University of Hong Kong

This course examines the structure, operations, and functions of the financial system. The course starts with an introduction to financial markets’ role in the economy and the determination of interest rates and valuation of cash flows. The course then discusses various financial markets including money markets, bond markets, mortgage markets, stock markets, and derivatives markets. Financial institutions will be discussed with an emphasis on their major functions and operations. 

This course examines deep learning. It covers the motivations and principles for building deep learning systems; how deep learning relates to the broader field of artificial intelligence; problems associated with domain specific data; recognition; image generation; reinforcement learning; language translation; computer vision; natural language processing; PyTorch; Tensorflow; and numerical optimization algorithms.

This course introduces the nature of sociological enquiry and the basic concepts used in sociological analysis. Many concepts are illustrated through film media. The course covers the influence of inheritance and environment on human social behavior, and focuses on key concepts used in the analysis of cultures, social structures, social processes, and social change. Topics include culture and deviance; class, status, and power; the social construction of gender; gender and sexuality in the media; identity and social action; the media and popular culture; politics and the state; education in modern societies; health and medicine; and, crime and deviance. Text: Haralambos, M. and Holborn, M., SOCIOLOGY: THEMES AND PERSPECTIVES. Assessment: tutorial participation (10%), field observation and presentation (10%), three one-page essays (20%), and a final exam (60%).

This course examines Hong Kong’s history since the early 1800s. Hong Kong sits at the intersection of Chinese history and world history. Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, it became a place with its own identity. Which persons or ideas influenced the shaping of Hong Kong? In what ways was Hong Kong connected to British empire and modern China? What were the main themes in Hong Kong’s development? How can historians make sense of Hong Kong’s past? How has Hong Kong’s past shaped its present?How should its past be represented? 

This course examines the evolution of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from a revolutionary power to a reformist socialist power to a major global power on the world stage. It provides an analytical framework and tools for analyzing Chinese international power. Topics covered include key factors that have driven and shaped the PRC's foreign policy, the structural forces and institutional processes of foreign policy-making in the PRC, the development of key foreign policy issues confronting the PRC today, the future role of the PRC in the world, and the relationship between the PRC and various world powers, including the United States, Russia, Japan, and ASEAN. Students also examine the impact of international organizations, globalization, technological advancement, and economic developments.

This course examines structural and cognitive aspects of meaning which are relevant to the description and theory of grammar. Examples will be drawn from Cantonese, Mandarin and English together with some other European and Asian languages.

This course surveys the history of Western art from ancient Greece and Rome to the 21st century. Focusing on painting and sculpture, it explains how art has developed in relation to changes in historical context, including politics, religion, science, economics, and society. The course teaches basic techniques of western art, major artistic styles and movements, and how to interpret visual culture both visually and historically.

This course shows how the principles of marketing can be applied to marketing problems across national boundaries and within foreign countries. Attention is paid to the development of global marketing strategies and to the different approaches needed to market consumer items, industrial goods, and services internationally. The impact on marketing of the cultural, economic, political, and technological environments in different countries are examined. Text: Warren J. Keegean and Mark C. Green, GLOBAL MARKETING. Assessment: midterm exam (25%), final exam (35%), group projects (30%), class participation (10%).