Newsletter No. 127

CUHK Newsletter No. 127 19th May1998 3 URBAN GIS FORUM E xperts f r om Be i j i ng, Shanghai, Taipei, Hong Kong, Tianjin, Kaohsiung, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen gathered at Shanghai for the first meeting of the Urban Geographic I n f o rma t i on Systems Forum (UGISF) held from 22nd to 24th April. UG I SF was recently established with the assistance of the Joint Laboratory for Geoinformation Science, a collaborative venture between The Chinese Academy of Sciences and The Chinese University of Hong Kong. The f o r um w i l l be the meeting ground for large cities on both sides of the Taiwan Straits to discuss common issues related to urban planning and management, and the development of urban GIS. At the Shanghai meeting, Prof. Yeung Yue-man, director of the CUHK Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, gave a keynote speech on 'The Opportunities and Challenges Faced by Mega Coastal Cities of the Asia-Pacific Region', and Prof. Chen Shupeng, director of the academic committee of the Joint Laboratory for Geoinformation Science and an academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, talked about urbanization and the development of urban GIS. An agreement was made at the meeting for long-term academic exchange among large cities on mainland China and in Taiwan, and for setting up the secretariat and publication unit of UG I SF at The Chinese University. The next UGISF meeting will be held in Taipei next year. TDU Seminars on Teaching Excellence O ver 40 teaching staff of the University attended a series of seminars, workshops, and consultation sessions on the theme of 'Searching for Excellence' from 20th to 24th April. The events were run by Prof. John A. Bowden, director of the Educational Program Improvement Group and professor of educational development at RMIT University, at the invitation of the Teaching Development Unit. Topics covered including learning- improvement-focused approach to educational quality assurance and outcome-focused improvements to teaching and learning. Participants were encouraged to consider the relevance of Prof. Bowden's ideas in the Hong Kong context. Prof. Bowden taught chemistry and education at the University of Melbourne and RM I T University. A specialist in educational development, he has over a hundred publications to his name. In 1992, he was elected a life member of the Australian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education, which he founded. He was also president of the Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia. Prof. Bowden's recent research includes topics such as the development of professional competence, educational quality assurance systems, and the learning of science concepts. T h i r d Conference on Social Ind i cators Studies i n Chinese Societies O ver 30 overseas and local academics delivered papers at the conference co- organized by the Hong Kong Institute of Asia- Pacific Studies and the Department of Sociology from 30th April to 2nd May. CUHK Graduates Top Joint HKSA/ ACCA Exams T wo graduates of the University came out tops in the December 1997 HKSA / ACCA joint examinations administered by the Hong Kong Society of Accountants. Accountancy graduate Wong Kin-lap (1996) was the top scorer in paper 14 'Financial Strategy' and BBA graduate Hui Lee- chi (1997), in paper 11(H) 'Tax Planning (HK)'. as their research is theory-based, students can use linguistics to wo rk on any language, be it German, Japanese, Chinese, English, sign language... or any combination of those. Academic Space Enlarged For linguistics teachers, the new programme creates a large academic space. Research in linguistics no longer has to be affiliated with any language department. The Linguistics Subcommittee of the English Division in the Graduate School has recently changed the title of its postgraduate programme to Applied English Linguistics from English Linguistics, making the distinction between the two programmes even clearer. Students wishing to do research in applied linguistics in English can now apply to the Programme of App l i ed English Linguistics, while students wishing to do theory-based research in linguistics involving data in any language including English can apply to the new programme. As for students wishing to pursue cultural and literary studies, no language requirement is now imposed on texts used in their research. From its former status as a British colony to now, a special adminstrative region of China, Hong Kong's own culture has always been in danger of being swallowed up by the larger discourses of dominant cultural and political powers. Prof. Wong believes that in this post-1997 era, especially, students should take into consideration their identity as a Hong Kong or even a Chinese person when determining the direction of their research. ' A t the postgraduate level, it is important that students of cultural studies have their academic roots in Hong Kong identity/culture. I believe it the mission of teachers and students of cultural studies to create a Hong Kong cultural language and literary identity,' he explained. Prof. Tang also pointed out that research in language attitude has shown that a better appreciation of one's own cultural identity indirectly helps improve one's language abilities. Quality Control and Publicity No doubt cultural studies is a very fascinating field of study and one that students in Hong Kong can easily relate to. But is there also a danger that cultural studies is chosen as a cop-out from more intellectually challenging and academically demanding studies like, say, traditional literature? Can it be a fad? After all, everything, even a bowl of wonton noodles, is culture. 'Cultural studies can be a fad but it can also be serious academic study. My argument is: what does classical English literature or high culture have to do with a 20- year-old from Hong Kong? I don't think learning should be completely divorced from the daily life of the learner. Besides, we've always kept an eye on the quality of research and will be very strict with the standard of research carried out by the students,' said Prof. Wong. There is not yet a final decision on the choice of teachers for the programmes, but it should include six or seven basic teaching staff from different faculties. And what has been done along the line of promotion? 'Not much, apart from putting in advertisements in the newspapers and Varsity, the campus magazine, and sending out pamphlets and leaflets to other tertiary institutions,' said Prof. Tang. 'We have to work to the utmost within our constraints, the first of which is insufficient time. Manpower and money are also inadequate.' Despite the constraints, however, the number of applicants for the coming semester, who are currently being interviewed, is 'very encouraging', a sign perhaps that the programmes are forward- looking. Piera Chen Prof. Wong Kin-yuen Prof. Gladys Tang