Free Elective (FE) Courses offered by Arts Departments Course Code Course Title Quota Chinese CHI2105 Modern Chinese Literature 中國現代文學 35 CHI2107 Introduction to Literature 文學概論 35 CHI2111 Chinese Etymology 文字學 35 CHI2113 Classical Chinese Literary History 古典文學史 35 English ENG1373 English in Popular Song 25 Cultural Studies CUS2222 Kunqu Opera 崑曲與崑劇 10 CUS3309 Film and Cinema Studies 20 CUS3314 Hong Kong Popular Culture 30 CUS3317 Narrating Hong Kong 論述香港 30 History HST1115 Introduction to Chinese History 10 HST2261 World Environmental History 5 HST3256 History of the United States since 1865 5 HST3259 Introduction to Korean History 5 HST3268 Cities Across Civilisations 5 Philosophy PHI1001 Introduction to Chinese Thought 中國思想導論 30 PHI1118 Puzzles and Paradoxes 30 PHI2112 History of Chinese Philosophy: From Pre-Qin to Han 5 中國哲學史 : 先秦至漢 Translation TRA2102 Introduction to Interpreting (E-C) 26 TRA2104 Introduction to Translation (E-C) 52 TRA3107 Literature, Culture and Translation (I) 11 TRA3205 Literacy Translation A (C-E) 5 TRA3218 Translation in the Hong Kong Context 9 Visual Studies VIS2101 Introduction to Chinese Art 2 VIS2105 Introduction to Film Studies 2 VIS3214 Digital Imaging 4 VIS3399A Special Topic in Visual Studies: Art and Science from the 5 Early Modern to Modern VIS4311 Women, Art and Society in China 5 1
Course(s) offered by the Department of Chinese Instructor(s): Prof XU Zidong CHI2105 Modern Chinese Literature 中國現代文學 This course surveys modern Chinese literature from 1917 to 1940 s in terms of historical background, ideological content, classical links, artistic development and achievement, as well as foreign influences on it. This course covers topics such as early modern poetry and the poetry of the Crescent Society, modern Chinese prose, modern drama, modern novel, literary debates and literary trends in the 30 s and the 40 s, etc. 本科旨在引導學生研究 1917 至 1940 年間, 中國現代文學之歷史背景 文學革命 文學組織 文藝思潮等問題 教授內容包括 : 早期新詩與新月派 : 郭沫若 聞一多 徐志摩等 ; 中國現代散文 : 周作人 魯迅 朱自清 梁遇春等 ; 現代戲劇的萌芽與成長 : 歐陽予倩 丁西林 田漢等 ; 茅盾與現代長篇小說的發展 文學論爭與三 四十年代文藝思潮 古典文學傳統及西方文藝思潮對五四文學的影響等項 CHI2107 Introduction to Literature 文學概論 The main characteristic of this foundation course is its teamteaching mode. Offering an introduction to the basic concepts of literature, this course is designed to enhance students understanding of the characteristics and development of major literary genres, namely poetry, prose, fiction and drama. The course also addresses the interrelationships between literature and culture, art, history, religion, philosophy as well as aesthetics. 本科採取集體教學模式, 發揮不同老師的專長 課程內容包括 : 介紹文學之基本概念及理論 ; 探討詩歌 散文 小說及戲劇四大文類, 以及討論文學與文化等問題 本科授課與討論時, 同時採用中國及西方資料 Instructor(s): Prof WONG Shuk Han Mary Instructor(s): Prof LEE Hung Kai CHI2111 Chinese Etymology 文字學 This course aims at enhancing students understanding of Chinese characters in order to improve their ability to use the Chinese Language. Basic Concepts and important theories in Chinese characters will be introduced in lectures. This course covers topics such as the origins, characteristics and development of Chinese characters, the structure of Chinese characters and the liu shu theory, introduction to shuowen Jiezi, etc 本科旨在透過文字學知識的傳授, 提高學生的語文能力 課程內容涵蓋漢字的起源 漢字的特質 漢字的結構及六書理論 漢字的發展 說文解字 導讀等 2
CHI2113 Classical Chinese Literary History 古典文學史 This course introduces students to the development of classical Chinese literary history as well as important genres in classical Chinese literature such as shi, ci, qu, fiction and prose. Aspects of Chinese culture will be noted through reading representative works of different genres. This course uses a team-teaching mode to facilitate the learning process. 本科透過集體教學方式, 發揮不同老師的專長, 為學生介紹古典文學史, 以及啟發同學對古典文學的興趣 本科的教學內容, 涵蓋古典文學中詩 詞 曲 小說各體 透過選讀優秀而具代表性的作品, 如 詩經 宋詞 唐代傳奇 宋朝話本 明清小說 元散曲及雜劇篇章, 藉以讓學生明暸中國文學史的發展, 以及提高同學研習古典文學的興趣 Instructor(s): Prof SI TOU Sau Ieng/ Prof LAU Yin Ping, Grace 3
Course(s) offered by Department of English ENG1373 English in Popular Song This course is designed as an introduction to English language song across a range of periods, genres, styles and topics. From the 20th Century onwards English has become the major international language for song writing and listening. However, the close relationship between song and poetry in earlier centuries will provide a starting point and songs in Shakespeare plays will be heard and explored. Folk ballads and folk songs will also be read and listened to in order to arouse critical interest and discussion. Poetsongwriters such as Robert Burns will be introduced in order to encourage discussion on the correspondences between song and poem. Later song styles and forms