Hong Kong

This course provides recent knowledge in molecular biology with special emphasis on the study of gene structure and function at the molecular level. The course includes a detailed account of the molecular processes in eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells, from DNA replication, RNA transcription, protein translation, to post-translational modifications with special emphasis on the regulation of prokaryotic and eukaryotic gene expression. Recently developed biochemical techniques including oligonucleotide synthesis, DNA sequencing, complementary screening and DNA cloning, site-directed mutagenesis, polymerase chain reaction and transgenic technology are also discussed.

This course investigates ideas that are related to art, art history and visual culture across cultural boundaries of “the East” and “the West”. It explores ideas about art, such as how art functions in various societies and its meanings. Students examine artistic traditions, the functions of art and its institutions such as patronage, art market, and roles of the artist across cultures, and challenge assumptions about separation of cultural realms into eastern and western areas. The course explores key monuments and concepts that shaped artistic traditions, techniques, and media and continue to define today's international visual environment. Art as a concept belongs to all cultures, and deploys similar strategies to create meaning. Through the application of linguistic theories, the course examines strategies of art production and considers the meanings of certain works of art within specific cultural and historical situations. It develops the skills of asking questions of a work of art and using historical knowledge along with some careful looking to answer these questions. Students investigate works of art, not necessarily in chronological order, but connected together by common themes.

This course introduces philosophy of religion with a global perspective and a comparative approach. It explores the reasons and rationalities embedded in a variety of religious traditions including Buddhism, Chinese religions (Confucianism and Daoism), Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism. The main topics fall into three areas: the human condition, ultimate realities, and religious truth.

This course introduces econometric techniques and their applications in economic analysis. It covers basic statistical tools, linear regression with one regressor, linear regression with multiple regressors, and methods for analyzing experimental data. Course emphasis is on practical issues in econometric analysis of cross-sectional data. Microsoft Excel is used for computer-based calculation.

The course provides an overview of how our diverse and living planet Earth works. To understand the global changes and environmental concerns around us, the course weaves together an understanding of processes in the Earth's lithosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and atmosphere which constantly interact in interdependent ways with one another making our planet function as an ever-changing dynamic system. The course is intended for students who are taking a first course in Earth Sciences.

The course introduces the fundamental features of microorganisms that live in the natural environment, the roles of the microorganisms in natural processes that drive our ecosystem, such as biogeochemical cycling, interactions with plants and animals, the use of the microorganisms in environmental technology. Key concepts are illustrated with real-life examples and case studies.

This course seeks to scrutinize the political and security developments within the Asia-Pacific region by contextualizing at the center of its enquiry Japan's foreign policy, in particular Japan's alliance with the United States. In doing so, the course utilizes basic International Relations' theories, concepts and analytical frameworks to introduction Japanese foreign policy and the international politics of this region. Given the relative peace and prosperity that the Asia-Pacific region enjoys, it is ironic that the security architecture of region today is underpinned principally by the US-Japan alliance, an institution born out of the Cold War. The continued existence of the US-Japan Security Treaty should not be taken for granted as developments in the domestic politics of the countries involved as well as regional politics have continually highlighted a need for Japan and the US to rethink and reevaluate the existence of this partnership. This course is also designed to give an understanding of the main aspects of Japan's key political aspirations of becoming a “normal” nation six decades after the Pacific War, and the implications this has for today's Japanese foreign policy.