The initiative brought together more than 180 participants from different countries and aimed to understand the contemporary impact of China in Latin America.
Geography, Chinese thought, historical Chinese migration in Latin America, the Chinese political system, the environment, and the Belt and Road Initiative were just some of the topics discussed in the Summer Course on the Impacts of China in Latin America dictated by the ICLAC Millennium Nucleus with the support of the Institute of International Studies of the University of Chile, from January 15 to January 19, 2024.
The course, free of charge, was carried out in a hybrid format, which allowed participants from different countries to partake in this initiative, which is expected to be repeated in a second iteration. Director of the ICLAC Millennium Nucleus, Francisco Urdinez, commented:
“The volume of interest in the course has been enormous and shows that the general population is interested in learning about China, which has become a topic that generates public interest and about which people from different professions, students, and the general public want to know more. We were pleasantly surprised. It is a great first step, the idea is to repeat it and to extend it”.
For her part, core researcher and convener of the course, María Elvira Ríos, concluded a positive overall assessment, highlighting the interdisciplinary nature of the event and the diversity of topics addressed during the classes: “We thought that the topics were very well received. We saw a lot of interest in very diverse topics, which we believe also speaks of an interest that goes beyond economics and is linked to culture, migration, politics and the commercial relationship between China, Chile and Latin America," she commented.
The course ended with a roundtable discussion that aimed to answer questions related to what the main changes in the relationship between China and Latin America have been, and what are the current challenges in this relationship. The dynamic also opened dialogue to the participants to know what decisions or changes they would make on foreign policy issues with China.
Training and upcoming courses
One of ICLAC's key commitments is to help citizens understand the impacts of China in the region and these free and open-access courses are aimed specifically at achieving this objective.
As Dr. Urdinez explains, “it is part of the contribution that we can make thanks to the financing of the Ministry of Science, Technology, Knowledge, and Innovation. This is a way to package scientific research and knowledge that is generally concentrated in very specific niches and be able to bring it to a wide audience, to democratize it. That makes us very happy.”
Regarding future courses like this one, María Elvira Ríos mentions that the Nucleus is currently working on another such proposal: “It is going to be a very interesting and dynamic course through a platform that will allow participants to work independently. We are going to go deeper into some topics that we covered in this course and incorporate others.”
In addition, applications are currently open for the further education course “China in the 21st century: relations with Chile and Latin America”, organized by the UC Center for Asian Studies, whose director is Nicole Jenne, ICLAC associate researcher, and together with the Confucius Institute of UC. This course is directed by the Alternative Director of ICLAC, María Montt.
The program will be carried out online and synchronously between April 23 and June 6 2024 and seeks to provide participants with the necessary tools that allow a multilateral approach to the relationship between China and Latin America.
For more information about the course, its entry requirements, and fees, download the brochure HERE.