Hong Kong

This course is the study and analysis of how the increasing vital role played by multi-corporations has shaped the global market, the trend of globalization, business environment and states' behavior in a far-reaching way. It aims to provide the foundations to understand the global economy. More specifically, this course tends to explore the theories, patterns, growth of and rationale for foreign direct investment, and it essentially sees the multinational corporations as a powerful non-state actor in the globalized era. This course explores the implications of the emergence of global market and organized business interest in the age of globalization and how and why the international business organizations has become the key driver of economic development.

The course compares and contrasts the evidence for prehistoric and historical cultural developments in Hong Kong with those occurring in south China and the wider Southeast Asian region. The course introduces the idea of cultural landscape and landscape archaeology as ways of holistically studying the material results of past people's interactions with their environment. Finally, this course investigates the management of archaeological remains as heritage properties in contemporary Hong Kong as well as addressing the needs and aspirations of a diverse range of stakeholders. Topics include: a bridge between two landmasses – the significance of Hong Kong archaeology; the landscape and natural resources of Hong Kong; pioneers of Hong Kong archaeology; the early inhabitants of Hong Kong; why there was no State in Bronze Age Hong Kong; peoples and their way of life in Hong Kong from second century BC to AD 19th century; cultural dynamics between Hong Kong, South China and Southeast Asia; and landscape archaeology and cultural landscape. The course includes a field trip to an archaeological site.

This course provides familiarity with poverty issues including poverty measurement, underlying causes of poverty, the impact of poverty on society and government programs and policies that address poverty. The course illustrates principles with real-world applications. Though the course discusses poverty in a broad context of developing and developed countries, an extra emphasis is put on poverty related issues in Hong Kong and mainland China.

This course consists of a critical examination of various recent topics in metaphilosophy - that is, the philosophy of philosophy. Focus is on the nature of philosophical knowledge, and the possible methods for acquiring it. The course begins by looking at theories of a priori knowledge, from modern philosophy to early analytic to contemporary. Then, we examine more recent debates surrounding the use of intuition in philosophical theorizing, as well as discussions of the methods of conceptual analysis, reflective equilibrium, and thought experimentation. Finally, we look at the rise of a recent methodological movement known as ‘experimental philosophy', and examine several critical responses to it.

This course examines Buddhist discourses on the nature and operation of the mind. The course studies basic Buddhist principles and diverse practices of mental cultivation based on ancient Buddhist texts and manuals that present unique perspectives on individual, family, and society at large and world. The main topics covered include psychology of dhamma and the theory of “dependent co-arising”, relation between mind and body, sensory perception and obsession, intentional actions and human well being, positive thinking and self-initiative, controlling emotions and mindfulness practice, selfless being and awakened mind.

This course introduces the major themes of contemporary evolutionary biology, including the history of evolutionary biology, evolutionary processes, adaptation, speciation, and evolution as an explanatory framework at all levels of biological organization. The course emphasizes the interplay between theory and empirical tests of hypotheses, thus examining the process of science. Course topics include: introduction to evolutionary biology; the tree of life; patterns of evolution; biogeography; evolution of biodiversity; mechanisms of evolution (natural selection, mutation, genetic drift); phenotypic evolution; social interactions in evolution (sex, kinship, co-evolution); species and speciation; evolution of genes and genomes; evolutionary development; and macroevolution.

This course provides an comprehensive introduction on the European Union. The course begins with its historical predecessors and progresses to its current iteration in the 21st century. Topics covered include: EU's political structure; EU's legal framework, EU's process of enlargement; relationship between Great Britain and Germany; Eurocrisis. The course aims to provide an understanding of what the EU is, how it works, its strengths and weakness, and how it may involve. It will also focus on contemporary events such the migrant crisis, and Brexit. Assessment: Coursework, essay, final exam.

This Cantonese course is for students with Chinese language background who are beginners in the learning of Cantonese. It equips students with the Cantonese proficiency and communication competence necessary for living and networking in Hong Kong as well as a fast integration into the local culture. The learning activities involve developing listening and speaking skills in an attempt to build confidence and fluency in using Cantonese for daily communication.

Humans are all emotional. What exactly is emotion? Why do we have emotion? Do animals have emotion? Can robots have emotion? To what extent can we control our emotion or is emotion actually controlling us? What are the relationships among emotion, cognition, and brain? This course explores the genesis of human emotion as it strongly affects human behavior, especially the extreme ones. To move more deeply into the above questions, we need to visit different fields of knowledge in, for instance, philosophy, psychology, and biology. This course provides new understanding and inspires new thinking about our emotional-self through linking the subjective feelings to objective scientific studies of the human brain and cognition—and to ask about the meaning of objective and subjective, thereby approaching our fundamental humanity through the channels of emotion.

This course applies the theories, processes, and strategies of negotiation to a variety of settings and the broad spectrum of negotiation problems faced by both the manager in the workplace and the common citizen in the real world. It examines basic negotiation concepts and their use in the negotiation process, how to develop confidence in negotiating, and the behavior and motives of individuals and groups in negotiations. Text: THE MIND AND HEART OF THE NEGOTIATOR by Leigh Thompson Assessment: attendance and participation (20%), class exercises and quizzes (10%), midterm exam (35%), final exam (35%).