will also be experienced and discussed in the course, with an emphasis on more recent and contemporary literary singersongwriters of the 20th and early 21st centuries from Cole Porter and Muddy Waters to significant artists of today such as Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, David Bowie, Alanis Morrisette, Jack Johnson, Alicia Keys, k.d.. Laing, Eminem and Lady Gaga. Popular song genres and styles from jazz to rock and to rap and familiar stage musical songs (e.g. Lloyd Webber s and Rice s Cats based on Eliot s poems) will be presented and discussed. The relationship between musical melody and song lyrics will be listened to and lyrical devices and sonic effects will also be studied. The influence of music video (MTV style) will be considered in relation to word-image juxtaposition. Students will have the opportunity to present favourite songwriters and songs in their presentation and sharing assignment. No musical experience or knowledge is required, only an open mind and a ready ear (or better still, two). Instructor(s): Prof INGHAM Michael Anthony 4
Course(s) offered by Department of Cultural Studies CUS2222 Kunqu Opera (Language of Instruction: Putonghua) Kunqu is a very distinctive and the oldest form of Chinese opera. This course will introduce students to the Kunqu Opera s essential elements, such as its music, performance text, its literary-historical-cultural context, and its relation to modern society. Selected scenes from Kunqu classics will be used to identify characteristics of Kunqu performance, followed by group discussion and theoretical analysis. Under the teachers guidance, students will also be able to experience the aesthetics of on-stage performance. Instructor(s): Prof EDINGER Hua Ling CUS3309 Film and Cinema Studies This course is an introductory study of film from the perspective of cultural studies. We shall interpret movies as cultural texts through which people imagine, mediate, and question their social reality. Students are provided with the basic concepts needed to appreciate and criticize films on substantial grounds. Concepts are explained with concrete examples from different cultures from Euro-American to Asian. To understand the pleasures and meanings of film, we shall analyse the aesthetics and politics of a variety of motion pictures selected from different genres, movements, and categories (e.g action, thriller, comedy, silent film, westerns, the French new wave [nouvelle vague], film noir [ dark film], sf/sci-fi [science fiction], women s film, lesbian/ gay movies, etc.). Specific topics to be discussed may include: style and meaning in the cinema; elements of film form and narrative; expressionism and realism; genre criticism and star studies; film criticism and interpretation; ideology and intertextuality; cultural imperialism and local cinema, etc. Instructor(s): Prof LI Siu Leung Instructor(s): Dr YAU Hoi Yan CUS3314 Hong Kong Popular Culture This course aims to provide students with a critical introduction to popular culture in Hong Kong. We shall study the scope, development and uses of contemporary popular culture. Students will learn to assess for themselves the form, meaning and significance of popular culture, to relate it to high culture, as well as to analyse the formation of cultural and social identity of Hong Kong people through concrete case studies. Topics will be selected from such areas as: the changing cultural status of Hong Kong through the post-war decades, Western influences and the transformation of indigenous culture, the consumption and politics of popular culture, cinema as mass entertainment, the development of radio culture, TV culture, popular music, and the printed media, etc. 5
CUS3317 Narrating Hong Kong 論述香港 (Language of Instruction: Cantonese) In this course we shall study Hong Kong as a represented community by focusing on a variety of stories that have been told about her. Here narratives are taken as those tales which treat what happen to Hong Kong as a place in relation to what its people want as a community. The question of desire will therefore be addressed, especially as it pertains to the culture and politics of representation. Focus will be on the traces in the narrative text of collective hope, fear, anxiety as well as desire. Specifically, students will learn to: (i) analyse the ways in which Hong Kong s cultural and historical forms have been shaped by different kinds of narratives at various stages of her development as a community; (ii) understand why and how people s imagination have been inscribed in texts ranging from the fictional, the historical, the biographical, the filmic, to other forms of public narrative; and (iii) address and evaluate identity as a process in the articulation of shared values and meanings in the context of post-war sociohistorical developments. 這個課程主要處理有關香港的不同論述 香港論述指的是不同人或機構就他 / 她們想象 理解或欲求的香港所作的呈現, 包括香港的歷史發展歷程 生活方式 政治生態 社區文化 人際關係 價值觀念等等, 而論述的形式可以是各類型的文字與書寫 影像 音樂 表演 多媒體藝術 新聞報導等等 文本及呈現的文化政治是課程討論的焦點, 帶出論述香港過程中所涉及的種種集體希望 恐懼 焦慮 慾望 權力關係和意識形態 具體來說,課程的目的是讓學生學習分析以下幾個方面的問題 : ( 一 ) 在不同的發展階段, 不同的論述如何建構香港社會的文化與歷史?( 二 ) 人們是如何將對香港的想象 理解或欲求投射在不同的文本中, 包括文學作品 歷史書寫 人物傳記 電影 新聞傳播等等? 為甚麼?( 三 ) 在戰後香港的社會及歷史發展的語境中, 香港人的身分是如何通過在公眾層面表達某些價值與闡釋某種意義而建構出來的? Instructor(s): Prof IP Iam Chong 6
