Common Core Courses on Offer in the 2020 Summer Semester
The Common Core (CC) is pleased to announce that five CC courses would be on offer in the coming summer semester.
| Course Code | Course Title | Class Quota | Mode | Teaching Period | Lecture |
| CCST9054 | War, Peace, and the Natural World | 120 | Face-to-Face on HKU Campus | Jun 29 – Jul 24, 2020 | Mon, Wed & Fri (9:30 am – 11:20 am) |
| CCHU9056 | Virtual Worlds, Real Bodies (offered in collaboration with Summer Institute and Peking University) |
50 | Online via Zoom, Mixer, Moodle and Zhihuishu | Jul 20 – Aug 8, 2020 | Mon – Fri (10:00 am – 11:00 am) + daily tutorials [Schedule] |
| CCHU9058 | Nature in the City: Beyond the Concrete Jungle | 120 | Face-to-Face on HKU Campus | Jun 29 – Jul 24, 2020 | Tue & Thu (10:00 am – 1:00 pm) |
| CCGL9042 | The Evolution of Civilization | 120 | Face-to-Face on HKU Campus | Jun 29 – Jul 27, 2020 | Mon, Wed & Fri (4:30 pm – 6:20 pm) |
| CCCH9020 | Science and Technology: Lessons from China | 120 | Face-to-Face on HKU Campus | Jul 27 – Aug 21, 2020 | Mon, Wed, & Fri (10:30 am – 12:20 pm) |
WHO should take CC courses in the summer?
Taking CC courses in the summer would be ideal for you if you wish to get some relief from your heavy workload during the regular semesters, have a compressed format, and are interested in meeting new friends from different parts of the world.
Since the summer semester is optional, you can take CC courses in the summer even if you have already successfully completed 24 credits of CC courses during the first and second semesters this year. Please note, however, that (i) the UG5 graduation requirement to successfully complete 36 credits of courses in the CC comprising at least one and not more than two courses from each AoI still applies; and (ii) CC courses cannot be taken as free electives.
Note:
- If you have been granted Advanced Standing and/or Credit Transfer for CC credits and are in doubt as to how many CC credits or courses from which AoI(s) you are required to complete for fulfilling the graduation requirement on the CC, please consult your home Faculty.
- The maximum study load per year is 72 credits (comprising the norm of 60 credits + 12 credits which may be taken on the students’ own volition). If you have already undertaken 72 credits in Semester 1 and Semester 2 and would like to enroll on summer courses, please apply to your home Faculty for undertaking special study load.
HOW to enroll?
If you would like to enroll on these courses, please select them online through the Student Information System (SIS) during June 15, 2020 (Mon) (10:00 am) – June 22, 2020 (Mon) (4:00 pm) (please see http://aao.hku.hk/faculty-staff/cur-reg-date/aca-dates/ for details). The enrollment method is the same as the add/drop period of the regular semesters, and the course approval method is by auto-ballot.
Please note that requests to add or drop a course beyond the designated enrollment period will not be considered, except under extenuating circumstances, e.g. on medical grounds.
Make the Common Core your own and have a great summer!
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CCST9054 Scientific and Technological Literacy
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[This is a certified Communication-intensive (CI) Course which meets all of the requirements endorsed by HKU’s Senate, including (i) the teaching assessment of oral and digital communication ‘literacies’; and (ii) at least 40% of the course grade assigned to communication-rich assessment tasks.]
Course Description
War is often used as a means to advance political agendas and justified through perceived benefits to society. Yet, the act of war is universally disastrous for our planet’s environmental health. War and violent conflicts displace humans, destroy terrestrial and aquatic resources, and lead to the exploitation and extirpation of biodiversity. At the same time, military infrastructure and “off-limits” areas have become some of the world’s best conservation areas. Regardless, the human toll of war makes it easy for the public to overlook the immeasurable damage and few benefits that war inflicts on nature.
