Common Core Office
Directors

Director
Professor Gray Kochhar-Lindgren
Professor Gray Kochhar-Lindgren has been Director of the Common Core since June 2014. Focused on building an intersecting series of F2F, hybrid, and online learning platforms for both students and colleagues, he has coordinated efforts to expand the flexibility of course-types, enhance the interactivity of courses large and small, and to support students’ co-curricular projects. The Common Core Team has expanded regional and global partnerships with the invention of GLADE (Global Liberal Arts Design Experiments), the facilitation of CLASS (China Liberal Arts Summer Sessions), and participation in the HKSCC (Hong Kong Sustainable Campus Consortium). Currently, there is a deepening attention to building out student peer-mentors and to expanding interdisciplinary undergraduate research opportunities through initiatives such as Critical Zones: Gender, Cities, and Well-Being (based on three of the UN’s SDGs). An HEA Principal Fellow, he also served as the Team Lead for a UGC and HKU Outstanding Teaching Awards (Team) for Transdisciplinarity-in-Action and is a member of the first cohort of HKTEA (Hong Kong Teaching Excellence Alliance).
With a PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies, Professor Kochhar-Lindgren’s scholarship focuses on cross-disciplinary learning in the global university and how philosophy, the arts, and social theory intersect with urban space. Recent publications include Urban Arabesques: Philosophy, Hong Kong, Transversality (New Critical Humanities Series, Rowman & Littlefield International); “Scintillant@the University of Angelic Invention,” A World Is Born Here: Thinking the Contemporary with Michel Serres. Ed. Rick Dolphijn. London: Bloomsbury; and, with Kanta Kochhar-Lindgren, “Wild Studios: Art, Philosophy, and the Transversal University,” Transversal Studies in Globalisation and Education. Eds. David R. Cole and Joff P.N. Bradley. Springer Publications. Prior to joining HKU, Professor Kochhar-Lindgren served as the inaugural Associate Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate Learning and Professor of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences at the University of Washington-Bothell.
Associate Director
Dr Jack Tsao is the Associate Director of the Common Core. Prior to this role, he taught Common Core courses in genetics, evolutionary biology, and psychology at the Department of Psychiatry in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Hong Kong. Currently, Jack is leading multiple research and T&L projects aimed at promoting undergraduate research capacities and community engagement, innovative interdisciplinary education, and developing students’ capacities for future readiness and global citizenship. As a HEA Fellow and with a PhD in Education from the University of Queensland, Jack’s scholarship centres around comparative and international education, youth aspirations, and the sociology of education, grounded through an interdisciplinary lens. Jack has an extensive background in organisational learning and development, commercial banking, and entrepreneurship, occupying various leadership roles. As a leadership and communications consultant at a global consulting firm, Jack trained and coached executives and professionals of multinational corporations across the sectors of banking and finance, education, healthcare, construction, FMCG, and governmental organisations.
Administrative Staff
Assistant Registrar | Yvonne Cheng |
Executive Officer | Carmen Cheung |
Senior Executive Assistant | Emily Chan |
Executive Assistant | Penny Tse |
Research Staff
Research Assistant I | Chi Zhang |
Research Assistant I | Michael B. C. Rivera |
Research Assistant II | Ian Paolo Villareal |
Contact Information
Address: | Common Core Office, The University of Hong Kong Room 136, 1/F, Main Building, The University of Hong Kong Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong |
Tel: | (852) 2219 4957 |
Fax: | (852) 2858 5745 |
Email: | commoncore@hku.hk |
Our Convenors
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Professor Gina Marchetti
School of Humanities (Comparative Literature)
Faculty of ArtsDeputy Chair of Common Core Curriculum Committee and AoI – Global Issues Convenor
3917 8900
marchett@hku.hk
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Professor Julian A. Tanner
School of Biomedical Sciences
LKS Faculty of MedicineAoI – Scientific and Technological Literacy Convenor
3917 9472
jatanner@hku.hk
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Mr Matthew R. Pryor
Department of Architecture
Faculty of ArchitectureAoI – Arts and Humanities Convenor
3917 7961
matthew.pryor@hku.hk
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Dr Xiaoli Tian
Department of Sociology
Faculty of Social SciencesAoI – China: Culture, State and Society Convenor
3917 5695
xltian@hku.hk
Our Consultants
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Ms Wincy Chan
Department of Pathology
LKS Faculty of MedicineLecturer and Instructional Designer
CC Consultant for Tutors
Common Core Lounge
The Common Core Lounge is located in Room 150 on 1/F of the Main Building. The facility is a common space for students and teachers to gather before and after their CC tutorials or other lectures for further discussion. The space is also used for showcasing students’ exemplary projects and assignments in CC courses.