University of Hong Kong

This course provides a grounding in basic bioinformatics algorithms, tools, and databases. The course also provides hands-on bioinformatics analysis experience and the ability to conduct independent bioinformatics analyses. Topics: algorithms, especially those for sequence alignment and assembly, which comprise the foundation of the rapid development of bioinformatics and DNA sequencing; leading bioinformatics tools for comparing and analyzing genomes starting from raw sequencing data; the functions and organization of a few essential bioinformatics databases and how they support various types of bioinformatics analysis.

This course is an introduction to the historical and sociocultural study of popular music. The first part of the course focuses on Anglo-American popular music of the postwar era, while the second part of the course explores East Asian popular musics and cultures. The goal of the course is to develop analytic and critical tools to better understand popular music and culture in our daily lives, and to familiarize students with the dominant themes and issues in popular music studies.

The course addresses the concept of poisoning from several perspectives, including the basic principles of posology, which is concerned with dosage and is the foundation of toxicology. The basic concepts of poisoning are illustrated with simple clinical examples such as specific human organ toxicities related to drugs, household poisons, plant and animal sources of poisons, food poisoning and seafood poisoning. In addition, examples of poisoning in Hong Kong are explored from a historical and legal perspective. The psychology of poisoning is explored with examples that highlight precautions needed to ensure safe handling of toxic materials. Finally, the course develops a thread of common metaphors, symbolism and other associations used to describe poisons in cinema, late Victorian and early 20th century detective fiction, and other historical references.

This course introduces social administration and social welfare; the role and function of social policy as an agent of allocating power, status, life opportunity, and social resources among various groups and individuals; and the development of the social welfare system in Hong Kong context. Topics include basic concepts of social policy, development of social welfare in industrialized society, the philosophies and values of welfare, development of social welfare in East Asian countries, education, public housing, medical and health care systems, and social security systems.

People spend a considerable amount of time at work. The workplace thus provides a useful site for investigating various aspects of language and communication. This course discusses a range of features of workplace discourse and illustrates the impact social factors may have on the ways in which language is used in this context. The course also discusses and compares different methodological approaches and a variety of theoretical frameworks used for an analysis of workplace discourse. These tools are then used by the students to analyze naturalistic data.

This course surveys the art and architecture of Europe and Byzantium during the Middle Ages, a thousand-year period from ca. 400 to 1400. Exploring medieval art and visual culture chronologically, we will consider a number of topics central to medieval society including monasticism, saints and their relics, pilgrimage, and court culture. The course covers the wide range of medieval artistic production, from various forms of painting and sculpture to wood and ivory carving, mosaic, metalwork, textiles, and architecture.

A Problem Based Learning (PBL) approach is used with emphasis on real-life cases connecting human nutrition, well-being and environmental health. Topics include impacts of certain dietary habits and demands on food systems (e.g. demand for cheap sources of calories, rise of meat consumption, demand for year-round luxury foods) and the depletion of soil and increased fertilizer use. We consider how toxins, known as xenobiotics, affect human health and how sensory decisions are influenced by the environment.

This course introduces the complex nature of the African continent from a wider interdisciplinary perspective. Topics include Africa's geo-political particularities; multiple histories; diverse languages, peoples, culture and music, and rich literary and artistic traditions. The course is also designed to give an overview of major theoretical debates on Africa such as the questions of nation-building or the perception of Africa. It will also shed light on the current economic and socio-political challenges that the continent faces as well as the opportunities it presents.