During the Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation visit, students deepened their understanding of services focused on human trafficking in Vietnam.
In addition to lectures and field visits, community walks, in Hong Kong and Hanoi, food tastings and community visits were arranged for students to learn through observation.
The programme concluded on 20 December 2024, after students shared insights on social issues through a comparative lens during group presentations.
The Department of Applied Social Sciences (APSS) at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), in collaboration with the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice at The University of Chicago (UoC) and the Department of Sociology at Peking University (PKU), successfully held the Winter Institute 2024. From 9 to 21 December 2024, the programme took place in Hong Kong and Hanoi, Vietnam, hosting 24 postgraduate students and four faculty members from the participating institutions, including Prof. Ben Hok Bun KU (Director of the China and Global Development Network and Professor of APSS), Dr Qiaobing WU (Associate Head and Associate Professor of APSS), Prof. Robert CHASKIN (McCormick Foundation Professor and Faculty Director at the University of Chicago), and Prof. Yuegen XIONG (Professor of Sociology and Director of the Centre for Social Policy Research at PKU).
The two-week programme at PolyU, Dr WU, Dr Grace SEO (Associate Professor of APSS), Dr Vincent CHENG (Assistant Professor of APSS), and Mr Vincent YEUNG (Lecturer of APSS), featuring lectures on topics such as cross-border migration, children’s well-being, and poverty. To enhance learning, the programme featured debriefings, discussions, community walks, and field visits. Students also visited the Trapped Experience Center and engaged with refugees. While in Vietnam, they explored social protection services and supported women in the coffee industry.
The Winter Institute concluded with presentations comparing social issues across the U.S., Mainland China, Vietnam, and Hong Kong, emphasising diverse approaches to poverty and inequality.
