De s i g n e D b y Ti n a y i K
Newsletter
FALL 2018
BSc in Global China Studies:
Humanities and Social Science BSc in Quantitative Social Analysis
2 /
S H S S
m
eSSage
from
the
a
SSociate
d
ean
and
P
rogram
d
irectorS
On behalf of SHSS and Global China Studies, I want to give a big welcome to all our new and returning students. I wish you a successful and exciting year, here on campus or wherever else in the world your studies and internships take you! GCS is a unique elite program that trains students to understand China’s past, present, and future in a global context, using intellectual tools from across the humanities and social sciences. As you will see in this newsletter, our students have many accomplishments to celebrate: awards from scholarship committees and government commissions; academic exchanges at prestigious universities around the globe; and rewarding work experiences at innovative businesses in Hong Kong and abroad. As the new associate dean and GCS program director, I’m very ho-nored to join the leadership of a program whose talented students I’ve taught and advised for many years. We’re proud of their achievements and looking forward to see what new ideas and adventures the eighth year of GCS will bring.
Quantitative Social Analysis, offered by the Division of Social Science, had its first intake of undergraduate students in fall 2017, and is now preparing to welcome its second intake. The program combines a broad training in social science theory and evidence with rigorous and structured education in quantitative methods for analyzing social science data. The la-tter emphasizes hands-on experience with social data. The students who entered last fall spent their first year taking foundational courses in social science and quantitative methods, and will be moving on to more advanced courses in the coming year. Some students have already participated in internships or research projects where they applied what they lear-ned to real-world challenges. In the coming year, more students will take advantage of the opportunities for outbound exchange and internship afforded by HKUST and the School of Humanities and Social Science.
Prof. Joshua DERMAN
Prof. Cameron CAMPBELL
UG Associate Dean, SHSSGCS Program Director
QSA Program Director
h
onourS
and
a
wardS
Alex Cheng Hong-wun was one of the three members selected from 503 applicants who recommended themselves under a pilot scheme to involve the city’s youth in policy-making in 2017. Alex will represent the youn-ger demographic among the 34 non-official members of the Youth Development Com-mission chaired by Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung Kin-chung.
Congratulations to Yan Jiayi on being awar-ded the HKSAR Government Scholarship Fund - Reaching Out Award. The Award will support her to participate in learning, inter-nship or service programmes, as well as na-tional, regional and international events and competitions that are conducted outside Hong Kong.
Siu Tsz Chun was a finalist receiving the UROP Research Award. His project is “Chinese and English Media Representation of Migrant Do-mestic Workers in Hong Kong”. Tsz Chun was under the supervision of Prof. Julian Groves. They had spent two years examining the me-dia coverage of domestic workers in Hong Kong.
Also, Tsz Chun (together with Prof. Julian Gro-ves and Siu Tsz Yan) made a presentation, “Whose Side are We on? A Comparison of Chinese and English Language Media Repor-tage of Migrant Domestic Workers in the wake of the Erwiana Abuse Case” at the 19th Hong Kong Sociological Association (HKSA) Annual Conference.
Cheng Hong Wun, Alex
Yan Jiayi
Siu Tsz Chun
1st Year GCS Student
4th Year GCS Student
3rd Year GCS Student
Congratulations to Yiu Ching Kay on being awarded as the first runner-up of the 28th Chi-nese Poetry Writing Competition, an annual writing competition organized by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department.
Yiu Ching Kay
/ 3
S H S S
Mu Yutong, Hepburn (GCS)
I’m Hepburn, a fourth-year GCS student. I joined UST in 2014
and went on to study economics at Waseda University in
September 2017. Schedule in Waseda is busy: normally I have
to take twelve courses per semester (A LOT), each bearing
two credits. Don’t think two credits imply an easier job: I have
presentations, midterms, finals, essays… sometimes all of
them. The system is quite different from Hong Kong’s. Each
semester has four months and classes only meet once per
week. Moreover, professors put main weight on final exams,
so you have to be prepared for a tough week or two at the
end of each semester, and manage your time wisely since
there is no ‘study break’. The burden is heavy, but you make
progress.
Living in Japan is quite fun: eat sushi, drink miso soup, come
home and say ‘ただいま’ (‘I’m back’). It’s a good opportunity
to learn about Japanese culture and society since you have
one year and a half to sharpen your lens. Apart from food
and sightseeing, you can further explore Japanese business
culture.
