Author: shss@hsu.edu.hk

SHSS Lecture on ‘Man and Nature Interface: Architecture and the Eleven Dimensions’ by Professor Alexander Law

The School of Humanities and Social Science organised a lecture titled ‘Man and Nature Interface: Architecture and the Eleven Dimensions’ on 24 February 2022. Professor Alexander Law, Adjunct Professor of the School of Humanities and Social Science of the HSUHK, was the speaker of the lecture. He is a registered architect in Hong Kong. To his credit are more than 150 architectural projects including residential and commercial buildings in Hong Kong, Mainland China and the United States. He is also a successful business leader, and is currently the Chairman of Yu Tai Hing Company Limited, a property developer in Hong Kong.

The lecture focused on psychosocial dimensions of the human mind-self, which were schematised into Eleven Dimensions with Mindfulness being the origin. Professor Law took ‘Architecture’ as a metaphor to explain to the audience that the formation of the self, as well as the relation between Man and Nature, begins as ‘a point (zero dimension)’, and becomes ‘a form (third dimension)’, and then further develops into other dimensions of human and social relations.

Professor Kwok-kan Tam, Dean of SHSS and Chair Professor of English (Left), and Dr Leo Lie, Director of BA in Psychology (Right), present a souvenir to Professor Alexander Law.

Distinguished Professorial Lecture: “Prognostication in Chinese Culture” by Professor Michael Lackner, co-organised by SHSS and CGCS

The School of Humanities and Social Science (SHSS) and the Centre for Greater China Studies (CGCS) jointly organised the Distinguished Professorial Lecture on “Prognostication in Chinese Culture” on 28 May 2021, with the great honour to have invited Professor Michael Lackner as the speaker. Professor Lackner is the Director of the International Consortium for Research in the Humanities at the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nurnberg, Germany. The event was well attended online or in person by students and teachers of the Friedrich-Alexander University and the HSUHK as well as scholars from other universities.

 

Professor Lackner lecture discussed the cultural significance of prognostication in Chinese history and presented objects from an exhibition that he organised at the German National Museum in Nürnberg. He also shared some general ideas of fate and prognostication in East Asia and Europe. A book launch for the new book, Fate and Prognostication in the Chinese Literary Imagination (Brill, 2020) edited by Professor Lackner, Professor Kwok-kan Tam, Professor Monika Gänssbauer and Professor Terry Yip, was held after the lecture. Colleagues who contributed to the book were invited to present their chapters at the book launch. Professor Kwok-kan Tam, Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Science, expressed his hope to invite Professor Lackner to visit SHSS when the pandemic is over.

 

Distinguished Professorial Lecture: “ ‘Our Century’–100 Snapshots of 20th Century Taiwan Literature” by Professor Irmy Schweiger, co-organised by SHSS and CGCS

Professor Irmy Schweiger, Professor at the Department of Asian, Middle Eastern and Turkish Studies at the Stockholm University delivered the Distinguished Professorial Lecture on “ ‘Our Century’ – 100 Snapshots of 20th Century Taiwan Literature” on 27 May 2021. The lecture was jointly organised by the School of Humanities and Social Science (SHSS) and the Centre for Greater China Studies (CGCS), and was well attended online or in person by students and teachers of Stockholm University and the HSUHK as well as scholars from other universities.

 

Professor Schweiger’s lecture focused on the history and literature of Taiwan, as well as the new book published recently, which is the collection of stories written by Taiwanese writers recording the history, culture and identity of Taiwan from the colonial period to modern Asian metropolis. At the end of the lecture, Professor Schweiger expressed an interest in visiting SHSS when the pandemic is over.

Distinguished Professorial Lecture: ‘Performing the Socialist State’ by Professor Xiaomei Chen, co-organised by SHSS and CGCS

The School of Humanities and Social Science (SHSS) and the Centre for Greater China Studies (CGCS) jointly organised the Distinguished Professorial Lecture on ‘Performing the Socialist State’ on 17 May 2021. It was a great honour to have Professor Xiaomei Chen, Distinguished Professor of the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of California, Davis, to give the lecture. The event was well attended online or in person by students from the University of California as well as SHSS students and staff of the HSUHK. In the lecture, Professor Chen offered a quick review of her forthcoming book, Performing the Socialist State: Moments, Crisis and Success of Modern Chinese Theater and shared the historical elements, artistic elements, ideological elements and also cultural policy elements in the shaping of the modern Chinese Theater. Professor Chen wished to visit SHSS and exchange with our students and teachers when the pandemic is over.

Graduation Ceremony of the School of Humanities and Social Science for the Classes of 2019 and 2020

With President Simon S M Ho as the presiding officer, the Graduation Ceremony of the School of Humanities and Social Science took place on 10 April 2021 in the College Hall of The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong. The Ceremony featured a warm and solemn ambiance for graduates of the classes of 2019 and 2020 as well as their family members and friends.

 

Conducted by two student Masters of Ceremonies, Ms Kati Ng and Mr Kenneth Leung, who are students of the BSS (Hons) in Asian Studies and BA (Hons) in English respectively, the Ceremony was attended by 60 graduates and 70 guests on site, and was also live broadcast to over 60 guests.

 

In the Dean’s address, Professor Kwok-kan Tam encouraged the graduates to ride on the ‘Professional + Liberal’ education that they received in the University, to experience the world and try different jobs before settling on a career or belief that they like, or even become a member of the HSUHK to serve the alma mater. He added that although graduates would be travelling on a new journey, their teachers would always be there for them and give them support.

 

Mr Danny Lam, the valedictorian, appreciated the support of the professors and the opportunities that he had been given to understand the world and widen his intellectual horizons.

