By John Njenga Karugia
On 11 December 2023, we held a workshop entitled The New Silk Roads: Transregional Perspectives at the Institute for Asian and African Studies, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. The event was specifically designed for teachers from schools across the State of Berlin and organised by De:link//Re:link PI John Njenga Karugia and Ulrike Cordier, a retired teacher with experience in Germany as well as in China, Kenya, the Netherlands, Kazakhstan, and Uganda.
The objectives of the workshop were to: introduce teachers to the work of De:Link//Re:Link; to discuss results from individual research projects; and to see how it might be possible to integrate our research results into education on globalisation. Some of the teachers in attendance were already actively teaching various aspects related to the BRI while others attended out of interest to learn more about the subject.
Kadara Swaleh emphasizes a point during his lecture at the Silk Roads Workshop.
Four researchers presented aspects of their ongoing research. Kadara Swaleh focused on the Chinese-funded Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) Railway in Kenya and its impacts. Visiting from Pakistan, research fellows Muhammad Zaman and Hifza Irfan introduced the Chinese-funded Gwadar Port, road safety and smart cities there. John Njenga Karugia looked at infrastructures of memory along the New Silk Roads and the EU’s Global Gateway infrastructure initiative.
In the course of the resulting discussions, a key issue that emerged was the challenge of how to teach students in a manner that gives them diverse information about current globalization topics, such as the New Silk Roads and the Global Gateway, while also providing them with analytical tools on how to approach such topics and reflect about them from various perspectives.
During the workshop, the teachers had the chance to look through a selection of books, journal articles and newspaper articles that specifically deal with the New Silk Road and related topics. They then received a reading list outlining key sources. Another Silk Roads Workshop for Teachers is planned for 11 March 2024.
John Njenga Karugia, Ulrike Cordier, Kadara Swaleh