HKUST 2008-2009 Annual Report
27
人文
School of Humanities and Social Science
F
ounded in 1992, the School of Humanities and Social
Science has 52 professorial faculty in 12 disciplines
— anthropology, arts, history, linguistics, literature,
and philosophy under the Division of Humanities; and
economics, geography, political science, psychology,
science studies, and sociology under the Division of
Social Science — who focus almost exclusively on
China in comparative context as expressed in our new
undergraduate major on Global Chinese Studies to be
launched in 2011.
HKUST has the largest interdisciplinary social science
program of Chinese Studies anywhere outside of the
Mainland and one of the strongest programs in Chinese
linguistics and Chinese philosophy in the region. We
have renowned professors in many fields including
Chinese historical linguistics, modern history, institutional
economics, philosophy, politics, stratification, and social
scientific history.
The 2009
Times Higher Education Supplement
World
University Ranking, which are highly influenced by peer
review, place our School 16th in Asia and 69th in the
World in Social Science and 47th in Asia in Humanities.
The 2008 Shanghai Jiao Tong University Academic
Ranking of World Universities, which is based more on
research performance and academic achievement, ranks
the HKUST Division of Social Science first in Greater China.
The last UGC Research Assessment Exercise in 2006
ranked HKUST first in Hong Kong in Social Science and
second in Hong Kong in Humanities.
Faculty members of the School have launched many new
research initiatives this year with support from the Research
Grants Council and elsewhere including projects focusing
on Hong Kong, such as “Hong Kong Panel Studies of
Social Dynamics” and “Occupational Segregation, Anti-
Discrimination Policies and Gender Inequality in Hong
Kong"; projects comparing Hong Kong with elsewhere,
and projects dealing with more universal issues.
The faculty members are also developing detailed plans
to contribute to a multidisciplinary and comprehensive
learning experience for students under the four-year
curriculum. The School set up a Task Force to launch a
major undergraduate program in “Global China Studies”
in 2011. Building on existing strengths in research
related to China in a global perspective, this program will
emphasize interdisciplinary training in topics of particular
significance for social, economic and cultural changes in
Mainland China as well as the country’s emerging role in
the world.
