Joy Zhang

I’m so thrilled to have visited Berlin TWICE this autumn.

The first trip was in late September. Thanks to Prof. Yasemin Soysal’s invitation, I attended the ‘Cultural Mobilities and their Transnational Entanglements in East Asia’ workshop and shared my findings on how transnational influences shaped grassroots and government’s understanding on ‘Modernity’ in different ways.

Given the fact that the presenters come with diverse expertise of East Asian societies, the discussion was illuminating and provocative. It really nudge me into thinking about the concept, ‘diffusion’ in a different light.

My second trip was at the beginning of November, in the middle of the Berlin Science Week! I was invited to map out my theorisation on the ‘Cosmopolitanisation of Science’ at the 13th Berlin Debate on Science and Science Policy hosted by the Robert Bosch Stiftung Foundation. This was quite a unique event, and I think it may be better to use their own description:

I thoroughly enjoyed the discussions, both at the event and at dinner (when we were joined by a group of leading female scientists). A report of this event will be released early next year.

But my trip did not end here. I then attended the 2-day Falling Walls conference. I know for many working in the sciences and related areas, this is a high-impact annual event in Continental Europe. But honestly, I only learned about it this year! However, after attending it, I can understand why many find this event attractive. Suffice it to say that this was the best science conference I’ve ever attended. In addition to the stimulating discussions about different aspects of science, every detail of the conference organisation was exquisitely planned. It’s a bit disappointing that both Engagement awards were given to education-focused initiatives though.