This course will cover the major themes of conservation biology and ecology through the lens of direct and indirect consequences on ecosystems as a result of human conflicts. These themes include species extinctions, habitat loss, climate change, pollution, invasive species, and a few positive examples of conservation, ecosystem restoration, and species recovery. The course will highlight case studies for students to critically evaluate, providing a historical context for the conflict and the ecological and socio-economic consequences.
Course Learning Outcomes
On completing the course, students will be able to:
- Identify and describe historical environmental impacts as a result of military actions, violent conflict and war.
- Demonstrate understanding of some of the fundamental concepts of conservation biology.
- Demonstrate inherent link between war tactics and environmental damage.
- Apply the knowledge from above to propose policies that militaries could initiate to reduce their ecological footprint.
- Present the history of war through the perspective of ecology in digital and oral formats that are suitable for the wider public.
Offer Semester and Day of Teaching
Summer Semester
Jun 29 – Jul 24, 2020
Mon, Wed and Fri (9:30 am – 11:20 am)
Study Load
| Activities | Number of hours |
| Lectures | 24 |
| Tutorials | 8 |
| Fieldwork / Visits | 4 |
| Reading / Self-study | 40 |
| Assessment: Creation of Wikipedia article | 15 |
| Assessment: Video production | 20 |
| Assessment: Peer-review of assignments | 5 |
| Assessment: Writing assignment | 15 |
| Total: | 131 |
Assessment: 100% coursework
| Assessment Tasks | Weighting |
| Video production | 45 |
| Educational display | 30 |
| In-class assessments | 15 |
| Peer evaluation | 10 |
Required Reading
There is no official textbook for the course. Selected articles from newspapers, books, magazines and websites, case studies and other materials designated as required reading for each lecture.
Recommended Reading
A short list of recommended reading or viewing materials may be included.
- Lanier-Graham, S. D. (1993). The ecology of war: Environmental impacts of weaponry and warfare.
Course Co-ordinator and Teacher(s)
| Course Co-ordinator | Contact |
| Dr D.M. Baker School of Biologcial Sciences, Faculty of Science |
Tel: 2299 0606 Email: dmbaker@hku.hk |
| Teacher(s) | Contact |
| Dr D.M. Baker School of Biologcial Sciences, Faculty of Science |
Tel: 2299 0606 Email: dmbaker@hku.hk |
| Dr E.J. Pickett Faculty of Science |
Tel: 3917 1286 Email: epickett@hku.hk |
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CCHU9056 Humanities
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Course Description
The summer offering of this Common Core course is in collaboration with Summer Institute and Peking University (PKU) during July 20 and August 8, 2020, and is 100% online.
How have modern virtual reality technologies (VR) shaped and influenced the way we perceive reality, communicate and interact with each other, and with the world? In what ways do these cyber machines play a part in diminishing the physical barrier between the human body and the external world, and extending our living experiences across space and time, thereby transcending geographical, cultural and knowledge boundaries? And how do these experiences differ from the traditional communication mediums? By engaging students on an explorative journey of the emergence and development of VR in our modern societies, and giving them hands-on practice in creating their own virtual worlds, this course encourages students to reflect, evaluate and contemplate from multiple perspectives on how modern computer and digital technologies “inhabit” our bodies, and the world. Through realizing how our physical bodies have come to embody such technologies and making them an inseparable part of our everyday realities, we thereby expand the horizon of human experiences and meaning making. And ultimately, through grasping the notion of techno-embodiment, students are expected to raise and attempt to answer the philosophical and ethical questions of what technologies can and cannot do, and should and should not do in creating new human living experiences. From thinking through the concepts of ‘the virtual’ to making immersive worlds for virtual reality, Virtual Worlds, Real Bodies tackles the concepts behind the technology and the long lasting human quest to realise the realms of imagination and innovation. The course emphasis theories and practice as equal measure, incorporating group project on 3D model making to game engine interaction design, to understand and engage the phenomenon that is virtual reality, projecting and anticipating a future that will be benefited and shocked by the paradigm.
