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SCMP Reporter

The School of Humanities and Social Science at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) was originally conceived of as a sort of 'service provider' for the other three schools.

Divided into the Division of Humanities and the Division of Social Science, the school does not offer undergraduate degrees at this time. Both divisions do, however, offer postgraduate degrees in the form of taught Master of Arts programmes. They also enrol research students, who can obtain the degrees of Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy.

'All undergraduate students at the university have to take four humanities and social studies courses [as part of their general education requirements],' said Alvin So, newly appointed acting dean of humanities and social science and chair professor of the Division of Social Science at HKUST.

'Later we decided to do more. We set up a minor programme in 1997 so that students [in one of the other three schools] could minor in social science or humanities.'

The minors have proved popular, with enrolment growing from 200 students in 1998 to 1999 to more than 300 this year.

'Students in other schools want to learn more about the humanities and social science,' Professor So said.

'They find it not only interesting, but also useful to their careers. HKUST graduates are seen by employers as being bright and diligent, but they don't always know much about Hong Kong society or Chinese history as they tend to focus on their field of study.'

There was a perceived need for students specialising in fields such as science, engineering and business to widen their horizons and obtain greater cultural sensitivity while gaining knowledge about the world.

'This is the age of globalisation, and students are supposed to understand things beyond their own major or discipline,' Professor So said.

'The trend is to train students [in areas] that are interdisciplinary, offering them broader training. Critical thinking and knowledge about events and the world - this type of training can best be provided by our school.'

The school's postgraduate programmes, which were launched about 10 years ago, have an interdisciplinary orientation both within and between the two divisions. And they have strengths in teaching and research.

'We have been doing very well in graduate training,' Professor So said.

'We focus on China studies, and we have a very strong research record in this area.

'We are ranked among the top five universities worldwide in terms of published articles in three major scholarly journals - China Quarterly, China Journal and the Journal of Asian Studies - putting us in the same league as Stanford, Harvard and Berkeley.'

The school has established centres on China's transnational relations, Chinese linguistics and cultural studies as well as the South China Research Centre and the Survey Research Centre.

'The Centre for China's Transnational Studies has been very active,' Professor So said.

'Next year, the centre will host a conference organised by the University of California at Berkeley on Sino-American Relations. Scholars from Hong Kong, the mainland and the United States will take part.'

The centre will also play host to Fulbright Scholars stationed this academic year in the mainland and Taiwan.

They will spend a few days in Hong Kong next February, learning about the status of China studies in the city.

Looking to the future, the school is thinking about launching a Bachelor of Arts degree in China studies.

'We envisage a small, interdisciplinary programme that would fill a niche not currently offered by any of the local universities in Hong Kong,' Professor So said.



Horizons are broadened with the study of humanities and social science