Communication & Technology in the Past, Present and Future of Europe

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Message from Law & Technology Centre

Dr Žiga Turk
Professor in Construction Informatics, University of Ljubljana

Date: April 30, 2014 (Wednesday)
Time: 12:30pm-1:30pm
Venue: A8.25, Cheng Yu Tung Tower, Centennial Campus, HKU

Abstract
Elements of society, individuals, families, businesses, states and other organizations are held together by communication. Throughout history, communication technology was a factor in the rise and fall of the empires. The success of the European civilization in the previous centuries can be attributed, in part, to the continent’s openness to innovation in communication technology. Currently the whole world is witnessing a revolution in this technology. Lessons can be learned from the past and from analyzing the present. This is being done on one hand in policy strategy projects that put the ICT developments into a broader context of global trends. On the other, a scientific base is being created by a new interdisciplinary science called Internet Science. Some results of both kinds of projects taking place in Europe will be discussed.

About the Speaker
Žiga Turk is a Professor in Construction Informatics at the University of Ljubljana. Born in 1962, he holds a B.Sc. in Civil Engineering, M.Sc. in Computer Science and Ph.D. in technical sciences. He wrote over 100 scientific papers in this field and has been editor or editorial board member of several international journals. In addition to his academic career, he was twice a minister in the Government of Slovenia and Secretary General of the Felipe Gonzalez’s Reflection Group on the Future of Europe.

Besides technology, his recent research activities include the trends and scenarios of future global developments, particularly the role of information technology and innovation in those trends. He also studies the broader societal impacts of information technology and is active in the topic of “internet science”. He took part or was coordinating several European framework projects. He is also an internationally recognized public speaker, columnist and visiting professor on these subjects.

In 2007 and 2008 dr. Turk was a Minister for growth in the government of Slovenia, national coordinator for the Lisbon Strategy and chief negotiator for the Slovenia’s accession to the OECD. From 2008-2010 he served as Secretary General of the Reflection Group on the Future of Europe. In 2009 and 2010 he chaired a High Level Group to recommend the future evolution of European academic networking (GEANT). From February 2012 until March 2013 he was Minister for Education, Science, Culture and Sports in the Government of Slovenia.

ALL ARE WELCOME
For registration: www.law.hku.hk (Seminars & Conferences)
For Inquiries: Miss Zita Kwok (email: zitakwok@hku.hk)

Lost in Translation: Cross-Cultural Narratives in Mental Health by Dr Harry Wu

Message from Medical Ethics and Humanities Unit

Lost in Translation:
Cross-Cultural Narratives in Mental Health

speaker
Seminar given by

Dr. Harry Wu

Assistant Professor of Medical Humanities,
Nanyang Technological University

Abstract:

For the past two decades, ‘illness narratives’ has become a fashionable field of enquiry in medical education. While it is widely recognised that subjective illness narratives of health, illness and disability, begin to centre the source of knowledge useful for diagnosis, treatment and care in Anglo-American contexts, they encounter various challenges elsewhere. In this talk, I am going to discuss some possible technical and ethical predicaments of illness narratives by looking at mental health in Chinese contexts. In doing so, I hope to broaden the horizon concerning students’ cross-cultural learning and practice, which has been proved inevitable in today’s globalised medical cosmology.

About the speaker:

Harry Yi-Jui Wu received his DPhil in History from the University of Oxford in 2012. He is assistant professor in medical humanities at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences and Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Prior to his career as a historian, he studied medicine in Taiwan with further training experiences in psychiatry and psychoanalytic studies. Before coming to Singapore, he was Clifford Norton Student in the history of science at The Queen’s College, Oxford, doctoral fellow at the Academia Sinica in Taiwan, and postdoctoral fellow in humanitarian studies at the Centre for the Humanities and Medicine, The University of Hong Kong.

Seminar Details:

Date:
April 16, 2014 (Wednesday)
Time:
4:00PM – 5:00PM
Venue:
Telemedicine Centre (MTC), 2/F William MW Mong Block, 21 Sassoon Road, Pokfulam

Light refreshment will be provided.
No registration is required.