Course(s) offered by Department of History HST1115 Introduction to Chinese History This course is an introduction to the history of China from the earliest time to the present, with emphasis on topics chosen from political, social, cultural, and intellectual aspects of China s historical development. Instructor(s): Prof DAVIS Richard Lee Restriction(s): This course is available to non-history Major students only. HST2261 World Environmental History This course addresses the fundamental issues in world environmental history. Students will consider three areas: human interaction with the natural world, the shifting attitudes toward nature, and the impact of human perceptions and actions on the world landscape. Instructor(s): Prof PIANCIOLA Niccolo HST3256 History of the United States to 1865 This subject is a survey of the American people and their political and social institutions prior to 1865. The subject begins with the arrival of the Native Americans and concludes with the Civil War, providing students with an opportunity for more-in-depth analysis of the United States than HST3133. Instructor(s): Ms LEMBERG Diana Lucy HST3259 Introduction to Korean History This course will survey the history of Korea from pre-history to the modern time. Apart from political history, developments in social, economic, intellectual, cultural, and diplomatic affairs will also be discussed. The primary emphasis of the course will be put on the last two centuries from the breakdown of the traditional order to Japanese colonial rule, and from the Korean War to the rise of Communism in North Korea and bureaucratic capitalism in South Korea. Instructor(s): Prof CHOU Grace Ai-ling HST3268 Cities Across Civilisations Comparative in thrust, the course explores the economic, social, and cultural life of several cities with special attention to the 19th and 20th centuries. A selection of historic cities representing East and West are included with the intent of exploring commonalities across civilisations as well as the traits that make for uniqueness. Instructor(s): Prof DAVIS Richard Lee 7
Course(s) offered by Department of Philosophy Instructor(s): Prof CHIU Wai Wai PHI1001 Introduction to Chinese Thought 中國思想導論 (Language of Instruction: Cantonese) This course introduces the major intellectual schools in traditional Chinese culture, including Confucianism, Daoism, Mohism and Legalism in the foundational era as well as Chinese Buddhism in a later era. The focus will be on the discourses about morality, life and society, and how these schools shape and were shaped by Chinese culture in general. Topics include the nature of dao and de and how to put them into practice, the development of the ideal personality, the vision of ideal society and the interdependence between individual and society. Classics discussed in this course include the Analects, the Daodejing, the Mozi, the Mencius, the Zhuangzi, the Xunzi, the Hanfeizi, Buddhist scriptures and others. Different approaches to thinking will be compared in order to show the complexity of Chinese thought and the plurality of Chinese culture. PHI1118 Puzzles and Paradoxes This course aims to provide an introduction to some major themes in philosophy through the examination of paradoxes and puzzling thought experiments. By thinking about these puzzling cases, students will get a sense of what philosophy is and what sorts of problems it aims to solve. We will discuss the nature of time and space, and we will discuss the nature of ourselves and our minds. We will discuss how to think rationally, and how to act rationally. We will discuss what it means to be ethical. We will discuss God, death, language, and logic. By the end if things go well students will have more questions than answers, and have found mysteries to ponder for years to come. Instructor(s): Prof NADO Jennifer Ellen 8