Using Zoom and Mixer, HKU and international students will attend online lectures, join online tutorials to discuss ideas and share concepts with one another virtually. Online self learning platforms (Moodle and Zhihuishu) will be used.
Course Learning Outcomes
On completing the course, students will be able to:
- Understand the basic concepts of virtual reality from different disciplines such as computer science, engineering, game theory, architecture, cultural studies and literary studies and able to come up with examples of these concepts from their daily experiences.
- Understand the various VR applications and their historical, social and cultural significance in society, and in different areas of human experience, and the impacts they have on people’s lives.
- Critically examine the limitations of as well as opportunities offered by computer technology in society and in creating meaningful human subjectivities and experiences.
- Synthesize the theories of virtual reality in both cybernetics and the humanities combined with computer graphic creation skills they have learnt in the course, and apply them in the final mini project to create an actual piece of work or product. Provide their alternative views and stance towards a particular issue or problem of virtual reality of their interest.
Offer Semester and Day of Teaching
Summer semester
Jul 20 – Aug 8, 2020
Mon – Fri
Study Load
| Activities | Number of hours |
| Lectures | 7 |
| Tutorials | 60 |
| Reading / Self-study | 30 |
| Assessment: Essay / Report writing | 20 |
| Assessment: Group project presentation (incl preparation) | 40 |
| Total: | 157 |
Assessment: 100% coursework
| Assessment Tasks | Weighting |
| Individual assignments | 10 |
| Film report | 5 |
| Small assignments | 15 |
| Group project | 40 |
| Contribution in tutorials | 30 |
Required Reading
- Franklin, U. (1999). The real world of technology. Toronto, ON: House of Anansi Press.
Required Film Viewing
- Boyle, D. (Director). (2000). The beach.
- Oshii, M. (Director). (1995). Ghost in the Shell.
- Pfister, W. (Director). (2014). Transcendence.
Recommended Reading
- Baudrillard, J., & Glaser, S. F. (1994). Simulacra and simulation. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
- Beigl, M., Flachbart, G., et al. (2005). Disappearing architecture: From real to virtual to quantum. Basel: Birkhaüser.
- Bergson, H., & Mitchell, A. (1920). Creative evolution. London: Macmillan.
- Dick, P. K. (1977). The preserving machine and other stories. UK: Pan. [The preserving machine]
- Hansen, M. B. N. (2006). Bodies in code: Interface with digital media. Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
- Haraway, D. J. (1991). A cyborg manifesto: Science, technology, and socialist-feminism in the late twentieth century. In Simians, cyborgs and women: The reinvention of nature. Routledge.
- Manovich, L. (2001). The language of new media. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
- Pallasmaa, J. (1996). The eyes of the skin: Architecture and the senses. London: Academy Editions.
- The Verge. The rise and fall and rise of virtual reality. From https://www.theverge.com/a/virtual-reality [Compilations of articles on the development of VR]
- Vince, J. (2004). Introduction to virtual reality. London: Springer-Verlag.
- Zizek, S. (2002). Welcome to the desert of the real! Five essays on September 11 and related dates. London; New York: Verso.
Recommended Film Viewing
- Bigelow, K. (Director). (1995). Strange Days.
- Garland, A. (Director). (2015). Ex Machina.
- Law, A. (Director). (2010). Echoes of the Rainbow.
- Nolan, C. (Director). (2010) Inception.
- Padilha, J. (Director). (2014). RoboCop.
- Ridley, S. (Director). (1982). Blade Runner.
- Sokurov, A. (Director). (2015). Francofonia.
- Trumbull, D. (Director). (1983). Brainstorm.
- Wachowski, A., & Washowski, L. (Directors). (1999). The Matrix Trilogy. Warner Brothers Pictures, USA.
- Wenders, W. (Director). (1995). Until the end of the world (Bis ans Ende der Welt).
