Boston to Beijing: China through the Five Senses
Course Title: Boston to Beijing: China Through the Five Senses
Destination: China
Travel Dates (tentative): May 26 – June 9, 2026
Faculty: Marc Holland • marc.holland@massart.edu
Faculty: Lisong Liu • lliu@massart.edu
Department: Humanities (open to all majors)|
Credits: 3-Credits, Humanities
Class Meeting Day/Time: TBD
Course Fee*: $4,500
Boston to Beijing: China through the Five Senses is a course designed to gain a deep, personal understanding of this beautiful country through the use of sight, sound, small, taste and touch. Engaging multiple senses leads to a more profound and intimate experience, creating stronger memories beyond the purely visual. This course will enrich students’ cultural experience by introducing to them China’s rich history and diverse art, artifacts, and architecture. Students’ full immersion of their senses in Chinese cities and villages will also enhance their understanding of this country’s current status and ongoing changes.
After a primer to contemporary Chinese culture in Beijing, we travel to Dunhuang, located in the Gobi Desert, along the ancient Silk Road, working with scholars and researchers from the Dunhuang Research Academy, as we tour the Mogao Caves, visit the expansive museum, and attend courses in traditional cave painting techniques, grinding minerals by hand to make pigment. From there, we travel 2100 years forward, back to contemporary Beijing, where we will visit the Great Wall of China, the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, the 798 Art District, and take excursions off the beaten path, immersing ourselves in the living history of village life.
Check back in September for link to application!