University of Hong Kong

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. 

This course provides an introduction to Chinese linguistics through an analysis of Chinese language facts. The origin, characteristics, operation rules and mechanisms of Chinese are thoroughly introduced so that students’ understanding of Chinese linguistics are raised from the perceptual cognition to the rational cognition. By completing the course, students utilize the research skills and methods to analyze some Chinese facts by obtaining a profound understanding of Chinese linguistics.

This course introduces population issues, concepts, theories and methods by encompassing the entire field of demography, including principle and practice. It offers an overview of various aspects of demographic growth and transition relating to changes in health and mortality, fertility, migration, age structure, urbanization, family and household structure. This course examines the relations between population and development and their potential consequences from a sociological, economic and geographical perspective. Other topics include global variation in population size and growth, various demographic perspectives and their modern implications, environmental impacts, and population policy. Special emphasis is placed on demographic transition in Hong Kong and its neighborhood region.

This course examines how attitudes toward death and the management of the dead transformed during the 19th and 20th centuries. It explores the effects of scientific and medical developments, secularization, imperial expansion, nationalism, and urbanization on how societies understood death and treated the dead. Through comparative case studies from Asia, Europe, and Latin America, the course considers whether death has become increasingly invisible in the modern age and whether the dead continue to hold sacred or social power. Emphasis is placed on analyzing historical sources to uncover past emotions, attitudes, and cultural norms surrounding death.