University of Hong Kong

Science fiction represents a blend of science, social science and arts. It frequently draws inspiration from science, as well as addressing the social issues relevant today by highlighting certain social aspects. Science fiction also serves to popularize science and affects public opinion about certain scientific and technological issues. Therefore, there is a complex relationship between science and science fiction, and understanding this relationship requires its analysis from multiple perspectives. This course covers the topics of the influence of science on science fiction, the influence of science fiction on science, and the influence of science fiction on public perception of science and scientists. These topics will be discussed in the context of examples of science fiction works dealing with space exploration and space travel, time travel, near future fiction, and science fiction dealing with social issues. The science concepts involved in these topics will be briefly explained at a layperson level, and the main emphasis will be placed on critical thinking and analyzing interdisciplinary connections and relationships. Assessment: 100% coursework

The course gives an overview of the field which studies the behavior of individuals in social contexts. It covers social perception, social cognition, social motivation, attitudes and attitude change, relationship between attitude and behavior, aggression, helping, interpersonal attraction, social influence on individual behavior and group dynamics. The impact of Chinese culture on various social behaviors forms part of the discussion. 

This course examines organizational story telling skills through the study of works of fiction, memoirs, and speeches from around the world. It also studies the relationship between storytelling and management.

This course studies the transmission mechanisms, effectiveness and limitations of monetary policies in coherent macroeconomics models. Course topics include: monetary policy in a basic macroeconomic model; aggregate supply and aggregate demand analysis; classical and Keynesian approach; transmission mechanism of monetary policies; implications of expectation on monetary policies; rational expectation; monetary policy: discretion vs rules; role of capital market imperfections; frictions in the capital market; implications of capital market imperfections on the transmission mechanism; asset prices, financial crisis and monetary policy; Japan and quantitative easing; sub-prime crisis and quantitative easing in the US; credit booms and asset bubbles. Text: Frederic Mishkin, THE ECONOMICS OF MONEY, BANKING AND FINANCIAL MARKETS. The textbook provides the basic materials of the course. The rigor of the course goes beyond that of the textbook. Additional references from journal articles are used.

This course examines classical theories in persuasion, attitude change and behavior change. It includes perspectives of social psychology and communication, with a focus on equipping students with the ability of applying persuasion knowledge in various business and interpersonal contexts.

This course examines the role that engineers play in a modern industrial society in terms of social responsibilities, ethical considerations, engineering health and safety, and legal and environmental constraints.