Newsletter No. 58

CUHK NEWSLETTER Dr. Y. K. Shih, Philosophy 'Any system has its merits but at the same time cannot be entirely free from defects. There are only a limited number of academics in each department and election is probably not the best way to select a chairman,' said Dr. Y. K. Shih. To illustrate his point, Dr. Shih cites the example of academics who are ， interested only in teaching and research but not administrative work. Such teachers are apt to elect teachers who have joined recently, and the department will end up having someone who is insufficiently familiar with the University and the department as its chairman. Dr. Shih read philosophy at National Taiwan University and did postgraduate work in the United States and Canada. After receiving his doctorate from the University ofOttawa in 1980 he joined The Chinese University and has since been on the teaching staff of the Department of Philosophy. His research interests include social and political philosophy, ethics, philosophy of history, modernity and liberal theories. He anticipates a lot of work ahead as a department chairman, especially with the implementation ofthe one-line budget However, 'my predecessors Prof. Liu Shu Hsien and Dr. Chen Te didmarvellous work in streamlining administrative work in the department, and since academic and administrative responsibilities have traditionally been borne by the same person, the new mandate of the chairman is not overwhelmingly daunting to me,' Dr. Shih said. So what does he think of morale for research in the department? Dr. Shih admits that the humanities have never been the big winners when it comes to competing for research funds because the allocation or grants is invariably dictated by the practical value of research projects. In the humanities, such obvious practical value seems to be lacking, and a research project nowadays has to be comprehensive and long-term before it can be accepted as significant and valuable. Despite such odds, Dr. Shih believes that research has always been an important part of his colleagues' work. Dr. Shih is concerned that there should be more communication among academics in his department, and for that purpose he will organize faculty seminars once every three to four weeks. These semimars will be a forum for academics to report on recent research and to exchange opinions, thereby improving interflow and helping to raise research standard. ， Dr. John K. K. Tam, English Dr. John Kwok-kan Tam received his undergraduate education at The Chinese University of Hong Kong with a major in English and minor in Fine Arts. After taking his PhD degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1984, he went on a post-doctoral fellowship to the East-West Center, Honolulu to conduct research on modem Chinese-Western cultural and literary relations. The following year he returned to Hons Kong to take up the post of managing editor of Renditions in the Research Centre for Translation at The Chinese University. He later transferred to the Department of English and has taught English and comparative literature since. Dr. Tarn thinks that the qualifications of teachers in the Department of English have improved remarkably in the past 20 years. Besides being active in teaching and research, many of them are recognized experts in their own fields. The department's undergraduate curriculum is rather comprehensive and complete in its offerings and the next stage of development should be to strengthen and consolidate its graduate programme. Dr. Tam thus plans to devote more resources to the graduate curricula, especially theoretical offerings. A difficulty the Department of English faces after moving to the Fung King Hey Building is the lack of space for further development and for UPGC-funded research projects. Given the University emphasis on research, Dr. Tam also hopes that more computer facilities can be provided for the department so that every member of the teaching staff can have his or her own PC, something indispensable for good teaching and research. This year with the abolition of the board of studies, the department has become the basic academic unit, each headed by a department chairman. Dr. Tam thinks that this is a good move because the restructuring will not only reduce confusion in administrative responsibility, but also significantly improve management and lead to more effective communication among staff. He says, ‘I hope to further simplify administration so that everybody in the department can spend most of his or her time on teaching and research.' Once the University also implements the new funding methodology and the one-line budget, Dr. Tam believes it will be more appropriate for department chairmen to be elected rather than appointed, for this will encourage staff participation in department management. 9