Upcoming workshop in China!
So currently I am preparing for a trip. A big trip (at least for me). I was invited to participate in a workshop in Changchun, China and I am really looking forward to it. I will also spend some time in Beijing before, but I will write about my experiences there some other time. Today I want to talk about the upcoming workshop that will take place in China.
The workshop
The workshop is titled “Future Developments of Digital Humanities and Didactics in Global Ancient Studies” and is organised by the Northeast Normal University of Changchun, China. The University of Cologne actually has a long tradition in collaborating in Changchun and was therefore invited many times, but also other universities in Germany participate. Topics include digital methods, cultural heritage, archaeogaming and teaching.
My presentation
My own presentation will be about my teaching in archaeogaming. I reported multiple times about the games I do with my students (see latest semester). Currently there are new games in the making and they should be finished by the time I will present my talk on the workshop in China. This is pretty cool, as I can present brand-new games to the audience. The presentation will not be about the games however, but rather about how we can teach something about archaeology with the help of archaeogaming.
I am pretty excited how the people of the Northeast Normal University will react to my presentation. I know that in China, video games are a big topic, also among students. However, I have no idea if the concept of archaeogaming is present in China and if so in what way. Presenting my and my students work will hopefully lead to some discussions about the topic. I would really love to talk to Chinese students about video games and archaeology.
Changchun
I never was in China before. Therefore, it will be very exciting. I will arrive a couple days early and spend some time in Beijing first, before I’ll take the train to go to the north to Changchun.To be hones, I don’t know much about the city, but this will change by the end of this month. I am in a hotel near the university, but besides that I don’t know much about the place and am therefore researching what to do in Changchun. The workshop days are pretty packed, so I actually don’t have that much time to spend.
I will probably check out some parks in the vicinity of my hotel and walk around the streets. In the evening, I will participate in a conference dinner on the first day, and probably a joint farewell dinner on the second day. As so many participants are from Cologne (whom I know some), I predict we will do something in the evening. They have been in Changchun before, so they probably know the best place to be after the workshop.
The day after, I will travel back to Beijing for one final night and then catch the plane back home…