For any enquiry, please contact Mr Abel Lau at medhum@hku.hk

Seminar: Cultural Content Knowledge (CCK) and its impact on Teaching

Message from Faculty of Education (Research Office)

Cultural Content Knowledge (CCK) and its impact on Teaching

Professor Igal Galili
The Amos de-Shalit Science Teaching Center
Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel

16 April 2014 (Wednesday)
12:45 – 14:00
Room 401-402, Meng Wah Complex, HKU

Abstract:
Physics knowledge, as a subject matter of a regular curriculum, is often presented as an amalgam of topics backing in various physics theories (classical mechanics, thermodynamics, electromagnetism, relativity, quantum mechanics) without recognizing this fact and the different and often mutually contradicting conceptual basis of knowledge elements. Physics knowledge emerges, thus, all inclusive, as if a homogeneous framework, despite the inherent incoherence. Moreover, physics curriculum often ignores any but unique account for a particular concept. I will argue that this content does not adequately represent physics knowledge, is often ineffective and suggest an alternative organization – a cultural one. The latter might be presented as a family of somewhat similar fundamental theories. Each theory may be organized in a triadic structure: nucleus (basic principles), body (elements derived from the nucleus), and periphery (elements contradicting the nucleus) (Tseitlin & Galili, 2005). I will exemplify implications of this organization to physics curriculum, representation of conceptual change taking place in individual learner, as well as in scientific community, and to the new taxonomy of cognitive preferences of physics learners.

About the speaker:
Igal Galili is a professor of science education at the Amos de-Shalit Science Teaching Center in the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. His Ph.D. is in theoretical physics from Racah Institute of Physics at the Hebrew University. His research interests include the structure of students’ knowledge of physics (expressed in terms of scheme-facets structure), as well as the structure and nature of physics knowledge where he uses the framework of discipline-culture. He argues for representation of physics knowledge to the learners as organized in a few fundamental theories establishing a conceptual discourse. When the subject matter knowledge includes conceptual discourse it becomes cultural. Cultural content knowledge (CCK) makes explicit the essential role of the history and philosophy of science in providing a necessary foundation for meaningful learning and understanding of physics. Among his products are introductory course of optics using CCK approach, Fundamentals of Physics and Modern Physics for school students in Israel. Several historical excurses to the conceptual history of physical concepts were produced in the course of European project HIPST and published in the collection The Pleasure of Understanding.

~ The seminar will be delivered in non-specialist languages for all general audiences. All are welcome ~

For enquiry, please contact the Office of Research at 28578254.

Global policing: dream, nightmare or reality?

Message from Department of Sociology

Thinking Globally About Crime and Justice Seminar Series

10 April 2014,
6:45-8:00pm,
Social Sciences C hamber, 11/F, The Jockey Club Tower, Centennial Campus, HKU

Global policing: dream, nightmare or reality?

As crime becomes a global problem, police officers are travelling abroad to collect evidence, apprehend fugitives and render them overseas for interrogation, trial or detention. Complex investigations of crimes and conspiracies spanning numerous countries demand international collaboration. Police officers frequently share information with their overseas counterparts and steer local policing practices from a distance. Globally integrated policing is a law enforcer’s dream, but being arrested and detained at the request of overseas police can be a nightmare. This paper examines the reality of global policing and considers some practical, political and ethical issues emerging from the field.

Professor Ben Bowlingis Professor of Criminology &Criminal Justice and Associate Dean of the Dickson Poon School of Law, King’s College London.

He was previously Assistant Professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice (City University of New York), Senior Research Officer in the Home Office and lecturer at the University of Cambridge Institute of Criminology. He has been a visiting professor at the University of the West Indies, at Monash University (Melbourne) and at the East China University of Political Science and Law (Shanghai). Ben’s research examines practical, political and legal problems in policing and the connections between local and global police power.

His work exploring central themes of fairness, effectiveness and accountability has been published in three recent books – Policing the Caribbean (Oxford University Press 2010),Global Policing(with James Sheptycki, Sage 2012) and Stop & Search: Police Power in Global Context(edited with Leanne Weber, Routledge 2012) – and in articles in the Modern Law Review, Criminal Law Review, Policing and Society and Theoretical Criminology. His studies of Violent Racism(Oxford University Press 1998) and Racism, Crime and Justice(with Coretta Phillips, Longman 2002) are the standard works on these subjects.

