30 October: Mariam Makramalla (MCR), ‘Why do we learn ? A public engagement initiative in Egypt’
In this seminar, I present a summary of my public engagement project that has won the Cambridge University Public Engagement Starter Fund in 2020. The project stems from the findings of my current PhD. It aims at promoting a whole societal re-think of the value and purpose of schooling in Egypt. The target of the project is to promote awareness about the core essence of learning, thereby shifting the societal perception of the school mainly acting as a “certification institution”. This target is to be achieved through local collaborative partnerships with schools and cultural centres. In the seminar, I will engage the audience in a collective discussion, brainstorming means to create a platform of advocacy, whereby educational stakeholders can express their contextual stand on the value of learning and schooling.
Mariam is a doctoral researcher at the Faculty of Education. Her research interests span across the fields of education, sociology and history. In her work, she is mostly focused on the Egyptian context in an attempt to uncover how different layers of socio-cultural power dynamics affect the way schooling is socially perceived. Alongside her educational research, she has also been involved in numerous educational consultancy initiatives. In her free time she enjoys swimming and music.
All staff, students, senior members and alumnae are very warmly invited to attend the Pudding Seminars via Zoom.