Common Core Clusters and Transdisciplinary Minors
(Optional and available to students of the 2017-18 intake and thereafter)
In your study of the Common Core (CC) courses, you have the opportunity to pursue an organized, interdisciplinary program tailored to your interests by selecting courses within the same thematic cluster.
This allows you to customize your CC experience, creating a personalized academic pathway that will be recognized on your Academic Attainment Profile (AAP).
(applicable to cohorts admitted in or after 2017-18)
‘Sustaining Cities, Cultures, and the Earth’ aligns with the University’s commitment to the United Nations’ Sustainability Development Goals and addresses the pressing question of sustainability across multiple domains of knowledge and practice.
🢂 Course List
The Quest for a Meaningful Life (applicable to cohorts admitted in or after 2020-21) /
The Universe and the Question of Meaning (applicable to cohorts admitted in 2017-18, 2018-19, and 2019-20)
‘The Universe and the Question of Meaning’ is designed for those most interested in cross-overs between different ways of knowing the world, practices of spirituality, and philosophical reflections on meaning, ethics and well-being.
🢂 Course List
(applicable to cohorts admitted in or after 2021-22)
‘Creative Arts’ offers students a combined experience of both making and interpreting the arts across multiple media-formats, historical periods, and social contexts.
🢂 Course List
(applicable to cohorts admitted in or after 2021-22)
‘The Human Lifespan’ offers students a holistic transdisciplinary engagement with the multidimensional questions about the human lifespan from before conception to death and the debates that hover around the question of immortality.
🢂 Course List
(applicable to cohorts admitted in or after 2021-22)
‘Gender, Sexuality, and Diversity’ offers students a space for the transdisciplinary holistic exploration of questions that bear deeply upon individual and social identities across multiple cultural contexts.
🢂 Course List
Keep in mind that the Common Core requirements are mandatory for all undergraduate students to fulfill before graduation, while the Clusters and Minors are optional. If you embark on a CC Cluster or CCTM, you will still need to fulfill the requirement of successfully completing 36 credits in the Common Core Curriculum, comprising at least 6 credits and not more than 12 credits from each Area of Inquiry, and the non-permissible combinations of courses will still apply.
What are Common Core Clusters and Transdisciplinary Minors (CCTM)?
A Cluster consists of 24 credits of Common Core courses, and a Transdisciplinary Minor consists of 36 credits, all drawn from the same thematic cluster.
The courses under each cluster are listed at https://commoncore.hku.hk/thematic-clusters/.
There is no prerequisite requirement for completing a Common Core Cluster. If you have completed 24 credits of CC courses from the same thematic cluster before graduation, the Common Core Cluster will be recorded on the Academic Attainment Profile (AAP).
In cases where the 24 credits of Common Core courses you have completed can fulfill more than one Cluster, you can indicate the intended Common Core Cluster you wish to be recorded on the Academic Attainment Profile (AAP).
You will be eligible to declare a Transdisciplinary Minor after having completed 24 credits of CC Courses from the same thematic cluster. In other words, completing 24 credits of CC courses from the same thematic cluster is the prerequisite requirement for declaring the Transdisciplinary Minor of that thematic cluster.
If you have already completed / enrolled to more than 24 credits of CC courses, you would be eligible for declaring the corresponding CCTM only if ALL the CC credits you have completed / enrolled to belong to that thematic cluster.
Indication of Common Core Cluster / Declaration of Common Core Transdisciplinary Minor
The indication of CC Cluster or declaration of CCTM should be done online through the Student Information System (SIS):
SIS > My Page (tab) > SIS Menu > Enrollment > Declare Major/Minor/Special
Please visit http://intraweb.hku.hk/reserved_1/sis_student/sis/reference-materials/students_guide_to_cc_course_selection.pdf for detailed procedures on Common Core Cluster indication / Transdisciplinary Minor declaration.
Normally students can indicate/change CC Cluster intention or declare/change CCTM from Year 2 Semester 1, until final year Semester 1 (unless the major/minor declaration period (if any) of your programme is different).
CC Cluster indication and CCTM declaration are available during the pre-enrollment period and add/drop periods. You are NOT allowed to indicate/change CC Cluster intention or declare/change CCTM during the course selection period in August.
The detailed course selection schedule is available at 2026-27_Course_Selection_Schedhttps://intraweb.hku.hk/reserved_1/sis_student/sis/reference-materials/2026/2026-27_Course_Selection_Schedule_for_UG.pdfule_for_UG.pdf.
| Cluster | Transdisciplinary Minor | |
|---|---|---|
| What is it? | 24 credits from the same thematic cluster | 36 credits from the same thematic cluster |
| Pre-requsites | None | ♦ Have completed 24 to 36 CC credits from the same thematic cluster; AND ♦ Have NOT enrolled to / completed any CC credits from other thematic clusters |
| Indication / Declaration | ♦ During pre-enrollment period and add/drop period ♦ From Year 2 Sem 1 until Final Year Sem 1 (Unless the major/minor declaration period (if any) of your programme is different) |
|
| Not necessary (But indicate if the 24 CC credits completed can fulfill more than one Cluster) |
Necessary | |
| Enrollment priority | None | Yes, during the designated “priority period” |
| Recorded on AAP? | Yes | Yes |
Enrollment Priority for CCTM Students
After declaring the CCTM, you will be given priority to enroll on the remaining courses that belong to the same thematic cluster during the designated “priority period” on August 4, 2026. Therefore if you are eligible to declare a CCTM and intend to do so, please make sure that you have completed the declaration prior to the course selection period in order to enjoy the priority.
The “priority period” for CCTM students in 2026-27 is as follows:
| Year 4 or above | Year 3 | Year 2 | |
| Semester 1 CC Courses |
August 4, 2026 (10:00 am– 12:00 pm) |
August 4, 2026 (12:00 pm– 2:00 pm) |
August 4, 2026 (2:00 pm – 4:00 pm) |
| Semester 2 CC Courses |
August 4, 2026 (10:10 am – 12:00 pm) |
August 4, 2026 (12:10 pm – 2:00 pm) |
August 4, 2026 (2:10 pm – 4:00 pm) |
Enrollments submitted during the “priority period” by students who have declared the CCTM would be placed at the top of the queue in that corresponding course according to time-stamps (see table below).
| Period | Ranked Priority on Queue Position | |
| 10:00 am – 12:00 pm | 1 | ♦ Year 4 or above (with CCTM) |
| 2 | ♦ Year 4 or above (without CCTM) | |
| 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm | 1 |
♦ Year 4 or above (with CCTM) ♦ Year 3 (with CCTM) |
| 2 |
♦ Year 4 or above (without CCTM) ♦ Year 3 (without CCTM) |
|
| 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm | 1 |
♦ Year 4 or above (with CCTM) ♦ Year 3 (with CCTM) ♦ Year 2 (with CCTM) |
| 2 |
♦ Year 4 or above (without CCTM) ♦ Year 3 (without CCTM) ♦ Year 2 (without CCTM) |
|
The queue position of those Year 2-4 students who have not declared the CCTM may thus be pushed back by subsequent enrollments of CCTM students.
Please note that students who have declared a CCTM are allowed to take courses which belong to the corresponding thematic cluster only. If you have declared a CCTM but selected a CC course not belonging to the same thematic cluster, your enrollment will subsequently be disapproved.
- If you encounter any technical difficulties, please contact ITS Service Desk at ithelp@hku.hk / 3917 0123 for assistance.
- For enquiries about the Common Core Clusters and Transdisciplinary Minors, please contact the Common Core Office at commoncore@hku.hk.