Pupil Christopher reports on a fascinating talk from the bestselling author
Pupils were recently given the opportunity to hear from Tim Marshall, the former Foreign Affairs Editor at Sky News and author of the bestselling Prisoners of Geography, to talk about his most recent book: Divided: Why we’re living in an age of walls. From the line of visiting prep school boys eagerly waiting for a signed book at the beginning, to the crowd of Year 12 and 13 pupils that surrounded him at the end, Mr Marshall’s lecture most certainly drew a lot of attention and excitement from pupils and teachers of all ages.
In his lecture, Mr Marshall gave us a comprehensive tour of the conflicts and issues facing the world powers and our own lives today. From migration patterns over this century, to rainfall distribution in China and, most importantly, the answer to: “Why we’re living in an age of walls”. Mr Marshall’s lecture gave us a broader insight into the common issues that our world faces, from human instincts that go back to the beginning of civilization to xenophobia and division in our societies today. He explained how Geography answers a lot of these questions.
If anything, Mr Marshall highlighted the interconnectivity of Geography, Politics, Economics and History. He highlighted how the problems we will be facing in the future such as the digital divide, AI and its implications, and climate change are all much more challenging than the social issues faced by most other generations. Even then, he added, the social issues that developed societies face, such as racism and homophobia, persist in every country and that conflict over borders remains as strong as ever.
I would like to thank the work of Mr Price and Dr Sutton, as well as that of the Geography and Politics Departments respectively, in helping put this together and bringing Mr Marshall to Charterhouse, as well as Sabina for her moving Vote of Thanks.
