge University was renamed the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, but Oxford still has its Faculty for Oriental Studies, as do Chicago, Rome, London (covering African studies also), and other universities. The University of Cambridge (often Cambridge University) located in Cambridge, England, is the second-oldest university in the The Oriental Institute (commonly referred to as the OI) of the University of Oxford, England, is home to the University's Faculty of Oriental Studies The Oriental Institute ( OI) established in 1919, is the University of Chicago 's Archeology Museum and research center for ancient The Pontifical Oriental Institute ("Pontificium Institutum Orientalium" in Latin "Pontificio Instituto Orientale" in Italian is the premier center for the study of The School of Oriental and African Studies (commonly abbreviated to " SOAS " pronounced (so as or (so az is a constituent college of the University of

Various explanations for the change to "Asian studies" are offered; a growing number of professional scholars and students of Asian Studies are themselves Asian or from groups of Asian origin (like Asian Americans). Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry. They include sub-ethnic groups such as Chinese Americans Filipino Americans Indian This change of labelling may be correlated in some cases to the fact that sensitivity to the term "Oriental" has been heightened in a more politically correct atmosphere, although it began earlier: Bernard Lewis' own department at Princeton University was renamed a decade before Said wrote his book, a detail that Said gets wrong. Political correctness (adjectivally politically correct; both forms commonly abbreviated to PC) is a term applied to Language, ideas policies or behavior Princeton University is a private Coeducational research university located in Princeton, New Jersey. ^[7] By some, the term "Oriental" has come to be thought offensive to non-Westerners. Area studies that incorporate not only philological pursuits but identity politics may also account for the hestitation to use the term "Oriental". In the Humanities and Social sciences, area studies are Interdisciplinary fields of research and scholarship pertaining to a particular geographical Identity politics is Political action to advance the interests of members of a group whose members are oppressed by virtue of a shared and marginalized Identity (such

Supporters of "Oriental Studies" counter that the term "Asian" is just as encompassing as "Oriental," and may well have originally had the same meaning, were it derived from an Akkadian word for "East" (a more common derivation is from one or both of two Anatolian proper names. ). Replacing one word with another is to confuse historically objectional opinions about the East with the concept of "the East" itself. The terms Oriental/Eastern and Occidental/Western are both inclusive concepts that usefully identify large-scale cultural differences. Such general concepts do not preclude or deny more specific ones.

See also

• Europeans in Medieval China
• Medieval Roman Catholic Missions in China
• Arabist
• Area studies
• Assyriology
• Egyptology
• Indology (study of India)
• Islamism
• Iranistics
• Japonism
• List of Islamic studies scholars
  • at section 5. Numerous Europeans are known to have been in Medieval China during the second half of the 13th century and the first half of the 14th century (from 1246 to around 1350 at a time when See also Christianity in China The second major thrust of Christianity into China occurred during the Thirteenth century. This is an article about the western scholars known as Arabists, not the political movement Pan-Arabism. In the Humanities and Social sciences, area studies are Interdisciplinary fields of research and scholarship pertaining to a particular geographical Assyriology (from Greek grc Ἀσσυρίᾱ Assyriā; and grc -λογία -logia) is the archaeological historical and linguistic study Egyptology (from Egypt and Greek grc -λογία -logia. علم المصريات مصر شناسی is a major field of Archaeology Indology refers to the academic study of the languages texts History and Cultures of the Indian subcontinent, and as such a subset of Asian studies Islamism ( Islam + ism; Arabic: al-'islāmiyya) a set of ideologies holding that Islam is not only Iranian Studies ( ايران شناسیis an interdisciplinary field dealing with the study of the Iranian cultural region (or the Iranian "cultural continent" Japonism, or Japonisme, the original French term which is also used in English is a term for the influence of the arts of Japan on those of the Scholars in Islamic studies are both Muslim and non-Muslim scholars who work in one or more fields of Islamic studies. "Orientalists/Non-Muslims" appears an annotated list of over 150 western & eastern non-Muslim scholars, often with titles of their writings on Islam.
• Middle Eastern studies
• Oriental Institute
• Philology
• Silk Road
• Sinology (study of China)
• SOAS