Recommended Website
Course Co-ordinator and Teacher(s)
| Course Co-ordinator | Contact |
| Dr H.Y.K. Lau Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering |
Tel: 2857 8255 Email: hyklau@hku.hk |
| Teacher(s) | Contact |
| Dr H.Y.K. Lau Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering |
Tel: 2857 8255 Email: hyklau@hku.hk |
| Dr K.K.L. Ng Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering |
Tel: 2147 2070 Email: kalng@hku.hk |
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CCHU9058 HumanitiesNature in the City: Beyond the Concrete Jungle[This course is under the thematic cluster of ‘Sustaining Cities, Cultures, and the Earth’.] |
[This is a certified Communication-intensive (CI) Course which meets all of the requirements endorsed by HKU’s Senate, including (i) the teaching and assessment of written, visual and digital communication ‘literacies’; and (ii) at least 40% of the course grade assigned to communication-rich assessment tasks.]
Course Description
Nature and the city are frequently, but not always, in conflict. This course explores our relationship with the natural environment using the urban built infrastructure, cultural habits and traditions, and the creative arts to provide a framework for the students’ exploration of the intersection between the natural world and our urban environment
- Survey – The human relationship with nature in the urban context:
First, we will look for evidence of nature in the city, at different scales, and observe both our attempts to replicate or enhance nature and our attempts to exclude or suppress it (both of which are often unsuccessful). - Analysis – How that relationship influences the form of the city:
We will then critically explore the relationship between development and nature in the urban context, using an understanding of natural laws to investigate how cultural traditions, perceptions, and meanings, and the realities of urban infrastructure, lifestyle and economics, complement or flout those laws. - Design – Using an understanding of that relationship as a basis for articulating issues and ideas:
Finally, we will apply our observations and understanding of nature in the city to develop techniques, analyses, and metaphors, to illustrate and communicate issues related to other disciplines and to a variety of public stakeholders.
The course assignments include the production of a group video and a metaphorical poster, however artistic experience or ability is not a pre-requisite of the course. Support and guidance for these elements will be provided as part of the course lectures, tutorials and demonstrations.
Course Learning Outcomes
On completing the course, students will be able to:
- Understand issues related to nature in the city, the historical relationship between human activity and nature in the urban context, and the spectrum between ‘artificial’ and ‘natural’ and articulate the complex relationship through written forms.
- Articulate the contradictions and expectations in the relationship between us and nature and present them visually.
- Demonstrate how to contextualize these understandings in the students own disciplinary studies, using metaphor, analogies and illustrative skills through visual forms e.g. metaphorical.
Offer Semester and Day of Teaching
Summer Semester
Jun 29 – Jul 24, 2020
Tue and Thu (10:00 am – 1:00 pm)
Study Load
| Activities | Number of hours |
| Lectures | 16 |
| Tutorials | 8 |
| Fieldwork / Visits | 3 |
| Demonstration | 3 |
| Interactive games | 3 |
| Peer evaluation | 3 |
| Reading / Self-study | 10 |
| Assessment: Essay / Report writing | 30 |
| Assessment: Group video production and presentation | 20 |
| Assessment: Poster | 40 |
| Total: | 136 |
Assessment Ratio: 100% coursework
| Assessment Tasks | Weighting |
| Tutorial participation | 10 |
| Group video presentation | 20 |
| Individual assessment: Written opinion piece | 30 |
| Poster | 40 |
Required Reading
- Altman, I., & Chemers, M. M. (1980). Culture and environment. Brooks/Cole Publishing Company. [Chap. 2]
- Cronon, W. (1996). Uncommon ground: Rethinking the human place in nature. W.W. Norton & Company. [Introduction]
- Lima, M. (2014). The book of trees: Visualizing branches of knowledge. New York: Princeton Architectural Press.
