Hong Kong

This course examines the issues of industrialization, globalization and neoliberalism as well as a broad range of topics, including those related to labor, industrial organization, management, the theory of the firm, gender, and economic reforms in Japanese society. It introduces the complex development of Japanese capitalism from the early 19th century to the present and examines ongoing transformations within Japanese capitalism. It asks the questions: What are the characteristics of Japanese capitalism? In what ways do capitalist economies differ from one another in their social organization, institutional embeddedness, gendered relations, and modes of governance? What are the challenges of such differences for management and economic performance in a competitive global economy? How have Japanese corporations responded to the processes of globalization and neo-liberalization?

This course aims to explore a set of important issues about the theory and practice of democracy. The first part of the course will examine the challenge of meritocracy and various justifications of democracy, including those offered by Mill, Rousseau, Schumpeter, and others. The second part will address some of the most pressing problems facing liberal democracies today: how to improve the quality of public deliberation in the age of social media? How to overcome the challenges posed by populism? How to maintain the efficacy of democratic institutions in a global capitalist economy?

This course examines the political thought of tumultuous times in ancient China covering the late Spring and Autumns (770-476 BC) and Warring State (476-221 BC) periods. It focuses on the following questions: what is, for ancient thinkers, the common good for All Under Heaven? How can the ruler deliver good governance? What is the standard of political legitimacy? What role do scholars play in political order? What is the relationship between domestic and international order? How do all of these bear on the understanding of human nature?

This course examines the thought, values and practices of Buddhism through the application of its fundamentals of philosophical theories and principles. In this course, the basic Buddhist teachings of dependent arising, the relationship of mind and body, human behaviors and their consequences, the human condition and its causes, the concept of happiness, etc. will be investigated on the basis of the earliest Buddhist literatures namely the Pali Nikayas and Chinese Agamas.

This course examines the principles of conventional (X-ray and Ultrasound) and modern (Computerized Tomography – CT; Magnetic Resonance Imaging – MRI; Nuclear Imaging and Optical Imaging) imaging techniques applied to biological systems and in medical diagnoses and the interpretations of these images.

Students will embark on an exploration of riverbanks, lake environments, coastal regions, and island communities, seeking to capture the myriad ways they access and inhabit these areas in the 21st century. In the growing wave of island and coastal studies, students will also consider how coastal societies offer important examples of behavioral and cultural evolution, with religious icons, cultural ideas, linguistic patterns, and stories told and retold, featuring connections to water. Students will learn how these regions serve as natural conduits for migration, fostering cultural exchanges, and the flourishing of innovation and social networks. These include the fishing First Nations and Inuit communities in northern Canada and Greenland, the societies living in the depths of the jungle along the Congo River, and even Hong Kong’s coasts and communities such as those in Mui Wo, Tai O, Lei Yue Mun, Aberdeen, and Sai Kung.

This course examines the evolving realities of the various media industries in Hong Kong, China, and beyond. The overarching questions to be discussed in the class include: How can one characterize the configuration of the contemporary media industries? What are the key trends underlying the transformation of the media industries? What are the implications of these transformations for “media workers”? What does it mean by working as a journalist, a creative content producer, an advertiser, etc. in the contemporary world and in the future? What are the communication practices involved in the various industries? What are the broader social, cultural, and political implications of the transformation of media work and media industries?

TBA

This course examines the nature of moral judgments, and how they are related to motivation, truth, and objectivity. It ask the question do moral judgments always accompany motivation to act in a certain way, how can moral judgments be true or false, and is morality relative or absolute? 

This course examines developments in finance. Possible topics include security trading and market making, venture analysis, financial contracting, investment strategies for local markets and other current issues in finance.