Film & Media Studies

This course, "Gaming, Esports, and Interactive Narratives," offers a comprehensive exploration of the gaming and esports landscape, covering the cultural, artistic, and technical dimensions of games. Students examine complex questions about games' potential to achieve a depth of character development and insight into the human experience comparable to novels or films. Through literary criticism, postmodern theory, and cinema studies, we analyze how interactive narratives and visual design contribute to unique player experiences. Additionally, students gain an advanced understanding of the cultural and aesthetic history of games. A distinctive feature of this course is its integration of industry expertise. Gen G—one of the largest and most innovative companies in gaming— provides guest lecturers throughout the semester, including influential figures from the gaming industry, professional gamers, and experienced developers. These guest speakers offer valuable insights into the latest trends, challenges, and innovations shaping the gaming industry today. Guided by a "learning by doing" philosophy and a problem- and project-based learning (PBL) approach, students explore interactive narrative design and develop advanced game literacy. Hands-on assignments introduce students to the game development process, emphasizing game design principles and team collaboration. Through this approach, students understand the diverse roles within a game development team, gaining insights into how each role contributes to the overall design and player experience—laying the foundation for creative and collaborative project work.

This dynamic, general undergraduate course leverages the captivating power of cinema to explore world religious civilizations, life philosophies, and a spectrum of ethical and moral issues. "Film, Faith, and Moral" is designed to enhance students' understanding and appreciation of diverse cultures, offering insights into the similarities and differences among various world religions and fostering a deep respect for religious cultures. 
 
The course delves into major world religions and addresses cross-religious moral and ethical themes, such as the rewards and punishments in the afterlife, the Golden Rule, concepts of rebirth, worldviews, the interplay between digital technology and religion, and the nature of temptation and sin. It also covers repentance, loyalty, forgiveness, altruism, self-salvation, and transcendence. 
 
Utilizing a rich array of films, including documentaries, animations, and feature films, the course broadens students' perspectives on religious and philosophical thinking and their understanding of the interconnections between cinema, literature, and art. An introduction to semiotic theory is also included to enhance students' media literacy and critical thinking skills.

• Provide a comprehensive introduction to the history, current state, and trends in entertainment reporting and programs, both domestically and internationally.
• Analyze print media, broadcast television, and online entertainment content.
• Help students understand the social functions of entertainment reporting and its interaction with other media types.
• Foster critical thinking about the future development of entertainment reporting and how it relates to societal mechanisms and other forms of media.

This course will approach the interactive relationship between electronic games and society from multi-dimensional perspectives, including cultural history, technological history, art history, and intellectual history. Unlike conventional game-related or design courses that primarily focus on gameplay and mechanics, this course will not assume “game enthusiasts” as the students’ prior identity.

This course examines problems and concerns relating to the laws, and ethical issues that affect journalists and the journalism profession. While the lectures and coursework focus on Hong Kong, they also examine key global developments.

This course introduces influencing factors of audio and video news production, principles of news, news operations, short news video theory and practice, planning and practice of news production.

Through watching Chinese films, the students would learn Chinese culture, understand Chinese society and enhance their Chinese language (advanced Chinese level).

This courses examines a widespread phenomenon in the history of narrative that deals with the fantastic. Taking a transcultural and transmedia approach to the study of the fantastic, this course investigates its expressions in literary and cinematic narratives from a variety of historical periods and cultural traditions, in association with genres as diverse as fairy tales, science fiction, gothic romances, psychological thrillers, legends, love stories, and so on. This expansive view not only allows us to appreciate the adaptability of the fantastic as a discursive narrative mode, but also creates opportunities for us to understand its varying connections with its native cultures, as it migrates across cultural boundaries.

This course examines techniques of video shooting and editing. During the course, students produce short news stories. The emphasis is on the mechanics of shooting and editing for TV news.

This course further enables students to understand the relationship between the media and social change, so as to use of knowledge of communication and journalism in a better way.