"It is with great pleasure that I
am writing with regards to the
University of Hong Kong Summer Institute
2006. The University of Hong Kong, under
the auspices of the Center of Asian
Studies as well as Faculty of Social
Sciences, held a three week summer
institute for students within the
Universitas 21 network. As one of the 43
students from over 21 countries, I am
greatly heartened to express my greatest
satisfaction over the summer institute.
The summer programme which spanned over
three different regions within China,
covering over 10 site visits and
involving over 30 different academic and
guest lectures would have surely
entailed great logistical mastery which
was further burdened by the diverse
student backgrounds. This tough feat,
however, proved effortless under the
highly competent HKU staff. The result
of which was a smooth, well organized
and highly enjoyable summer institute."
Mohamad Rizuan Bin Pathie, National
University of Sinagapore
Participant in the 2006 Summer School
The
third U21 Summer School was held at The
University of Hong Kong from 3-23 July
2006. The theme of this summer school
was “Asia as the Global Future” and it
was jointly organized by the Center of
Asian Studies, the Faculty of Social
Sciences, and the Office of
International Student Exchange of the
University. The aim of the school was to
enhance an awareness of the importance
of Asia in world affairs. In so doing,
it sought to create an interactive
learning environment where international
students of high academic calibre
combined knowledge acquired from
lectures and seminars with an
understanding of real world problems
through fieldtrips in Hong Kong, Macau
and Beijing.
The three week Summer School included
lectures, seminars, field trips and
study tours. A typical day of the school
started with morning lectures and
discussion, in which students were
exposed to issues in different areas,
followed by excursions to special
sites/organizations/companies in the
city in the afternoon. Each of these
field trips contained an academic
component, with renowned scholars,
businessmen or community leaders invited
as guest speakers of the programme. From
these lectures and visits, students were
required to keep a journal detailing
their thoughts as well as considering
how the lectures and visits related to
the reading materials.
In order
to build a deeper understanding of local
culture and multicultural
interaction, five local postgraduate
students were invited to act as mentors
throughout the programme.
This Summer School featured field trips
and study tour to places outside Hong
Kong, namely, Macau (3 days) and Beijing
(one week). These visits enabled
participants to see, experience,
understand and compare the different
lifestyles and cultures in three unique
cities in the People’s Republic of
China.
Given
the wide array of academic backgrounds
the students brought to the course, the
lectures were designed to cover a
diverse set of topics. In terms of
structure the first week of the
programme was intended to expose the
students to some of the meta-issues
(regionalism, political-economies, the
impact of China and India’s rise, etc),
with the second week focusing on more
discreet topics (human rights and
corruption, public health, the role of
the media, the rule of law, etc). The
third week then drew on the two
preceding weeks, but with an explicit
concentration on China.
There were three areas of assessment: a
journal, an essay and class
participation and many students embraced
the journal in particular, submitting
excess of 100 pages complete with photos
and scanned images.
Summing up the experience, the
participants were asked to comment on
the highlights: “I enjoyed my trips
to Macau and Beijing because I got a
very different view of China than from
simply being in Hong Kong. I think that
was really important from what I am
taking away from this programme. This
was my first trip to Asia and I thought
it was wonderful.”
“The best part about the programme
was meeting all the different
nationalities and cultures represented.
More institutions should be encouraged
to participate to further enhance the
diversity of the group.”
Click
here
to see the photos from the Summer School
