University of Hong Kong

This course is designed for students who are curious about the role of science in daily life. It covers the science in the household and the science of driving, sports and amusement. Daily applications are explored with simple and lucid explanations. Developments in optical recording, medical imaging for diagnosis and the magnetic levitated trains in public transportation are introduced as examples of the modern technology. Contents of the course are constantly updated to reflect the advances in modern science and technology.

This course provides an overview of German cinema from the first major German expressionist film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari in 1922 to the present within a cultural and social framework. Students gain insights into major shifts in life and culture in Germany. Classes are conducted in German. Prerequisite: GRMN2002, German II.2, or comparable level acquired elsewhere.

This course introduces the concept of sustainability through the lens of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and shows how to quantify the progress towards sustainable development. It enhances students’ understanding of the issues relating to sustainable development and quantification of sustainable development. Although the course cannot provide complete answers to the issues, it helps develop students’ ability of critical thinking and suggest promising directions in which answers may be sought.

This course introduces the basic results and techniques of linear programming (LP) and its related topics in operations research. There is an equal emphasis on all three aspects of understanding, algorithms and applications. The course serves, together with a course on network models, as essential concept and background for more advanced studies in operations research. The topics include the simplex method, the dual simplex method, parametric programming, decomposition methods and interior point methods.

This course examines how some of the objects found in museums and collections came to be regarded as art. More specifically some objects and styles of painting are associated with the literati, a highly educated group of scholars who established certain forms of culture as their own from the Tang and Song to Yuan dynasties. By looking at the contexts of when ceramics, bronzes, calligraphy and some forms of painting were first assigned as art the course shows the literati mind guiding the process in the construction of these objects as literati art.

This course focuses on presenting and discussing a diverse range of game theory applications and conveying an understanding of how strategic players may navigate such scenarios. Game Theory is the standard tool for analyzing strategic situations and is widely used in many fields, including economics, finance, biology, and political science. It provides a way of thinking about such strategic situations, whether in economics, politics, relationships, evolution, sports, war, law, or everyday life. The first part of the course presents basic concepts such as Nash equilibrium, dominated strategies, or mixed strategies, and the most famous economic games (prisoner’s dilemma, battle of sexes, matching pennies, beauty contests, etc.). The second part delves deeper into the analysis of dynamic games and covers questions and applications such as: How to build up a reputation; How to bargain; Duels (when should you shoot?); Cooperation (how selfish players can use "stick and carrot"’ to cooperate and collude); Hold-up problems (why and when your employer will invest in your human capital); and First- and second-mover advantage in markets - Wars of attrition. The third part of the course presents further applications of game theory that have been particularly influential in the history of economic theory, such as: Signaling (how to signal your qualities to an employer?); Mechanism design (how to sell your old house? how Google and eBay use auctions. What is the winner’s curse?); and Information aggregation (is there a wisdom of the crowd?). Throughout the course, games are played with and against each other in class. Prerequisites: ECON1210 Introductory microeconomics; and MATH1009 Basic mathematics for business and economics or MATH1011 University mathematics I or MATH1013 University mathematics II.

Paradoxes are arguments which proceed from highly plausible assumptions, through highly plausible and usually simple steps to highly implausible conclusions. Some examples: Zeno’s paradoxes of motion, Kant’s antinomies, the Liar and the paradox of the surprise examination. What such paradoxes show is that there is something deeply wrong with some of our most fundamental ways of thinking. This course helps explore solutions to certain of these paradoxes. Students are expected to know some elementary formal logic before studying this course. To prepare for the course, they can either take PHIL2006, or study the online material on logic produced by the department. 

This course introduces students to the study of the relationship between language and society. The course includes topics like language variation and change, language and gender, multilingualism and language contact, and language policy. Aspects like the distinction between language and dialect are covered next to how language attitudes shape our communicative behavior and the way we perceive speakers. The course has both theoretical and empirical content and includes many case studies and practical exercises from languages and regions around the world. This course is recommended for linguistics majors and is an important asset for anyone who seeks to understand how language affects how we relate to each other in society. Prerequisite: LING1000.

This course studies art and architecture created in East Asia during the seminal period when Buddhism was introduced to China and then transmitted to Korea and Japan. Focusing on the period c.300-c.1500, it examines selected key sites and significant works in all three countries. Students become familiar with important figures in the Buddhist pantheon; the iconography, gestures, and postures associated with Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and other deities; and popular narratives and architectural features associated with early Buddhist practice. These visual and iconographic features are studied in their historical, political, economic, and social contexts.

The course introduces a range of key issues, concepts, principles and methods in environmental management. The major components, processes, and attributes to environmental management are also covered. The roles of civil society, market mechanism and government regulations in environmental management are examined. Real-life examples from Hong Kong, China, and overseas countries are discussed to illustrate how integrated approaches should be applied for identifying optimal options in environmental management decision-making processes.