- Weisman, W. (2007). The world without us. Thomas Dunne Books, St. Martin’s Press, New York. [Chaps. 3, 7]
Recommended Websites
Recommended Reading
- Corlett, R. T. (1997). Human impact on the flora of Hong Kong Island. In N. G. Jablonski (Ed.), The changing face of East Asia during the Tertiary and Quaternary (pp.400-412). Proceedings of the Fourth Conference on the Evolution of the East Asian Environment. Centre of Asian Studies, The University of Hong Kong.
- Fiennes, P. (2017). Oak and ash and thorn. London: Oneworld Publications. [Chap. 10]
- Hageneder, F. (2001). The heritage of trees, history, culture and symbolism. Edinburgh: Floris Books.
- Harare, Y. N. (2011). Sapiens: A brief history of humankind. London: Vintage. [Chap. 5]
- McHarg, I. L. (1964). The place of nature in the city of man. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 352(1), 1-12.
- Owen, B., & Shaw, R. (2007). Hong Kong landscapes: Shaping the Barren Rock (HKU Press Digital Eds.). Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.
- Swanwick, C., Dunnett, N., & Woolley, H. (2003). Nature, role and value of green space in towns and cities: An overview. Built Environment, 29, 94-106.
- Swyngedouw, E., & Kaika, M. (2000). The environment of the city… or the urbanization of nature. A Companion to the City, 567-580.
- Wang Shaoqiang (Ed.) (2015). Look at Me! New Poster Design. Sandu Publishing Co., Ltd.
Course Co-ordinator and Teacher(s)
| Course Co-ordinator | Contact |
| Mr G.S. Coates Department of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture |
Tel: 3917 5140 Email: gscoates@hku.hk |
| Teacher(s) | Contact |
| Mr G.S. Coates Department of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture |
Tel: 3917 5140 Email: gscoates@hku.hk |
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CCGL9042 Global IssuesThe Evolution of Civilization |
[This is a certified Communication-intensive (CI) Course which meets all of the requirements endorsed by HKU’s Senate, including (i) the teaching assessment of oral and visual communication ‘literacies’; and (ii) at least 40% of the course grade assigned to communication-rich assessment tasks.]
Course Description
This course will draw on economics, evolutionary theory, and psychology to address the key issues:
- How did humans go from relatively isolated tribal life to an increasingly cooperative, interconnected, globalized world?
- How can our knowledge of human nature and past progress be used to help solve major societal challenges?
The theme of this course is that natural selection is a useful framework for understanding how humans have progressed from subsisting in relatively isolated groups to where individuals are highly specialized in their productive efforts and highly integrated with the entire world through globalization. The course will explore how this progression may be the result of genetic selection, but likely more the result of selection acting on ideas, or memes, rather than genes, but in an analogous manner.
Through an understanding of human evolution, the origin of economic development will be explored. Combined with the psychological perspective of understanding the individual, we attempt to shed light on how complex civilization has come into existence. Lectures will ask one or two main scientific questions and then focus on answering them, showing the types of evidence that can be used to address the question and the logical progression of ideas.
Course Learning Outcomes
On completing the course, students will be able to:
- Demonstrate an understanding and awareness of the various domains of human progress.
- Describe and explain the basic principles of evolutionary theory as a model for human progress.
- Demonstrate an understanding of how trade and specialization are central to human advancement.
- Apply knowledge and understanding of evolutionary theory, psychology, and the scientific method to solving several societal problems.
- Develop and demonstrate ability to speak effectively, display data in graphs, and convey messages by integrating text and graphics.
Offer Semester and Day of Teaching
Summer Semester
Jun 29 – Jul 27, 2020
Mon, Wed & Fri (4:30 pm – 6:20 pm)
Study Load
| Activities | Number of hours |
| Lectures | 24 |
| Tutorials | 14 |
| Reading / Self-study | 62 |
| Assessment: Presentation (incl preparation) | 20 |
| Total: | 120 |
Assessment: 100% coursework
| Assessment Tasks | Weighting |
| Class discussion | 30 |
| Poster | 40 |
| In-class quizzes | 30 |
Required Reading
- Ridley, M. (2010). The rational optimist: How prosperity evolves. New York: Harper.