All are welcome

Endowed Professorships Lecture: Prof Shih Shu-Mei

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Message from Faculty of Arts

Shih Shu-Mei史書美
Hon-Yin and Suet-Fong Chan Professor in Chinese
陳漢賢伉儷基金教授（中文）

Endowed Professorships Public Lecture

Date: April 15, 2014
Time: 5:00 pm (Reception at 4:30 pm)
Venue: Rayson Huang Theatre, The University of Hong Kong

“From World History to World Literature:
China, the South, and the Global 60s”

This lecture will explore the connection between world literature and world history. Taking the world historical event of the global 60s as an example, this lecture will reconsider the place of China in that event from the perspectives of literary communities that may be considered the South to the Chinese North, such as Hong Kong, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Vietnam, and through this process, propose a new conception of world literature.

All are welcome. Please register at http://www.hku.hk/ephku/publiclectures
(first-come-first-served)

The Endowed Professorships Public Lecture Series supports the University’s mission of sharing knowledge with the community. The Endowed Professorships Scheme was first established in 2005. To date, a total of 80 Endowed Professorships have been established. Each of them represents a new venture in academic development.

What are the English language needs of our first year students? An exploration of the Common Core Curriculum

Message from Centre for Applied English Studies

Dear All,

We are very pleased to announce that Ms. Miranda Legg from the Centre for Applied English Studies will give a talk at Room 6.66, Run Run Shaw Tower at 1:00pm on 9th April 2014 (Wednesday). The title of the talk is “What are the English language needs of our first year students? An exploration of the Common Core Curriculum “.

You are cordially invited to this seminar, the details of which can be found in the poster below.

No registration is required.

Thank you very much.

Regards
Centre for Applied English Studies
The University of Hong Kong

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Sharing Session on Humanitarian Service

Message from Medical Ethics and Humanities Unit
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Speaker
Prof. Emily Chan, Dr. Ada Lee, Rachel Yiu, Carlo Mui, Michelle Chan, Stephanie Poon

Between 4th to 9th January 2014, four HKU MBBS students participated in a humanitarian service trip conducting health intervention and evaluation in Guangxi. Works on health intervention include ORS preparation, UTI prevention, waste management, alcohol consumption, health education for children. The opportunity to participate in this trip was kindly offered by Prof. Emily Chan, Centre Director and Principal Medical Officer of Collaborating Centre for Oxford University and CUHK for Disaster and Medical Humanitarian Response (CCOUC).

From 26th Dec 2013 to 2nd January 2014, Ada and her family went on a charity trip to Yunnan organized by Sowers Action. Besides raising funds, this trip served in various ways (e.g. assembling a 2 x 3 meters Mosaic decoration, basic construction works, organizing and cooking for a New Year Party, hiking with the children) to help children who were living in an orphanage that the Chinese Government allowed to be run by a non-local charity group. Participants also designed and conducted a 1.5 hour of creative teaching activity for primary school students in a remote area. This teaching activity also served to train teachers of the school.

In this sharing session, we will hear about their experience, feeling and reflection (e.g. an awareness of our limited knowledge, how one could better prepare himself/herself for participation in humanitarian service work). This might serve to give ideas on the kind of humanitarian service that you wish to set your foot in.

Sharing Session Details

Date: April 9, 2014 (Wednesday)
Time: 3:30pm – 4:30pm
Venue: Seminar Room 5, LG/F, Laboratory Block
LKS Faculty of Medicine Building
21 Sassoon Road, Pokfulam

Light Refreshment will be provided
All are welcome. No registration is required.

For enquiry, please contact Mr Abel Lau at medhum@hku.hk

CETL Seminar: Experiential Learning in Comparative Literature: Internship in Comparative Literature and Cultural Sectors

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Organized by Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CETL)

Thank you for your interest. The seminar is postponed. New date will be notified later.

Speakers: Dr Esther CHEUNG and Dr Jason HO,
Department of Comparative Literature, HKU
Date : 7 May 2014 (Wednesday)
Time : 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Venue : Room 321, Run Run Shaw Building

Abstract:

This lunchtime seminar will present the department’s unique internship program supported by the Teaching Development Grant (TDG). The internship programme places students to workplaces related to various cultural sectors like publishing houses, newspapers and magazines, filmmaking companies, and non-government organizations. Ever since its first launch in 2011, the internship programme has placed more than 60 students in different cultural sectors, among them some have received full-time offers from the host organizations upon graduation. Colleagues and students across different faculties are welcome to join this lunchtime seminar and share their experiences with the speakers.