Instructor(s): Prof CHIU Wai Wai PHI2112 History of Chinese Philosophy: From Pre-Qin to Han 中國哲學史 : 先秦至漢 (Language of Instruction: Cantonese) This course covers the period in Chinese philosophy from Pre- Qin to Han Dynasty. It concentrates on the distinctive features of Chinese philosophy, including the main concerns, themes and approaches of different schools of though. Equal weight will be given to the philosophy and the history component: the meaning, implications, significance of philosophical of these problems and their solutions as well as the development of these problems and conceptions will be under scrutiny. The interaction between schools of thought will also be examined. Students will be supervised in their study of texts so as to understand the original context from which the problems and concepts spring. 哲學是人自覺地以理性對宇宙人生問題的反省 中國哲學的起源除了對上述問題進行思辨的探究外, 還從實踐中發現人的自覺性如何可以改造自己的命運 先秦時期這偉大的發現, 奠定了中國哲學主流的方向 在本課程中, 會集中展示中國哲學是人自覺地以理性對宇宙人生問題的反省 中國哲學的起源除了對上述問題進行思辨的探究外, 還從實踐中發現人的自覺性如何可以改造自己的命運 先秦時期這偉大的發現, 奠定了中國哲學主流的方向 在本課程中, 會集中展示中國哲學的起源與特質, 以及先秦諸子各學派的理念, 以至漢代思想的承傳與變異 9
Course(s) offered by the Department of Translation Instructor(s): Dr CHAN Wing Man Instructor(s): Dr CHAN Wing Man TRA2102 Introduction to Interpreting (E-C) This is a foundation course that introduces students to the basic concepts of interpreting as well as to the fundamental skills of sight and consecutive interpreting from English to Cantonese. TRA2104 Introduction to Translation (E-C) This course introduces students to the basic skills and techniques for translating from English into Chinese. Extensive practice and in-class discussions will be conducted to enhance the quality of students Chinese writings. Texts of various genres will be introduced, including literary works, business correspondence, journalistic writings, and government documents. Through critical textual analysis, students will learn how to identify the main features of Chinese and English writings, and thus formulate effective strategies in coping with translation problems. This course prepares students for more specialized translation courses. TRA3107 Literature, Culture and Translation (I) This introductory course provides students with a basic understanding of literature in relation to culture and translation. Classical, modern and/or contemporary literary works from various cultural traditions will be selected. Original and translated texts in both English and Chinese, dealing with a set of themes selected from genres like fiction, poetry, drama and prose, will be examined. Different writers approaches to these themes and writing techniques will be compared. Instructor(s): Prof KWONG Yim Tze Charles Instructor(s): Prof SUN Yifeng TRA3205 Literacy Translation A (C-E) This course will introduce students to approaches to translating what is broadly defined as Chinese literature into English. Students will learn to identify the linguistic, stylistic and cultural features of literary texts in Chinese, and to formulate strategies for translating such texts into English. This will be done by studying and comparing existing translations, and translating previously untranslated texts. The course will concentrate on prose and fiction in modern Chinese, though translation of poetry and drama may also be introduced. 10
TRA3218 Translation in the Hong Kong Context This course deals with the context of understanding and practicing translation related to the social, cultural, historical and political development and issues in Hong Kong. A macroscopic perspective is adopted so as to examine the Hong Kong context in which translation takes place. Issues such as economic growth, the Hong Kong-China relationship, Hong Kong s tri-lingual cultural environment, media operations, and social movements will be discussed. Different texts (in Chinese or English) will be selected from these areas for close study and comparison to sensitise students to the translation strategies employed by the translators. Instructor(s): Prof WONG Wai Yi Dorothy 11
Course(s) offered by the Department of Visual Studies Course Description: VIS2101 Introduction to Chinese Art 中國藝術導論 The course is an introduction to Chinese art in its aesthetic and cultural contexts. The history of Chinese art embraces a huge diversity of forms jade, bronze, ceramics, murals, calligraphy, and seal carving. The course examines the full spectrum of the visual arts in China, ranging from those of the pre-dynastic periods to the twentieth century. The varied forms of artistic expression of different periods illustrate not only the aesthetic, but also the social and cultural perspectives of the time. The structure of the course is basically thematic and chronological, giving equal attention to technique, stylistic analysis, and interpretation