Our initial research plan didn’t pan out, so we had to keep panning for research topic gold.  There just wasn’t enough information on agriculture and plants in oasis cities.  We’ve spent the last week discussing ideas and scratching our heads a bit, anxious to begin researching.
This morning I wasn’t able to attend my group’s meeting with Zhihong and Eric because I was at the protests in Charlotte until late last night.  We had all been leaning towards this idea, but Jake and Austin finalized the topic of travelers- particularly their interactions with the Mongols- at the meeting.  I’m quite interested in nomadic culture and also the remarkable exploration of brave travelers along the Silk Road, what their observations and interpretations looked like, etc.  I’ve been told that we have some awesome primary sources to look into, and some of the readings for class so far have been very helpful.  I’m excited to get started with this research.