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Introduction to World Civilization [CSCI2105] (3 units)
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This course aims to introduce the different approaches in understanding different civilizations, their encounter, interaction and conflicts. It will first introduce the different theories of understanding world civilizations, e.g., their characteristics, strength and weakness, and their grandeur and decline. It will also discuss, with illustration of literary works and film examples, interaction and conflict between civilizations, e.g. China and the West, Christian and Muslim, the “discovery” of America, etc. It will serve as an introductory course for cultural studies by providing basic knowledge and methods in the study of culture and civilization.
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Introduction to Gender and Sexuality [CSCI2115] (3 units)
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This course aims to provide students with a foundational understanding of gender and sexuality from an inter-disciplinary perspective. It equips students with a basic understanding of concepts, theories of gender and sexuality, and debates of related issues in the contemporary world. Upon completion of the course, students are expected to have a general and critical understanding of the political, cultural and social aspects of gender and sexuality and can participate in specialized discussions of related topics.
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Understanding Everyday Life: A Critical Introduction [CSCI2125] (3 units)
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The aim of this course is to introduce students to the fascinating significance of mundane practices of everyday life. Drawing upon key theories in the field of humanities and social sciences, this course explores the subject by relating the micro-level individual practices to the macro-level patterns of society. Specifically, the making of the ‘taken-for-granted’ practices and routines which individuals perform, reproduce, and occasionally challenge will be examined with recent trends in contemporary society.
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A History of Personal Writings [CSCI3105] (3 units)
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This course introduces a variety of personal writings to students. Starting with the form, content and structure, the course will go on to give a historical overview of major pieces of personal narratives of different types, and examine the significant role played by memory in the construction of personal narratives. The course will also discuss the interesting mixture of fact and fiction in any personal writing, as well as the intriguing relationship between the subject and object of the narrative. In the course of the semester, students will also have a chance to create their own personal narratives and be guided to recognise the power of this writing in relation to their personal growth.
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Cultural Studies and Creative Industries Internship [CSCI3108] (3 units)
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The Cultural Studies and Creative Industries Internship is offered both during term-time and the summer. Its aim is to enrich students’ education by expanding their horizons and enabling them to integrate academic knowledge with first-hand practical experience in the cultural and creative sector. It is specially designed to encourage students to go beyond the confines of the campus and their own academic disciplines through a multidisciplinary and practice-oriented approach. The internship is also characterised by engaging students to expand social awareness and develop close connections through working with the course instructor and community partners.
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Cultural Studies and Creative Industries Internship [CSCI3109] (3 units)
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The Cultural Studies and Creative Industries Internship is offered both during term-time and the summer. Its aim is to enrich students’ education by expanding their horizons and enabling them to integrate academic knowledge with first-hand practical experience in the cultural and creative sector. It is specially designed to encourage students to go beyond the confines of the campus and their own academic disciplines through a multidisciplinary and practice-oriented approach. The internship is also characterised by engaging students to expand social awareness and develop close connections through working with the course instructor and community partners.
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Creative Writing in Practice [CSCI3115] (3 units)
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This course provides both the theoretical knowledge and the opportunity for practical experience to students who are interested in discovering their creativity and exercising it in writing. An introduction to the creative process and the basic approaches to creativity are given at the beginning of the course, before students are taken through selected types of creative work. The course focuses equally on careful guidance in students’ appreciation of creative works, as well as in their own creative practice.
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Detective Fiction and the Modern World [CSCI3125] (3 units)
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This course aims to study the social, cultural and historical reasons for the appearance of the fiction of detection, and to provide an overview of its development from the mid-19th century to the present. Examples of detective fiction which mark important points in its historical development will be studied to understand how this genre changes according to changing social, cultural and historical environment in our world.
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Exploring the City [CSCI3135] (3 units)
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This course aims to enhance students’ understanding of the city from social and cultural perspectives. While cities are diverse and exciting, they also pose challenging problems. Through the examination of classic and contemporary texts on the city, students will acquire an in-depth understanding of key developments in the study of the city. Case studies will also be used to develop the analytical techniques of the students.
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Fairy Tales and Our Society [CSCI3145] (3 units)
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This course aims to guide students towards a study of the fairy tales including the basic narrative structure, major components, main themes and features, and some of the cultural and historical transformations in recent centuries. Special attention would be given to the various possible interpretations of fairy tales in our society regarding the domains of gender, race, class, culture and other factors of identity formation.
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Great Thinkers on Meanings of Life [CSCI3155] (3 units)
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This course aims to promote students’ reflection on existential questions about life and its values by introducing them to philosophical thoughts of classical and modern thinkers of both the Chinese and the Western traditions. The focus will be on the meaning of human life. It will provide students with inspiring intellectual discourses of the selected thinkers and their self-exploration and speculation process. The course will analyze philosophical texts written by these thinkers and the answers they offer on the issue of the meaning of life. Besides, the thoughts of great thinkers will be discussed with the help of film appreciation. Finally, it will encourage students to examine their own value concepts and living attitudes to life, and to relate them to the human conditions discussed by the thinkers. This course is also designed to introduce philosophical thinking which is closely related to our living world.
