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Tigers Tour the Silk Road
This summer Dr. Tony Watson launched Woodberry's newest summer study abrod program, Woodberry on the Silk Road. We sat down with Tony and Parker Watt '19, one of the trip's participants, to learn about their experience.
Dr. Tony Watson is a history teacher and lacrosse and football coach at Woodberry. While playing lacrosse at Johns Hopkins University he studied international relations and Chinese. After working overseas for several years he obtained advanced degrees from Harvard University and Cambridge University. Before coming to Woodberry Forest, Dr. Watson taught at the University of London and Brown University
This summer Dr. Watson took four Woodberry students on a month-long exploration of the Silk Road. The historic trade route stretched from Jerusalem and Constantinople in the West to Xi'an, China in the East, forming the greatest cultural and trading network in human history.
Over the course of a month the boys visited Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Israel, studying the peoples and cultures who have lived along the Silk Road for thousands of years.
A special highlight of the trip were archeological digs at two sites in Kazakhstan. Dr. Watson arranged the digs with the Archeological Institute of Kazakhstan through his membership in the Society for the Exploration of EurAsia.
“It was really cool to be a part of uncovering history,” Dr. Watson said. “They guys were terrific; after just a bit of training they found 11th Century pottery in the citadel we were excavating.”
In Israel the boys and Dr. Watson visited Jerusalem, Acre, and Jaffa. Along the way they saw sites established by medieval crusaders and battlefields like.
The visit to Jerusalem allowed the boys to visit some of the holiest sites for three major religions: The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, believed by Christians to be the site where Jesus was crucified and buried; the Western Wall, a remnant of the original Jewish temple; and al-Aqsa Mosque, which includes the Dome of the Rock, one of Islam’s holiest sites.
Dr. Watson said the trip was also a special chance for students to explore and understand cultures far different from what they see at home.
“In these places you have the ancient and modern blending together in really interesting ways,” he said.
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Parker Watt is a sixth former from Thomasville, Georgia. He’s a prefect, sings in the Dozen, and runs varsity cross country and track. In the past two years he’s also sung and acted in the musical.
Why did you decide to participate in Woodberry on the Silk Road?
I have always been interested in the world outside the United States. After taking Dr. Watson’s Caliphs and Kings class, I was very interested in the trip, particularly because it was in such a unique region. I wanted to be able to see the areas we learned about for myself. Plus I was able to explore a part of the world that many people have not been to.
What was your favorite part of the trip?
I would have to say the archeological work. The digging itself was a blast, but traveling around the rural parts of Kazakhstan and getting to the dig sites was just as fun. We found pieces of pottery dating back to the 11th century and even found some bones! But what really caught my eye was how diverse the country was, both in culture and geography. The people were the kindest and most welcoming I have ever met, and the countryside made you feel as though you were bouncing from the plains of the Midwest to the Grand Canyon to the Swiss Alps, all in the matter of an hour. I can’t imagine anywhere else in the world where that occurs.
Can you tell us a bit about how that trip is shaping some of your future plans and interests?
This trip has definitely changed the way I am thinking about my future. I plan to go back to Kazakhstan very soon. I am working on taking Russian this year at school to provide a base for my travels in the region. Along with that, I am starting to consider either a gap year or a study abroad program in college to allow me to go back to the region.
Woodberry Forest School is an exceptional private school community for high school boys in grades nine through twelve. It is one of the top boarding schools in the United States and one of the only all-boys, all-boarding schools in the country.
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