S
haring
from
w
aSeda
d
ual
d
egree
P
rogram
S
tudentS
Lin Yinghui, Lily (GCS)
The experience of studying in Japan opens my
mind to another country that was once
myste-rious to me. Before I went to Japan, all the
im-pressions on this country and the people there
are based on secondary sources. Once I really
experience it myself, I realize that everything is
far more varied than a simple description could
encompass. For example, the old impression
that “all Japanese are obedient to the authority
and dare not to express objection even if the
authority is clearly wrong” was falsified by my
interaction with some Japanese students and
professors. Some Japanese students are indeed
adept at critical thinking and have no fear in
expressing their true feelings.
Besides that, it is also remarkable that joining this program has brought me the opportunity to meet a bunch of friends coming
from different Asian universities. We discuss important political and economic issues in East Asia in class, and go to several
inte-resting study trips together.
4 /
S H S S
Inspired me to do
further research
To analyze data by using software like R Studio and
Python
Good opportunity to apply skills and knowledge obtained from
study
Cheung Ka Ki Kelly (GCS)
District Office of New York State Senator Toby Ann Stavisky
The most impressive part of my internship experience was assisting in the operation of a free informational works-hop that offered confidential legal advice for immigrants. This hands-on experience gave me a great exposure to the deep-rooted governmental problems and conflicts related to migration and refugees in the United States. It also inspired me to do further research in political science and seek dee-per understanding about international human rights law.
Kim Da Hye (QSA)
Notiplus
I worked as an intern at a startup company in South Korea, which manages a B2B distribution platform that provides tai-lored news contents based on AI recommendation. My job is to analyze data and statistics by using software like R Studio and Python, and visualize data through generating graphs in order to estimate the trend for news users and find out the most popular keyword in each month.
Shin Eunji (GCS)
Agorize
Agorize is a French-based company that has been expanding its business in APAC, I was able to gain first-hand insights into the ways European companies approach the Chinese market, and understand the kind of challenges they face. I believe it was a good opportunity for me to apply the skills and knowledge that I obtained through the major study (Global China Studies) to the real world.
i
nternShiP
Work on issues I had never dealt with before
Wong Conway (GCS)
Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, Singapore
It was a pleasure for me to work in the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Singapore. This internship enabled me to work on issues which I had never dealt with before, such as human resources affairs. I was responsible for writing evaluation reports for the interviewees during job interviews and arranging written tests for them.
Working in the Government is like writing a speech
Ng Ting Yin (GCS)
AO Summer Internship Program, HKSAR
I joined the Administrative Service Internship Programme 2018 (AO summer internship) of the HKSAR Government and was assigned to the Communication and Creative Industry Branch (CCIB) of the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau (CEDB). Working in the Government is like writing a speech. A just-right speech is neither overloaded with infor-mation nor stuffed only with unsubstantiated statements. A proper balance and even compromises are often needed, and I think this is a fine line that a responsible government must strive to walk.
/ 5
S H S S
Utmost beneficial to SHSS
schoolmates
Chan Ho Ting (QSA)
SEE Network Ltd.
My first internship at SEE Network Ltd. is surely an un-forgettable experience. I have cooperated with another talented intern and tackled many challenging tasks assigned to us. It is definitely a fruitful month and has great influence on my future plans. I am grateful to the SHSS and SEE Network Ltd. for this opportunity to work as an intern and learn from real-life working environment. I sincerely wish that more internships related to research and society, such as those to work at mass media firms, could be made available, which I believe will be of utmost benefit to my schoolmates.
Definitely an invaluable
experience
Lai Kai Fai (GCS)
Legislative Council
During the internship programme, I was assigned to two offices, Research office and News office. The most important tasks that I performed respectively in the two offices include drafting a supplementary paper for mee-tings called Statistic Highlight and drafting Press releases for LegCo or its member’s upcoming activities. This has broadened my horizons and enlightened me about my future career planning. I enjoyed every single part of it.