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Hong Kong Cinema and Society [CSCI3165] (3 units)
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This course aims to enhance students’ understanding of how Hong Kong cinema have been shaping and shaped by the local society and the global context of film-making. To this end, students will also learn a wide range of general approaches to film studies and the question of appropriate approaches to different periods of Hong Kong film development will be fully examined.
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Horror Film and Fiction [CSCI3175] (3 units)
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This course aims to introduce students to a comprehensive overview of the traditions of horror tales and cinematic genre of horror. Always berated and frequently overlooked in academic study, horror serves a significant social function to signal the indescribable anxiety of the society. Horror inherently deals with some forbidden topics or disturbing course matters, thus it might be the most socially revealing genre. We do not only look into the history of horror but also examine the definition of horror. The course investigates the cultural function, representation of horror and what pleasure we derive from it.
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Manga and Anime: Japanese Popular Culture in Hong Kong [CSCI3185] (3 units)
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This course aims to introduce students to the popularity of Japanese animation (anime) and comics (manga) in Hong Kong by considering anime and manga as medium, art, culture, and industries. It examines the reasons why these forms of popular culture from Japan can appeal to Hong Kong youths and investigates their historical developments in the city. This course is relevant to all realms of academic inquiry, and should attract students who share interests in media studies, communications, industrial structures, art and visual form, gender treatment, and Japanese fan culture, and cross-cultural studies.
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Popular Music and Society [CSCI3195] (3 units)
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This course aims to enhance students’ knowledge of popular music and its relation to society at large. It will also develop students’ critical understanding of the academic study of popular music. Students will have to examine popular music studies and apply them to analyze popular music in the special context of Hong Kong society.
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The Critical and Creative Spirit: The Case of Historical Fiction [CSCI3205] (3 units)
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This course aims to demonstrate the interrelationship between creativity and the critical spirit through the examination and discussion of the historical fiction. While it is generally believed that creativity and the critical spirit are two separate and sometimes even opposite approaches and qualities, this course hopes to show that they are two sides of the same coin. Through a study of the historical fiction, students will see the creative aspects of a critical research, and how being critical is an important step towards creativity.
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The World of Theatre [CSCI3215] (3 units)
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This course aims to introduce the major forms in theatre from the West to the East. It discusses the relation between different theatre aesthetics and forms, its relation with reality, and the historical and social background. It helps students analyse and appreciate different styles and genres of theatre, their aesthetic principle, and their relation with their time and culture. It will also show examples of theatre forms with the help of original texts, and videos or live performances. Students will have the opportunity to see live theatre performances and have discussion with theatre artists.
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Theme Park and Other Themed Spaces [CSCI3225] (3 units)
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This course aims to introduce students to the social functions and ideological meanings of leisure institutions, from museums, fairs, gardens, to amusement parks, movie theaters, world expo and other themed spaces. We focus on the notion of leisure and play, and investigate the wide world of themed entertainment. While looking at particular case studies and particular leisure spaces, ranging from Disneyland to ethnic villages and Imax theaters, we look into the connection between play and modern life, the utopian elements of leisure spaces, the impacts of the increasingly global and lucrative contemporary tourist industries on the production of historical knowledge and the invention of traditions, and other issues related to cultural politics and management.
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Understanding Media Culture [CSCI3245] (3 units)
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This course aims to introduce the complex issues, theories, and methods involved in understanding the contemporary mediascape. Through reading classic and contemporary texts on media, students will learn various theories of the media, the issues raised by these theories, the strengths and weaknesses of these theories, and the diverse methods of studying the media. This course provides a holistic view of the media-cultural landscape with a social science approach.
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Changing Youth, Changing Times: Concepts, Concerns and Debates [CSCI3255] (3 units)
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This course aims, first, to provide an overview and a critical examination of key themes, concepts, theories and issues in youth studies. Central issues such as inequality, underachievement, crime and deviant behaviors, political and civic (dis)engagements will be examined and they are discussed under the weekly thematic focus of class, race/ethnicity, gender & sexuality, governmentality, political and civic (dis)engagements, values and beliefs, and (sub)cultures and lifestyles. Existing theories and literature about youth transitions and youth cultures tend to take the “Western” experiences that are based on the global North for granted. Living in an ever-more interconnected age, it is not only encouraged but also urgent to think and engage with cross-national and comparative youth research. The second aim of this course is to inspire students to think beyond traditional national boundaries and to understand youth studies from different geo-political localities and cross-cultural comparative perspectives. The course seeks to diversify and broaden our understanding of youth issues by bringing in empirical examples from a wide array of countries of different socio-, cultural and political settings, ranging from countries in Europe to Africa, and from Asia to Australia.
