Dr. Sandra Gilgan

Sandra’s thematic interests are at the interface of theory and practice, of science and management, such as the structural development in higher education, interdisciplinarity in research and collaboration, as well as in cultural identity and social change, especially with regard to China and the revitalization of Confucian tradition(s).

• Since 2022: Collaborative book project: Sustainabilities beyond disciplines. A critical study book
  Sustainabilities beyond disciplines aims to provide insights into the multiple disciplinary and interdisciplinary interpretations of sustainable development as well as the different languages used, and practices applied. Latter compel us to acknowledge the validity of (plural) sustainabilities rather than (singular) sustainability in the book title. The complexities of sustainable development require thinking and understanding across disciplines, necessitating literature that represents and interrogates the many definitions, debates, and practices associated with sustainable development. Furthermore, case studies (based on a diverse range of material) and real life examples (based on empirical evidence) are integrated to deliver contributions to the theoretical discussions  to foster students’ practice- and solution-oriented thinking, to showcase the societal benefit of the given debate or case, and to provide orientation for transferring thought and skills from cases and debates into other thematic fields or practice.
  Sustainabilities beyond disciplines is an innovative edited volume designed for university teaching and learning in SD and beyond. The volume is inherently interdisciplinary in its design, based on a collaborative model of chapter development and production. It combines expert knowledge and joint reflections from scholars in St Andrews and Bonn (and those who have strong connections with both universities) who all share a strong interest in SD research and pedagogy.
• Since 2021: Alternative sustainabilities

1) Working group in Bonn: The aim of the group is to identify, bring together and analyze so-called “alternative” practices, approaches, concepts and understandings, strategies and initiatives of sustainability. “Alternative” here means ways of addressing the current ecological, social and economic crises in ways that are not (yet) included in current mainstream sustainability discourses and programs. They can shed light on other perspectives on or ways of dealing with lived realities that can enrich higher-level knowledge for sustainable development and recommendations for action in practice or policies.

2) Working Group in the German Committee Future Earth: Alternative sustainabilities. Between local contexts and global measures
The working group starts from the recognition that the contemporary global “mega discourse” on sustainability, which includes the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), is largely driven by “Western” and “Northern” perspectives, narratives, ideas and standards. Perspectives from the Global South are barely included, but sustainability as a global concern requires the incorporation of a broader understanding of what modern societies essentially are, how they are envisaged, and how human-nature relations are understood, practiced, reflected in philosophies and policies in societies worldwide. Scientific knowledge that may serve as the basis for policy actions and decisions must be aware of and adequately account for epistemic and ontological differences and similarities between Western and local or indigenous knowledge.

• Since 2019: Revival of Confucian education in China, in the context memory studies and social change (drawing from the PhD project and expanding the scope of theorization and contextualization of the topic)
• 2014-2019: study on the contemporary classics-reading education movement in China (PhD dissertation)

2023

• “History, Memory and Place in the Popular Revival of Confucian Educational Traditions.” Journal of Current Chinese Affairs, in the Special Issue Politics of Memory, Heritage, and Diversity in Modern China.

2022

• Utopia in the Revival of Confucian Education. An Ethnography of the Classics-reading Movement in Contemporary China. Boston, Leiden: Brill.
• “Confucian Education and Utopianism: The Classics Reading Movement and its Potential for Social Change.” China Perspectives 2022/2, in the Special Issue Reinventing Confucian Education in Contemporary China: New Ethnographic Explorations.

2020

• Dissertation: Imaginaries of a better Chinese society enacted in the revival of Confucian education. An ethnography of living and learning in contemporary classics reading education dujing jiaoyu. Dissertation, University of Bonn. https://bonndoc.ulb.uni-bonn.de/xmlui/handle/20.500.11811/8519 

Lectures

• 2023/11/30 “Sustainabilities in China. How culture and tradition matter” on the occasion of a double launch of two MA programs on sustainability at the University of Rostock.
• 2022/11/24 “Alternative Sustainabilities? Between local contexts and global dimensions” (in German) in the Lecture Series “Sustainability. About resources and needs” at the University of Bonn (together with a colleague).
• 2022/11/09 “The Contemporary Revival of Confucian Education in the Space of the People” in “Chapters from Chinese Studies” at the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg.
• 2022/10/19 “Alternative Sustainabilities” in the Interdisciplinary Course of the Bonn International Graduate School for Development Research (BIGS-DR) at the Center for Development Research (ZEF), University of Bonn (together with a colleague).
• 2022/05/13 “How to achieve sustainability without sacrificing equity? Alternative perspectives from around the world” in the Long Night of Sciences by the City of Bonn (together with four colleagues).
• 2016/11/12 „Bibel oder Fibel? Die spirituelle Vereinnahmung der Analekten in Chinas gegenwärtiger Klassikerlehre“ (Bible or Primer? The Spiritual Appropriation of the Analects in China's Contemporary Classics) at the 27th Annual Conference of the German Association for China Studies (DVCS) on "Of the Origins of Things — Realities and Conceptions of Materiality in Chinese Culture", Goethe University of Frankfurt
• 2016/05/26 “Living and learning with the sages. A spatial exploration of an alternative educational approach within contemporary old-style private schools ‘sishu 私塾’” as part of the Sociological Frontier Seminar (SFS) at Institute of Sociology, Xiamen University, PR China.
• 2016/04/29 “Collective shaping of an individual Confucianist Chineseness under the guidance of Confucius’ Analects” (in Chinese) at the workshop “Citizenship: Theories and Practices” at the Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, PR China, April 29–30, 2016.
• 2014/07/19 “Liu Shuxian’s Contribution to a Global Ethic” (in Chinese) at the conference “Historicity and Pragmatism in Confucianism,” University of Trier, July 19–20, 2014.

Seminars

• 2022-2023 PhD sessions in the Bonn International Graduate School on Development Research, University of Bonn (Alternative Sustainabilities)
• 2013-2014, 2016-2017 BA and MA seminars in Sinology and Asian Studies at the Universities Trier and Bonn (The Qing dynasty; China’s great despots between power and impotence – from Qin dynasty to modernity; Chinese-German Translation; Modern Literature in China; Classical Chinese; Lecture representation: Lecture on Qin and Han dynasty, lecture on Ming dynasty)

Workshops & Events

• 2023/05/17 & 2023/12/07 World Cafés - Roundtable on (Forced) Migration Studies
  organized together with colleagues from the University of Bonn and the Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies (BICC), as long-term collaborative platform
• 2021/07/06 Workshop - Revisiting Sustainability. Challenges for Science and Policy
  organized together with a great colleague from the United Nations University, Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS).
• 2019/06/25 Conference - Kick-off summit of the Bonn Alliance
  with three parallel workshops and a lecture event with Achim Steiner, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Head of UNDP.
• 2019–2020 - Organization of contributions from the Bonn Alliance in formats such as
  Conference: Knowledge for Sustainable Development: The Research-Policy Nexus: Global Development Conference 2019 led by the Global Development Network.
  Conference: Daring Cities: Climate Change Conference for Cities and Municipalities 2020 led by ICLEI (Local Governments for Sustainability).
  Spring Schools: Global Transformation towards Sustainability: Alumni Spring Schools 2019 and 2020 led by the German Institute of Development and Sustainability.
• 2014/07/19–20 International Conference - Historicity and Pragmatism in Confucianism
  Co-organization of the conference under the direction of the managing professor of the Institute of Sinology, Trier University.