Education is no longer about
classroom teaching
Gao Xiaohan (QSA)
2018 HeadStart @ HKUST Program
As a QSA major, I am very pleased and proud that I was involved in a great program – the HeadStart Program du-ring my first year at HKUST. Education in the 21st-century is no longer about imparting knowledge through class-room teaching only. Equipping students with an unders-tanding of the real world and developing their capacity to maneuver through the various challenges in life is equally vital. That is why the HeartStart Program is here.
Of great value to me and GCS
students to understand China
and the world
Lam Cheuk Yuet, Leonard (GCS)
Wuhan Economic and Trade Office (WHETO)
Working as a Liaison Coordination and Commercial Relations Division Intern in the WHETO was certainly a challenging yet greatly meaningful experience. I assisted in event preparation for the Opening Ceremony of the Immigration Office of the WHETO and participated in producing post-meeting reports for official firm visits and high-level meetings of WHETO with business organiza-tions in Wuhan. These experiences are all of great value to me as a university student, and a GCS student trying to understand China and the world.
The firm is extremely open to
all disciplines
Li Zonghao (GCS)
Deloitte
I sailed through the four months of the internship in Deloitte and made a bunch of great friends there. Many would say that the “Big Four” is reserved for business school students, especially accounting majors. However, the firm is extremely open to all disciplines, part of the reason I guess is when the skill sets in these companies are quite broad and diverse.
6 /
S H S S
e
xchange
Kwok Tsz Ting (GCS)
York University, Canada
During the first week of exchange, I was not brave enough to chat with my roommate. I wasn’t even sure how to pronounce my room-mate’s name. One day, I gathered sufficient courage and talked to a floormate. Beyond my expectation, he introduced his roommate to me, and then the circle went on and on. We often sat on the ground and had all kinds of conversations. The corridor became our com-mon room. This has taught me that sometimes if you take one step forward, the outcome may be surprising.
Mak Tin Yiu (GCS)
Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands
During my exchange study at Erasmus, what impressed me the most is the attitude of teachers and students towards presenta-tions. Like many HKUST students, I pay extra attention to the design of PowerPoint slides and the smoothness of the message delivery process. I always rehearsed many times with my group mates be-fore presentations. In contrast, it’s rare to see students here doing rehearsals beforehand. However, it does not mean that Erasmus students are not hard-working. They seem more concerned about how to engage with the audience.
Ng Yui Tung (GCS)
Seoul National University, South Korea
If you study in Korea in the Fall semester, you cannot avoid the challenging winter. It may be really difficult for ordinary Hong Kong people to adapt to the cold and dry climate. I still remember the day when the temperature dipped to -20 degree Celsius but I needed to go to school for an exam at 0900. It was an extraordinary experience... If you don’t think you can withstand such cold wea-ther maybe you should consider going on exchange in the Spring Semester!
Chan Hiu Wing (GCS)
University of Warwick, UK
The learning style in Britain is quite different from that in Hong Kong. There is great emphasis on seminar sessions, in which stu-dents would do the required readings beforehand and then discuss the questions set by the lecturer. That gave me a great chance to speak up and express my opinions. Without doubt, such experien-ce enriched my knowledge through the exchanges with students from different cultures.
/ 7
S H S S
Ng Chun Yin, Tony (GCS)
Jagiellonian University, Poland
Krakow is an old city but full of energy. Even though you can see many historical buildings around the city, most people there are stu-dents and young. Exchanging in Krakow was an unforgettable expe-rience for me and I really learned a lot from the host university in the past five months.
Yeung Chi Huen, Shirley (GCS)
Utrecht University, The Netherlands
I am very impressed by the city planning of Utrecht. There are more green areas in the city than in HK. The Netherlands is renowned for its huge number of bicycles. Almost every Netherlander has three bikes!
Lam Ho Fung (GCS)
University of Copenhagen, Denmark
All in all, Copenhagen is a nice city to stay. The exchange experien-ce is very unique and special, which brings me a new perspective on things in life. I would certainly recommend the University of Copenha-gen and this exchange program to other students.
Ng Ting Yin (GCS)
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
I would share an important tip with all prospective exchange students because studying in Israel is very different from studying in Hong Kong. Hong Kong lectures are more instructor-led but the Israeli one is more interactive. Make yourself part of the process and do not be shy to ask for help.
De s i g n e D b y Ti n a y i K
w w w . s h s s . u s t. h k
@HKUST.SHSS @SHSSHKUST @香港科技大學人文社會科學學院
