Anthropology and history to merge at CUHK

Chinese University of Hong Kong's departments of history and anthropology are seeking to merge to maximise their use of resources.

But members of both departments maintain the move, which could be the first departmental merger at the university, was not prompted by the looming cut in the government's university funding, though they were hopeful combining resources would allow them to do more with less.

Billy So Kee-long, chairman of the history department, said the move would not result in any staff cuts.

'Even if our budget is not cut, we still have to think of ways to make effective use of resources. The whole economic environment in Hong Kong forces everyone to reflect very hard on whether we are doing the best with what we have and if there's room for improvement,' he said.

The merger proposal has already been submitted to vice-chancellor Ambrose King Yeo-chee. If approved, they will work out a more concrete plan for discussion among staff and students, to be scrutinised by the senate. The new Department of History and Anthropology could be in place by next September.

'This merger idea is bottom up, not initiated from the top,' said Professor So.