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Asia

Photo of girls dressed as Indian women. Description in annotation below.
Teaching

Long Teaching Module: Exploring Empire through the Lens of Childhood and Gender

As European empires expanded at the end of the end of the nineteenth century, imperialism came to permeate everyday life and had a pervasive influence on childhood, shaping everything from education to sports and literature.

Grid with letters in cham script in each box
Source

Calendar from Cham manuscript, early 20th century

An image of the Cham calendar from an early 20th century Cham manuscript. The column on the left and top row indicate measurements of months of the calendar drawn from the Islamic lunar calendar. Numerals written in Cham script in the middle are symbolic of the Cham Hindu solar calendar.

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Source

Ariya Cam Bini

Ariya Cam Bini is one of the few ariya that has little to no historical references in the poem. It is possible to deduce from the language of the poem and from the study of extant versions of the manuscript that its origins likely lie in the 19th century.

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Teaching

Short Teaching Module: Ariya Cam Bini, a 19th century Cham Poem

Ariya Cam Bini is a 19th–century epic poem written in the Austronesian Cham language of mainland Southeast Asia.  The poem comes from the area called Pāṇḍuraṅga or Nâgar Cam, a pluralistic society in terms of culture, religion, and identity.

Photo of a man carrying some debris from a tunnel
Source

Heading of east portal Tunnel No. 8

In the late nineteenth century, multiple transcontinental railroads were built across the United States and Canada. These were Pacific projects twice over: Each railroad aimed to open new routes for global trade with Asia, and each depended heavily on Asian laborers for their construction.

Chart with curved sticks emanating from pebbles on either side
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Marshall Islands stick chart

Across millennia, Pacific people voyaged out to sea and settled the ocean’s thousands islands and atolls, linking new discoveries back to existing territories.

Chart with curved sticks emanating from pebbles on either side
Teaching

Short Teaching Module: History of the Pacific Ocean

Scholars of Pacific history explore how people build lives dependent on the ocean, how maritime connections create communities, and how humans and the environment shape each other.

Close up of Manilla on Philippines map
Source

Map of the Philippines, 1734

The city of Manila is a perfect place to think about the importance of cities to world history.

Painting of a Chinese junk at sea with the emperor and several functionaries on deck
Source

Chinese Junk, early 18th century

Junks encompass a range of different ships that were essential for maritime trade in East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Indian Ocean for centuries. Original junks built in China were likely inspired by the design of ships visiting Chinese ports from Austronesia and Southeast Asian archipelagos.