John Njenga Karugia is a Kenyan-German scholar of Transregional Memory Studies, Indian Ocean Studies, Africa-China Relations, Asia Pacific Studies and Area Studies. He is a member of the Frankfurt Memory Studies Platform with a focus on memory politics, memory ethics and responsible cosmopolitanism.
He is a Visiting Professor at Hasanuddin University in Makassar, Indonesia, with a focus on transoceanic maritime research, and teaching that focus on diverse aspects of the Afrasian Sea, otherwise referred to as; Ziwa Kuu, Bahari, Ratnakara, the Swahili Sea, Indian Ocean, Indic Ocean, Bahari Hindi.
His current research project analyzes transregional memory politics and memory ethics of the Belt and Road Inititiave (BRI), the Partnership for Global Infrastructure Investment (PGII), the Middle Corridor Initiative and Global Gateway at De:Link // Re:Link at the Humboldt University of Berlin.
He holds a PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) from the University of Leipzig, a Masters degree in Global Studies from the University of Leipzig and a Bachelor's degree from Kenyatta University. He has held several Postdoc positions at Goethe University Frankfurt and at the Humboldt Universtiy of Berlin.
He is a widely networked acclaimed scholar and public intellectual. He has been a visiting scholar at many academic and non-academic institutions and a sought for speaker at conferences, workshops, universities, art spaces, museum exhibitions, think tanks and book and exhibition launches across the globe.
His work is based on extensive intensive fieldwork spanning much of the globe. He has conducted research in: Oman, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Suriname, Indonesia, South Africa, Greece, Germany, Tanzania, Pakistan, China, Italy, Zanzibar, Turkey, India, Kenya, Japan, Netherlands.
Beyond research, teaching and publishing, he is a filmmaker, podcaster, a poet, a singer and an author. He enjoys travelling across the world as far as the East is from the West and as far as the South is from the North. His life's motto is: dignify everyone, make mistakes and apologize.