 

In his words of blessings to graduates, President Simon Ho hoped that graduates would continue to uphold the 5Cs qualities: Critical Thinking, Creativity, Communication & Collaboration, Caring and Community Engagement that they were equipped with during their study in the HSUHK. Graduates were encouraged to keep exploring, never stop learning and continue to challenge themselves to excellence wherever their future journey would take them.

Student Masters of Ceremonies, Ms Kati Ng (Right) and Mr Kenneth Leung (Left).

The Ceremony was presided over by Professor Simon Ho, President of The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong.

Professor Kwok-kan Tam, Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Science, delivered his address to graduands.

Mr Danny Lam, the valedictorian, was thankful for the support and opportunities given by the School.

Graduates took photos with their personalised graduation bear, a gift from the School.

SHSS Digital Humanities Lecture on ‘Digital Humanities and Libraries: The Experience of HKBU’ by Ms Rebekah Wong

The School of Humanities and Social Science (SHSS) organised a lecture titled ‘Digital Humanities and Libraries: The Experience of HKBU’ on 12 January 2021, which was part of the SHSS Digital Humanities Research activities. Ms Rebekah Wong, Head of Digital and Multimedia Services of Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) Library, was invited to be the speaker of the lecture to share with the audience regarding the concepts and benefits of Digital Humanities (DH) as well as the Digital Scholarship Services of the HKBU Library and its support to DH projects.

Ms Rebekah Wong showcased some DH project examples.

Participants discussed the construction of DH database with Ms Wong.

Group photo of Ms Rebekah Wong (5th from left); Professor Y V Hui, Vice-President (Academic and Research) (centre); Professor Kwok-kan Tam, Dean of the SHSS (4th from left); Ms Sarena Law, University Librarian (4th from right); Dr Catherine Wong, Assistant Professor of the Department of English (5th from right) and all participating staff.

SHSS and CGCS Seminar on Distant Visions Using Digital Humanities Methods to Analyze the Global Success of Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House by Professor Frode Helland

Invited by the School of Humanities and Social Science (SHSS) and the Centre for Greater China Studies (CGCS) of HSUHK, Professor Frode Helland, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Professor of Scandinavian Studies in the University of Oslo, visited SHSS and delivered a seminar on Distant Visions Using Digital Humanities Methods to Analyze the Global Success of Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House on 16 September. The seminar examined how IbsenStage, a digital humanities database, contributes to the promotion of Henrik Ibsen’s plays, as well as discussed the future development of the database and its strengths.

Professor Kwok-kan Tam, Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Science, HSUHK, welcomed the guest, Professor Frode Helland and introduced his book, A Global Doll’s House, to the audience.

Professor Frode Helland demonstrated how the digital humanities database served as the tool for studying global performances of Henrik Ibsen’s plays.

Group photo of Professor Frode Helland, all participating academic staff of SHSS and students from HSUHK

Distinguished Lecture – Fortunately he was illiterate… – (hidden) meanings in Jin Yong’s 金庸 Xiakexing 俠客行 (Ode to Gallantry) by Professor Dr Monika Gaenssbauer

Dr Monika Gaenssbauer, Professor of Chinese Studies (decent) at the Department of Asian, Middle Eastern and Turkish Studies in Stockholm University, visited the School of Humanities and Social Science of HSUHK and delivered a Distinguished Lecture on “Fortunately he was illiterate… – (hidden) meanings in Jin Yong’s (金庸) Xiakexing (俠客行Ode to Gallantry)” on 10 May 2019. The Lecture examined how Jin Yong’s writing in Xiakexing contributed to the discourse on a full-bodied understanding of culture and experience in cultural studies.

Professor Kwok-kan Tam, Dean of SHSS; Dr Nga-li Lam (2nd from right) and Dr Mei-ah Tan (1st from right) presented a souvenir to Professor Monika Gaenssbauer (2nd from left).

Group photo of Professor Monika Gaenssbauer, all participating academic staff of SHSS and students.

Distinguished Lecture – Another China. Representations of China and the Chinese in European Comics and Graphic Novels by Professor Dr Michael Lackner

Professor Dr Michael Lackner, Chair Professor of Chinese Studies at the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, visited the School of Humanities and Social Science (SHSS) of HSUHK and delivered a Distinguished Lecture on “Another China. Representations of China and the Chinese in European Comics and Graphic Novels” on 12 Mar 2019. The Lecture examined a number of European comics depicting the elements of Chinese culture and the Western perceptions of China.

Professor Gilbert Fong, Provost and Professor Kwok-kan Tam, Dean of SHSS welcomed Professor Michael Lackner, Director of International Consortium for Research in the Humanities (2nd from left), Dr Yan Xu-Lackner, Director of Confucius Institute Nuremberg-Erlangen (2nd from right), and Professor Tze-ki Hon from Department of Chinese and History of City University of Hong Kong (1st from left).

The lecture was well-received by students and academic staff.

Professor Dr Michael Lackner used interesting examples to illustrate his idea.

School of Humanities and Social Science Film Show and Post Screening Discussion – NappingKid (逆向誘拐)

Sponsored by the Sin Wai Kin Scheme for Promotion of Chinese Culture, the School of Humanities and Social Science held the Film Show and Post Screening Discussion – NappingKid (逆向誘拐) on 15 Feb 2019. Following the screening, Mr Wong Ho Yin Amos, Director of NappingKid, shared his experience on filmmaking.

NappingKid is “Kidnapping” in reverse, which is a film with a detective story on the surface, but with a plot twisted and reversed. It is an adaptation of a Canadian Chinese novel with the setting relocated to Hong Kong. The film has received a HK$1.6 million grant sponsorship by CreateHK.