Bulletin Number Five 1985

Departmen t o f Governmen t & Publi c Administration The Department of Government and Public Administration since its inception in 1971 has been solely under the United College. The Department's programme has two primary objectives: (a) the introduction and advancement o f knowledge about governing human societies; (b) the training and honing of skills for identifying, analysing, and solving problems in government and administration. The Department currently offers a BSSc Programme and an MPhil Programme. The undergraduate curriculum is composed of (1) several core courses offered for first and second year majors (Fundamentals of Government, Fundamentals of Public Administration, Political Analysis, Government o f Hong Kong, Government and Politics of China); (2) four categories of upper level courses dealing respectively with government and politics, public administration and law, regional studies i n Hong Kong, China and Asian areas, and research methodology; and (3 ) STOT (Student-orientated Teaching) courses. Both English and Chinese are used extensively by the teaching staff of this Department. The MPhil Programme, introduced i n 1982, is a seminar-oriented programme which emphasizes development studies and requires students to write and defend a thesis. The staff, diverse i n origin and educational backgrounds, represent many and varied scholarly interests. They are a small but unusually active group of devoted teachers, productive scholars and service- minded individuals. They take pride in providing a setting which encourages students to develop independent thinking as well as acquire useful, up-to-date knowledge and skills. They treat tutorials with care and understanding, and pay special attention t o STOT courses. Significant academic works have been published by members o f the Department on such topics as Chinese constitutional law, China's anti-foreignism, Hong Kong's future, China's UN policy, German policy in regard to non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, act of state doctrine i n international law, religion and politics, organization theory, and so on. A number of them are sought after as contributors or featured speakers in international and local conferences and seminars. They are also frequent contributors to TV, radio and/or magazines concerned with public affairs. Of the on-going research activities undertaken by members of the Department, perhaps the Chinese Law Programme, the Overseas Chinese Archives, industrial management in China, and studies on Hong Kong's changing political system are worthy of special mention. That the staff of the GPA Department engage in more than their share of service activities is well demonstrated. As of October 1985, out of ten regular teaching staff, six hold extra-departmental administrative positions within the University. Beyond the University, their service to the larger community i s equally impressive. One has just been elected to the Legislative Council. One is an appointed member of the Hong Kong Law Reform Commission. Two are Lay Assessors i n Hong Kong's Magistrates' Courts and licensing Court. One is the elected President of the American Studies Association o f Hong Kong. Others serve on the Operations Committee o f the Housing Authority and on various committees of the Education Department. In 1985-86 ， there are 155 majors and 177 minors in the Department's BSSc Programme. With the exception of the first year, which has twenty-nine female and twelve male, the student population is predominantly male. There are a couple of mature students who have worked for a number of years as government officer or police inspector before entering the University. The MPhil Programme has admitted three students each year so far. Students o f the GPA Department are also a busy and vigorous lot. Through the GPA Society, they carry on an active debate programme, among themselves, with other CUHK students and with the corresponding student society a t the University o f Hong Kong. They undertake exchange visits with other student societies a t institutions i n th e People's Republic o f China, Taiwan and Southeast Asia. Nearly every year, they hold an academic fortnight, which is a series of lectures, panel discussions, poster RECENT DEVELOPMENTS 2 9