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Modernity and China [CSCI3265] (3 units)
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This course aims to introduce the idea of modernity and its development in the Chinese society. It will discuss primarily the challenge of modernity and China's response to achieve an understanding of how Chinese modernity has come into shape.
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Understanding Emotional Capitalism: From Consumer Culture to Creative Industries [CSCI3275] (3 units)
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In an era of globalization, capitalism has strengthened its important role in the world economy. It not only serves as an economic force that shapes our economic life, but also serves as a cultural force that shapes our cultural life. In recent years, there is an increasing research literature on the emotional dimension of capitalism which focuses on how the emotions are shaped, managed, manipulated, and distributed in the consumer culture and creative industries as well as the tremendous impacts of emotional culture, emotional consumption, emotional labor and emotional management.
This course will explore the emotional dimension of consumer culture and creative industries. It will focus on how emotions are experienced, represented and produced in the industries. Drawing on different types of consumer cultures and creative industries, this course will examine various kinds of emotions such as pleasure, fear, grief, hate or terror in the construction of individual and social life. The course will also discuss how emotions are deployed in current philosophical, social and political debates.
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Popular Culture and Creative Industries in Asia [CSCI3285] (3 units)
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This course explores the production, circulation, products and practices of Asian popular culture (television drama, film, popular music, animation, comics, game, fashion, celebrity culture, digital culture, etc.) in a transnational context; and how Asian popular culture as a diverse creative force influences people and societies within and outside of Asia. It offers an introduction to the development of Asian popular culture industries and their impacts to the regional and global markets. It introduces to students the characteristics of Asian popular cultures, and the social, cultural and political environments of major production sites. Major theoretical approaches to popular culture and Asian societies will be studied. Upon completion, students will be familiar with the various critical approaches used in the study of popular culture and industries, and the social, political and economic contexts of Asian popular culture.
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Digital Media and Culture [CSCI4105] (3 units)
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This course aims to introduce students to a comprehensive overview of theories and practices of digital media in contemporary culture. Based on a historical understanding of digital media developments, the course explores the role of new media in a globally networked world. It also examines the social, political and economic influences of new digital technologies on culture, industries, creativity and community from cross-disciplinary perspectives.
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Rethinking Cultures: East and West [CSCI4115] (3 units)
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This course aims to help students comprehend major theories of culture of the 20th century from an interdisciplinary perspective. Students will familiarize themselves with seminal debates and how they are or are not relevant to contemporary Hong Kong society. They will also acquire a global and critical sensibility with respect to culture as manifested in both material and symbolic realms. Students will engage with issues and acquire knowledge and skills in identifying, profiling and discussing them. In brief, the course will provide in-depth inter-disciplinary knowledge from a Social sciences-oriented perspective.
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Sex and Gender in the Media [CSCI4125] (3 units)
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This course aims to introduce students to the representations of gender and sexuality in mass media. Students will be introduced to media representations of gender and sexuality in a variety of media texts including films, TV dramas, music videos, advertisements, comics and those in the cyberspace, and the embedded ideologies and cultural meanings. The course will offer critical perspectives to discuss topics such as pornography, queer representations, notions of gender and sexuality in new media and the intersection of gender, race, class and sexuality. Upon completion, students are expected to develop a critical understanding of gender and sexuality in media and be able to analyze media texts from a cross-disciplinary perspective.
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Contemporary Chinese Cultural Philosophy [CSCI4135] (3 units)
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The overall goal of this course is to enhance students’ understanding of traditional and contemporary Chinese Culture. The course also aims to open a window into Chinese cultural philosophy and to enlighten students about the profound historical backgrounds, problems and development of Chinese culture since the last century. As Chinese cultural philosophy has its traditional roots and has been developed across the Chinese-speaking world, including Hong Kong, it is meaningful to explore how this field gives a different perspective from the Western tradition in understanding culture and philosophy. Some important schools of contemporary cultural philosophy will be introduced to deepen students’ theoretical understanding of Chinese cultural transformation up until the present-day.
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Mobility and Migration in Contemporary Society [CSCI4145] (3 units)
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This course provides a broad understanding of human mobility, culture and patterns of migration in our contemporary social world. The movement of people, culture, capital, commodities, information and ideas has become a central theme in contemporary life. The course invites students to understand human mobility in a global context from different disciplinary perspectives and diverse theoretical backgrounds. It introduces to students different forms of contemporary human mobility and a wide range of topics and issues that are related to human mobility in contemporary world. They range from issues and debates surrounding contemporary migration, migrant cultures and communities, tourism in a globalized world, how human mobility is patterned by education, job opportunities and intimate relationship to how mobile technologies inspire new forms of mobile life or relationship. Upon completion, students will be able to possess the essential theoretical and empirical knowledge to understand how human mobility works to organize our social world and private life, and how our mobility or immobility is defined and confined by numerous private and public factors.
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