University of 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.

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.

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.

The overall theme of this course is that genetics and evolution provide a useful perspective for understanding many important aspects of our lives, including our psychological makeup and how we relate to others. The course draws on multiple disciplines – genetics, evolution, mathematics, statistics and psychology – to address the following fundamental issues: how life is maintained from one generation to the next through genes, and how living organisms can adapt to the environment through changes in the genes; how human individual differences and groups in important domains such as personality, abilities and talents, and health are influenced by genetic and environmental differences; how the nature or humankind may have been shaped by our evolutionary past, and the implications this has on the future of our species. Required text: S. Pinker, THE BLANK SLATE: THE MODERN DENIAL OF HUMAN NATURE. Assessment: tutorial discussions, group presentation, blog contribution, in-class quizzes.

The United States, China, and Japan are the world's three leading economies. How they interact has decisively shaped the two Asian powers' developmental trajectories, regional international relations, and the world order. Since the United States became a Pacific power, China and Japan have alternatively been the top U.S. geo-strategic threat and industrial competitor. They have also been allies and partners with the United States in different time periods. After World War II, the United States secured its hegemony in Asia. But that international status quo is increasingly being challenged by the China's return as a central player in Asia. The course examines the patterns and issues in U.S.-China-Japan relations after the U.S. expansion as a Pacific power. Our focus is on the contemporary era since the 1970s. In particular we explore three story lines driving the trilateral relations: U.S. presence and strategy in Asia; the national development of China and Japan and their corresponding foreign policy adjustments; and the impact of China's rise.

This course covers the fundamental principles of neuroscience. Topics include history of neuroscience, neurons and glia, neuronal membrane at rest, action potential, synaptic transmission, neuroanatomy, the somatic sensory system, chemical senses: taste and smell, the auditory system, vision and the eye, vision and the brain, spinal control of movement, brain control of movement, chemical control of the brain and behavior, development in the nervous system, memory systems, learning and memory: molecular biology, emotion and attention.