Recommended Reading
- Harari, Y. (2014). Sapiens: A brief history of humankind. Harper Perennial.
Course Co-ordinator and Teacher(s)
| Course Co-ordinator | Contact |
| Dr L.W. Baum Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine |
Tel: 2831 5106 Email: lwbaum@hku.hk |
| Teacher(s) | Contact |
| Dr L.W. Baum Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine |
Tel: 2831 5106 Email: lwbaum@hku.hk |
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CCCH9020 China: Culture, State and Society
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Course Description
In spite of the vast and superior knowledge possessed by the ancient Chinese relative to the rest of the world, China did not develop into a dominant technoculture. This course will explore some of the lesser known inventions and scientific development in ancient China and factors that caused China to fall behind the West in technological development. The contents of the course include perception of the material world in ancient China, early Chinese views of the universe, earth and nature, changes in the perception of these entities over time, scientific inventions and theories of ancient China, and the linkage between science, art and literature in China. Guest speakers will give insights on specific areas of technological advancement in ancient China.
Course Learning Outcomes
On completing the course, students will be able to:
- Give an account of the extent of scientific achievements in ancient China and explain the social-environmental background governing the development of science and technology in ancient China.
- Deliver an in-depth account on why western style science did not flourish in China.
- Give a critical comparison of the approach and inquiry methods used by scholars in ancient China and in modern scientific studies.
Offer Semester and Day of Teaching
Summer semester
Jul 27 – Aug 21, 2020
Mon, Wed, & Fri (10:30 am – 12:20 pm)
Study Load
| Activities | Number of hours |
| Lectures | 20 |
| Tutorials | 8 |
| Reading / Self-study | 80 |
| Assessment: Essay / Report writing | 20 |
| Assessment: Debate presentation (incl preparation) | 20 |
| Total: | 148 |
Assessment: 100% coursework
| Assessment Tasks | Weighting |
| Book / Article analysis | 30 |
| Lecture recap / Discussion / Hands-on work | 10 |
| In-class quizzes | 20 |
| Final project | 40 |
Required Reading
- Andrade, T. (2017). The gunpowder age: China, military innovation, and the rise of the west in world history. Princeton: Princeton University Press. [Selected chapters]
- Morris, I. (2010). Why the west rules—for now: The patterns of history, and what they reveal about the future. USA: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. [Selected chapters]
- Needham, J. (1981). Science in traditional China: A comparative perspective. Hong Kong: Chinese University Press. [Chap. 1]
- Shen, S. (1987). Acoustics of ancient Chinese bells. Scientific American, 104-110.
- Siu, M. K. (2000). An excursion in ancient Chinese mathematics. In V. J. Katz (Ed.), Using history to teach mathematics: An international perspective (pp. 159-166). Washington, D.C.: Mathematical Association of America.
- Sivin, N. (1982). Why the scientific revolution did not take place in China —or didn’t it? Chinese Science, 5, 45-66. [Online revision by the author on 2005, 24 August]
Recommended Reading
- Chen, C. Y. (1995). Early Chinese work in natural science: A re-examination of the physics of motion, acoustics, astronomy and scientific thoughts. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.
- Institute of the History of Natural Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences. (1983). Ancient China’s technology and science. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press. [Selected chapters]
- Needham, J., & Wang, L. (1954). Science and civilisation in China (Vols. 1-7). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. [Selected sections]
- Ronan, C. (1978-1995). The shorter science and civilisation in China: An abridgement of Joseph Needham’s original text. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Recommended Websites
Course Co-ordinator and Teacher(s)
| Course Co-ordinator | Contact |
| Dr M.Y. Cheung Faculty of Science |
Tel: 3917 8589 Email: willmyc@hku.hk |
| Teacher(s) | Contact |
| Dr M.Y. Cheung Faculty of Science |
Tel: 3917 8589 Email: willmyc@hku.hk |