University of Hong Kong

The media plays an extremely influential role in the public’s conceptions of crime and order. This course is designed to look at the different ways in which the media shapes our ideas and responses to crime. The course is divided into two main sections. The first half of the course examines representations of crime in different media forms and theoretical explanations for why crime is portrayed in particular ways. The second half of the course focuses on the representation of crime in popular culture, particularly in films and novels.

The course covers major aspects of the physiology of the human body using an integrated approach. The course covers fundamental principles of how the body works. Topics include: the physiological systems and homeostasis; neural and hormonal communication; nervous system physiology; digestive system; cardiac physiology, blood vessels and blood pressure; respiratory system; urinary system; skeletal and muscular system; sensory mechanisms; biological rhythms; central-peripheral communication in energy homeostasis. 

This course provides a systematic introduction of concepts, theories and practices, with a focus on handling conflict and negotiation. The course content is composed of two intimately related parts. The beginning introduces the nature and types of conflict, mechanism of conflict escalation and de-escalation, and conflict resolution styles. The rest of the class sessions discuss the characteristics of interest-based negotiation and negotiation strategies. Specifically, the course teaches strategies to avoid various cognitive biases in conflict situations and negotiation, the building blocks of negotiation, the difference of distributive versus value-creating negotiation approaches, the strategies of achieving integrative outcomes, building trust and controlling emotions, utilizing power and persuasion, the importance of non-verbal communication in gaining information and ethics. Some topics are also covered in the context of cross-cultural negotiation and computer-mediated negotiation to cater to the need of today’s international business environment. 

The philosophy of economics investigates what distinguishes economics as its own discipline, addressing questions about the distinctiveness of the subject matter and the metaphysical, epistemological, and ethical status of its assumptions and methods. In particular, the course examines the core philosophical commitments from the formative stages of the discipline’s development which endure and continue to undergird modern economic theory. As such, the course emphasizes the classical theory that guided the development of economics as a discipline, with a focus on the divergence—oftentimes drastic and premonitory—from the philosophical commitments of other social sciences, in particular sociology.

This course is inquiry-based, interactive, and hands-on, focusing on how to design effective, human centered generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) applications in business contexts. It is suitable for undergraduate students with no technical background. The course builds AI literacy through simulation games developed by the instructor. The core of the course guides students through real-world applications of GenAI across text, code, image, audio, and video. Students gain practical experience using GenAI tools and applying them to solve business problems. The course includes critical discussions on the implications of GenAI, covering issues such as privacy, algorithmic bias, labor impact, job displacement, and ethical design. It helps students consider not only what GenAI can do, but what it should do. From a career perspective, the course equips students to act as effective consultants for AI applications, organizational change, leadership, digital transformation, and sustainability. 

Film-making and TV production are becoming increasingly international, rendering translation almost indispensable to the industry. Translating films and TV shows for dubbing and subtitling requires specialized skills distinct from those used in other fields. This course focuses on such skills, with an emphasis on audio-visual awareness and cinematic elements such as drama, dialogue, vernacular, and pacing. Critical theories on media and on cultural production and consumption are introduced. Students learn through hands-on translation of feature films and TV programs, as well as critiques of film and TV translations.

This course cultivates the fundamental literacy skills required for commercial music composition. The topics covered include pop songwriting, beat making, film scoring, and jingle production. Students are introduced to contemporary practices in the music industry through music demos, instrumental tracking, music arrangement, and music production techniques.

This course introduces the mathematical, statistical, and computational challenges in natural language processing. It covers the main applications of NLP techniques and a range of models in structured prediction and deep learning. Students gain a thorough introduction to cutting-edge machine learning and deep learning techniques for NLP. This course covers a broad range of topics including text classification, sentiment analysis, neural network, word embedding, sequence models, language models, machine translation, topic detection, and ChatGPT. The underlying techniques from probability, statistics, machine learning, transformer and deep learning are also introduced. Prerequisites: Pass in STAT2602 and COMP2119 or same level. Proficiency in Python.

This course is unique as it is co-organized by three faculties: Engineering, Medicine, and Science. This interdisciplinary collaboration highlights the importance of “biomimicry” and nature-inspired technologies that go beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries. Students in this course benefit from a comprehensive and diverse range of knowledge, merging insights from engineering, medicine, and science. By exploring how nature inspires technological advancements, students gain interdisciplinary skills and a broader perspective. The course is structured around three themes: industrial technology, biomedical technology, and environmental technology. Throughout this course, students learn to develop innovative ideas rooted in biomimicry to address real-world problems. Working in cross-faculty groups, students collaborate to design and build solutions that leverage the principles of biomimicry. This course equips students with the tools to contribute to sustainable and innovative technologies, preparing them for the challenges of the modern world.

This course uses an application-oriented approach to introduce students to the core concepts of psychometrics, a rigorous, scientific discipline of psychological testing and measurement. Students are provided with hands-on experiences to apply statistical methods for constructing and developing psychological measurement scales empirically as well as introductory exposure to instruments used by psychologists to assess intelligence, personality, and occupationally relevant attributes. Topics covered include: the context of testing and measurement; the testing process; test standardization; reliability and validity; intelligence and its appraisal; personality assessment; special domain testing; occupational applications; large-scale measurements; ethics and prospects.