About the Speakers:

Dr Esther CHEUNG is currently Chairperson of the Department of Comparative Literature and was the PI of the TDG. She has been dedicated to experiential learning practices at HKU since 2005. She pioneered the filmmaker-in-residence scheme which was first set up in the Department of Comparative Literature and later adopted by the university as the University Artist Scheme (UAS) administered by the Faculty of Arts. She is now leading the department to enhance the pedagogical approaches to internships and experiential learning, which can be expanded to other programmes in the university. She was the recipient of the 2011 Outstanding Teaching Award (OTA) at the University of Hong Kong.

Dr Jason HO is lecturer in the Department of Comparative Literature, was the Co-PI of the TDG. He co-teaches with the PI on the internship course since its trial run in the summer of 2011. He has built up a strong network with different people and key figures in the cultural field of Hong Kong. He has worked closely with Broadway Cinematheque, Edko, CNEX, Ming Pao, Elle Magazine, and Viva Blue House etc, fostering connections with students and alumni from different walks of life.

For information on registration, please contact:
Ms Ivy Lai , CETL
Phone: 3917 8996; Email: laichun2@hku.hk.

1st Endowed Professorships Lecture: Understanding Inequality and Inter-generational Mobility in HK

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Message from Faculty of Business and Economics

Richard Y C Wong 王于漸
Philip Wong Kennedy Wong Professor in Political Economy
黃乾亨黃英豪基金教授（政治經濟學）

Endowed Professorships Public Lecture
Date: April 11, 2014
Time: 6:30 pm (cocktails at 6:00 pm)
Venue: Rayson Huang Theatre, The University of Hong Kong

“Understanding Inequality and Intergenerational Mobility in Hong Kong”

Measured inequality has risen considerably in Hong Kong in the past twenty years. What explains it? Should we be worried about it? Why? Has intergenerational mobility been adversely impacted? New empirical research focusing on the role of schooling, labor force participation, public housing, divorce, and remarriage provide an intriguing interplay of micro factors to give a fascinating account of changing inequality and intergenerational mobility in Hong Kong. Placing these micro factors in the larger context of macroeconomic changes illuminates the real role played by globalization and China’s opening in this process.

All are welcome. Registration: http://www.hku.hk/ephku/publiclectures (first-come-first-served)

The Endowed Professorships Public Lecture Series supports the University’s mission of sharing knowledge with the community. The Endowed Professorships Scheme was first established in 2005. To date, a total of 80 Endowed Professorships have been established. Each of them represents a new venture in academic development.

CETL Seminar: Stories and the Teaching of Ethics in Healthcare – Conceptual and Experiential Approach

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Organized by Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CETL)

Speakers: Professor LC Chan and Dr Ada Lee,
Medical Ethics and Humanities Unit, The LKS Faculty of Medicine
Date : 24th April (Thursday)
Time : 12:45pm – 1:45pm
Venue : Room 321, Run Run Shaw Building

Abstract:

In this seminar, the participants will be introduced to the concept of ‘narrative ethics’ in which ethical dilemmas are recognized and deliberated not just by considering ethical principles from various philosophical or religious traditions but analyzed through the narratives of patients and those involved in their care. There will also be an opportunity for participants to understand this at the experiential level through reading and analysis of a short piece of narrative. Participants will be invited to discuss whether narrative ethics offer a more authentic approach to enhance students’ understanding and analysis of ethical issues and whether we can cultivate greater awareness of ethical issues by writing our own stories. Funding support from the HKU Teaching Exchange Fellowship Scheme to Professor Chan for the development of this work is acknowledged.

About the Speakers:

Professor LC Chan is the MB Lee Professor in the Humanities and Medicine and Chair Professor, Department of Pathology. He has a special interest in curriculum development, problem based learning in medicine and general education, and mindful practice. He is a Co-director of the Medical Ethics and Humanities Unit, LKS Faculty of Medicine and the Chairman of the Medical Humanities Planning Group responsible for developing and implementing a longitudinal and core medical humanities curriculum which was launched in 2012. He received a HKU Outstanding Teaching Award (OTA) in 2008; and an OTA Team Award in 2013.

Dr Ada Lee is Teaching Consultant of the Medical Ethics and Humanities Unit. She joined LKS Faculty of Medicine when the faculty newly introduced medical humanities (in addition to the pre-existing medical ethics) as part of the core curriculum for medical students. With an interdisciplinary background in philosophy, psychology and education, Dr Lee is involved in the teaching of medical ethics, curriculum development and facilitation of workshops in medical humanities.

For information on registration, please contact:
Ms Ivy Lai , CETL
Phone: 3917 8996; Email: laichun2@hku.hk.