RECENT FOCUS

PolyU held the Opening Ceremony of the Research Centre for Chinese History and Culture on 17 January 2023 and signed a memorandum of understanding with the Institute of Humanities of Tsinghua University. The Opening Ceremony was officiated by Mr Kevin Yeung Yun-hung, Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, and Mr Zhang Guoyi, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Publicity, Cultural and Sports Affairs of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. They were joined by Dr Lam Tai-fai, Council Chairman of PolyU, Prof. Jin-Guang Teng, President, Prof. Wing-tak Wong, Deputy President and Provost and Prof. Li Ping, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities.

The Research Centre aspires to become an influential academic institution in humanities, endeavours to support the Hong Kong SAR Government’s efforts in promoting Chinese culture. Click HERE for more details.

PolyU has joined forces with The Education University of Hong Kong to establish the Centre for Immersive Learning and Metaverse in Education (CILME)—the first of its kind in Hong Kong. Spearheaded by Prof. Li Ping, CILME Co-Director, Faculty Dean and Sin Wai Kin Professor in Humanities and Technology, the collaboration aims to develop a collaborative infrastructure for conducting interdisciplinary research to impact education.

“With CILME, researchers and educators will work closely together to develop technological applications and solutions for immersive and active learning. At PolyU, we have sophisticated interdisciplinary research capabilities, a centralised teaching facility in VR/AR, and an extensive connection with industry. Capitalising on our strengths and the collaboration with EdUHK, we are looking to push new frontiers in education and technology to benefit learners, educators and society,” said Prof. Li. Click HERE for more details.

The inter-institutional English Across the Curriculum Team led by Dr Julia Chen, Director of Educational Development Centre and Associate Professor (courtesy) of the Department of English and Communication with Dr Grace Lim from the English Language Centre wins the international QS Reimagine Education Award in the category of Breakthrough Technology Innovation in Education, Silver Prize, with their app “Capstone Ninja”.

Nicknamed the Oscars of Education and organised by Quacquarelli Symonds and Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, the Reimagine Education Awards seek to offer global higher education a platform through which outstanding pedagogical innovation can be identified and rewarded.

The Sin Wai Kin Foundation Limited has generously donated HK$7 million to support three FH research projects in the areas of (1) Language and Cognitive Neuroscience and Speech Therapy and (2) Chinese Culture and Technology. The Faculty has successfully matched a total of HK$3.5 million from the RGC Research Matching Grant Scheme (RMGS) to support these three projects. Click HERE for more details.

The donation and the grant enable the Faculty and researchers to explore innovative ideas and conduct research projects with high social impact. This will contribute to a healthy community and promote research in the area of Chinese Culture and Technology.

Seven officials from the Professional Development and Special Education Branch of Education Bureau visited the Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies (CBS) on 14 February 2023, including Deputy Secretary for Education Ms Louise So, Principal Assistant Secretary (Special Education) Ms Mandy Ho, Principal Education Officers (Special Education) Mrs Gloria Li and Ms Joyce Yip, Senior Specialist (Speech Therapy Service) Ms Louise Hui, Senior Specialist (Education Psychology Service / NTW) Dr Dorothy Li, and Senior Education Officer (Special Education Support 1) Ms Bianca Wong. Accompanied by Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and representatives of CBS, the officials were introduced to facilities of the Speech and Language Sciences Laboratory, the Brain, Language, and Computation Lab, the Speech Therapy Unit, and the University Research Facility in Behavioral and Systems Neuroscience to understand how technologies are utilised in applied language sciences research, and their application values in the education sector.

Prof. Eric Friginal, Head of the Department of English and Communication, published an opinion piece in South China Morning Post headed “Let ChatGPT into Classroom to Prepare Teachers and Students for the Future”. Prof. Friginal shares his view, “While there are valid concerns about the use of ChatGPT, it offers positive teaching and learning opportunities for both educators and students.” Click HERE to read the full article.

A total of 17 staff members of the Faculty received the Long Service Award 2022 in recognition of their years of service at the University (in alphabetical order):

Ms Fanny Chan(ELC)
Dr Chau Chi-ping(CLC)
Mr Cheung Yiu-hong(CLC)
Ms Felicia Fong(ELC)
Ms Eunice Hau(ELC)
Mr Stephen Ho(CLC)
Mr Kwan Chi Ming(ELC)
Mr William Lau(ELC)
Ms Jody Lee(FH)
Ms Shafi Li(CLC)
Mr Andrew Mossman(ELC)
Ms Loretta Sze(CBS)
Ms Christy Wong(ELC)
Ms Pinna Wong(ELC)
Mr Wong Wing Cheong(ELC)
Ms Cherine Yu(FH)
Prof. Zhu Xinhua(CBS)

The Faculty would like to thank these staff members for their dedicated and loyal service to the University. The Long Service Award Scheme has been introduced since 1990 to foster a sense of belonging among PolyU staff.

EVENTS

• (4 March 2023) PolyU Undergraduate Conference on Applied Linguistics and Language Studies (PolyU-CALLS 2023)
• (21 April 2023) Joint Postgraduate Student Symposium on History and Culture, Language and Cognition
• (17-18 May 2023) Joint conference: Talking Across the World & Business and Professional Communication in a Changing World