Hong Kong

This course examines a wide range of topics on the commercialization of sports, tourism/leisure as an encounter of cultures/citizens/space, shopping mall and public sphere, and the impact on social and cultural life by the phenomenon of McDisneyization. Other topics such as advertising and pop culture, broadcasting (narrowcasting on the Net), merchandising and iconography in fashion will be examined to review key contemporary issues and debates about cultural consumption. Bringing together work on reception theory in literary studies and philosophy, studies on consumer culture in anthropology and sociology and those on media audiences within media studies, we will address the consequences and effects of increasing cultural commodifiaction and globalization, by exploring into the complex interactions of cultural production and consumption which are relevant in topics such as place and identity, visual culture and hyperreality, representation and communication technologies. 

This course examines the societal, economical, and cultural impact of integrative systems and the importance of integrating design into the creation of integrative systems. It covers basic design principles, design terminology, design skill-sets, design thinking and process, and how a good design relates to the design principles. Students will also learn about what is an integrative system and the importance of using technology to build an integrative system and how it is decomposed into different sub-systems that involve multiple technology components, interacting with each other.

This course examines sports in Hong Kong from personal development to the impact on society. It will first introduce different areas of sports, including medicine, the technologies involved in increasing and maintaining performance, and an overview of sports in Hong Kong. Following this, local elite athletes will share their experience in professional training and international events so that students can better understand strategies about how to tackle difficulties to reach the top of a profession and apply these principles to their own experience. 

This course examines issues of power and how it relates to language use in various institutions such as law, medicine, and business among others. It covers how people in power can influence the ways in which language is used, and exercise control over access to language by others; and similarities and differences in institutional language practices across different sociocultural contexts, including Hong Kong and other countries. 

This course covers the principles of database systems. Toics include conceptual modeling and data models; logical and physical database design; query languages and query processing; database services, including concurrency, crash recovery, security, and integrity; hands-on DBMS experience. Text: A. Silberschatz, H. Korth, and S. Sudershan, DATABASE SYSTEM CONCEPTS. Assessment: assignments, midterm exam, and final exam.

This course examines the basic legal knowledge of criminal procedures in Hong Kong. It covers the criminal justice system; rights of arrested persons/defendants; powers of law enforcement agencies; criminal jurisdiction of courts in Hong Kong; classification of criminal offences; commencement of criminal proceedings; pre-trial and trial processes; sentencing principles and options; costs in criminal cases; and appeal mechanisms for criminal proceedings.

This course introduces marketing from the perspective of the decision-maker. It examines controllable variables (product, price, promotion and distribution), uncontrollable variables (competition, law, society, technology, and economy), consumer behavior and marketing research. Course topics include: the marketing process; marketing strategy, plan, and program; environmental forces that affect the company’s ability to serve its customers; how external and internal marketing environment affect marketing decisions; the marketing information system and its parts; the marketing research process; consumer and business markets; consumer buyer behavior; the adoption and diffusion process for new products; market segmentation, targeting, and positioning; product strategies; pricing strategies; distribution strategies; promotion strategies; and marketing ethics and social responsibility. Text: Kotler, Philip and Gary Armstrong, PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING. Assessment: quizzes, project written report, project presentation, participation, research and in-class exercises.

This course examines the current major environmental issues related to the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere as well as looking at major threats posed by the environment itself in the form of natural hazards. In addition, the issue of a potential nuclear threat and the ever-increasing demand for energy are explored. Finally, the matter of sustainable development and intelligent management of the planet for present and future generations is addressed. 

This course examines the trends, issues and opportunities of both local and international curricula in Social Science and Humanities Education. Contemporary learning models are introduced to pave the way for developing in-depth understanding of effective
pedagogies used inside and outside classroom. Attention will also be paid upon the discussion of using social resources to facilitate authentic and experiential learning. Key principles and measures in handling social controversial issues will be examined and elaborated. The ethics and responsibilities that Social Science and Humanities Education should shoulder will be discussed.