References

External links

Institutions

• Asiatica Association
• SOAS: The School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London
• Faculty of Oriental Studies at the University of Oxford
• Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago
• American Center for Oriental Research
• American Oriental Society

Resources

• Ancient Indian & Iran Trust, London UK

Articles

• Dictionary of the History of Ideas: China in Western Thought and Culture
• John E. Hill, translation in his e-edition of Hou Hanshu
• Edward Said's Splash The impact of Edward Said's book on Middle Eastern studies, by Martin Kramer. The University of London is a university based primarily in London, England, UK. The University of Oxford (informally "Oxford University" or simply "Oxford" located in the city of Oxford, Oxfordshire, England is the The University of Chicago is a Private university located principally in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago. Martin Seth Kramer (b 1954 Washington DC) is an American scholar of the Middle East at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, the
• Frontier Orientalism — an article by Austrian anthropologist Andre Gingrich
• Edward Said and the Production of Knowledge
• Orientalism as a tool of Colonialism

Further reading

• Crawley, William. "Sir William Jones: A vision of Orientalism", Asian Affairs, Vol.  27, Issue 2. (Jun. 1996), pp.  163–176.
• Fleming, K. E. "Orientalism, the Balkans, and Balkan Historiography", The American Historical Review, Vol.  105, No.  4. (Oct. , 2000), pp.  1218–1233.
• Halliday, Fred. "'Orientalism' and Its Critics", British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, Vol.  20, No.  2. (1993), pp.  145–163.
• Irwin, Robert. For lust of knowing: The Orientalists and their enemies. London: Penguin/Allen Lane, 2006 (hardcover, ISBN 0-7139-9415-0). As Dangerous Knowledge: Orientalism and Its Discontents. New York: Overlook Press, 2006 (hardcover, ISBN 1-58567-835-X).
  • Reviewed by Philip Hensher in The Spectator, January 28, 2006.
  • Reviewed by Allan Massie in the Telegraph, February 4, 2006.
  • Reviewed by Terry Eagleton in the New Statesman, February 13, 2006.
  • Reviewed by Bill Saunders in The Independent, February 26, 2006.
  • Reviewed by Noel Malcolm in The Telegraph, February 26, 2006.
  • Reviewed by Maya Jasanoff in the London Review of Books, June 8, 2006.
  • Reviewed by William Grimes in the New York Times, November 1, 2006.
  • Reviewed by Michael Dirda in The Washington Post, November 12, 2006.
  • Reviewed by Lawrence Rosen in the Boston Review, January/February 2007.
• Klein, Christina. Cold War Orientalism: Asia in the Middlebrow Imagination, 1945–1961. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003 (hardcover, ISBN 0-520-22469-8; paperback, ISBN 0-520-23230-5).
• Knight, Nathaniel. "Grigor'ev in Orenburg, 1851–1862: Russian Orientalism in the Service of Empire?", Slavic Review, Vol. The Slavic Review is a leading international Peer-reviewed journal in Slavic studies with the coverage centered on Russia, Central Eurasia and  59, No.  1. (Spring, 2000), pp.  74–100.
• Kontje, Todd. German Orientalisms. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2004 (ISBN 0-472-11392-5).
• Little, Douglas. American Orientalism: The United States and the Middle East Since 1945. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2001 (hardcover, ISBN 0-8078-2737-1); 2002 (paperback, ISBN 0-8078-5539-1); London: I. B. Tauris, 2002 (new ed. , hardcover, ISBN 1-86064-889-4).
• Murti, Kamakshi P. India: The Seductive and Seduced "Other" of German Orientalism. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2001 (hardcover, ISBN 0-313-30857-8).
• Noble dreams, wicked pleasures: Orientalism in America, 1870–1930 by Holly Edwards (Editor). Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000 (hardcover, ISBN 0-691-05003-1; paperback, ISBN 0-691-05004-X).