in historical and cultural contexts. The course examines ancient Chinese cosmology through studies of ancient bronzes and tombs. It examines the implications of Buddhist Art in China. The aesthetic elements of the monumental landscape tradition of the Five-dynasties and Northern Song show how ancient Chinese painters saw the relationship between man and nature. The figure and the flower-and-bird paintings of Tang-Song academic traditions reveal ancient court tastes on the one hand, and the moral and functional values of Chinese painting on the other. The shared origin between calligraphy and painting in Chinese traditions gives rise to specific aesthetic pursuits for painters in the Yuan Dynasty. The monochrome ink painting tradition of the ancient literati induces a unique visual language the uses of brush and ink. In later Ming-Qing literati painting, brushwork (or the uses of brush and ink) has its own context and can be taken as a subject in its own right. New painting traditions found in the Qing dynasty reflect the influences of urban culture and the commercial values of then large cities such as Yangzhou. The greatly diversified art forms and styles in twentieth-century China manifest the tremendous impacts of the West and the modernization of China. Instructor(s): Prof LAW Suk Mun, Sophia Course Description: VIS2105 Introduction to Film Studies 電影研究導論 This course provides an introduction to the art of film and its social, psychological, cognitive, and institutional implications. Students are introduced to the basic concepts and terms needed to appreciate films. Reference is made to concrete examples from different countries and styles in order to cover important developments in world film history and to expose students to a diversity of films, ranging from mainstream Hollywood to Africa and Asia. Specific topics to be discussed include: elements of film production; elements of film appreciation and film aesthetics; the psychology of film spectatorship; film movements; Hollywood, globalization, and film distribution; concepts of world cinema; and film and transnationalism. Instructor(s): Prof HJORT Mette 12
Course Description: Instructor(s): Ms SO Wai Yi VIS3214 Digital Imaging Digital images are usually associated with intangibility, as they are non-material and duplicable, which can be encoded into a series of number and formulas. However, in our everyday practices, the manipulated digital images are seldom perceived by us in their pure non-material forms. There is usually a medium which carries them to us, sometimes through displaying on a LCD monitor, projecting on a screen or printing on specific materials. In this notion, most of the digital images have a tangible form in their presentations. This course will focus on exploring the physicality of these digital prints on different surfaces: garment, ceramics, wood, plastic and metal, in order to redefine the prescribed role of commercial digital printing. There will be several in-class exercises of Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator which will lead into individual creative project. An exhibition will be organized by the class at the end of the term in the School Art Gallery. Course Description: VIS3399A Special Topics in Visual Studies: Art and Science from the Early Modern to Modern The subject matter of this course varies from term to term, most often in response to student demand. Special topics courses count as programme electives and give students and teachers an opportunity to work on areas in Visual Studies not regularly covered in the Lingnan curriculum. Examples include a course on a major filmmaker or artist, and a course on an issue such as creativity. Instructor(s): Prof BAARK Josefine Course Description: VIS4311 Women, Art & Society in China 中國女性 藝術與社會 Compared to European and American art history, the study of women in relation to the visual arts in China is a relatively new and developing area of enquiry. Drawing upon recent research, this course will investigate the roles that women play in the visual arts within specific socio-historical contexts in China. In particular, this course will emphasise how gendered identities are constructed through the visual arts. We will examine different categories of women painters, artisans and patrons in imperial China. We will also explore ways that women have been visually represented such as in religious images, vernacular paintings, portraiture and popular prints. Moreover, the course will discuss examples of Chinese women artists and their works during the modern and contemporary periods. Instructor(s): Dr CHEN Fong Fong 13