CUHK Faculty of Arts presents the “Arts and Humanities Conversations at CUHK” Series in 2020-21 to bring academics and researchers together to explore our diverse cultures, languages, arts, traditions and heritages. The conversations engage students, educators, researchers, and anyone who is interested in arts and culture from Hong Kong and beyond.

In case you missed our webinars, recordings of our webinars are now available online.

Episode 3 – Why Inequalities in Film and Technology Matter

We are all experiencing inequality in some way or other. The talk is going to look at how inequality can be studied in different ways across two disciplines, Cinema Studies and Applied Linguistics. Prof. Elmo Gonzaga from the Department of Cultural and Religious Studies will explain how the worldbuilding of the spy and sci-fi movie franchises, such as James Bond, Jason Bourne, Transformer, and Pacific Rim, contrasts Northeast Asian global cities with Southeast Asian megacities. While so-called “advanced and industrialised” cities like Tokyo, Shanghai, Seoul, and Hong Kong are extolled as affluent, orderly, and dynamic, “developing” or “emerging” cities like Bangkok, Jakarta, Manila, and Ho Chi Minh City (commonly known by its previous name Saigon) are debased as poor, guilty of crime, and violent.

Prof. Ron Darvin from the Department of English will discuss how digital inequality is not just about whether you have access to devices and connectivity. The types of devices you use, the contexts in which you use them, and your access to different cultural and social resources can shape different digital practices that are valued unequally. At the same time, the design and the algorithms of some platforms like Zoom and Instagram can also structure behaviour online and position users in unequal ways.

Speakers:
Prof. Elmo Gonzaga, Department of Cultural and Religious Studies
Prof. Ron Darvin, Department of English
Moderator:
Prof. Prem Phyak, Department of English
Language: English

Episode 2 – Tsangyang Gyatso's Poetry: Readings and Translations

Tsangyang Gyatso (1683-?), the sixth reincarnation of Dalai Lama, is a well-known Tibetan poet. The first translation of his works into Chinese and English in 1930 marks the beginning of lasting popularity of this monk-poet in the realm of world literature. With the focus on the translation, misreading and remaking, this conversation aims at shedding some light on the dissemination and reception of the poetry of Tsangyang.

Speakers:
Prof. Nicholas L. Chan, Department of Chinese Language & Literature
Dr. Sonia Wong, Gender Studies Programme
Moderator:
Prof. Jia Ye, Department of Translation
Language: Cantonese

Episode 1 - Hong Kong Impressions: Re-imagine Our City through Art and Stories

Once known as the 'Riviera of the Orient,' Hong Kong's natural scenery inspired generations of artists. Trekking to rural areas without modern convenience of subway, artists of yesteryear also contributed to the rise of local tourism with their unconventional perspectives on various sites. Join Mark Barnekow and Josh Yiu to look at incredible paintings of Hong Kong by both renowned and forgotten artists, and check out their instagram-worthy hideouts.

Speaker:
Prof. Josh Yiu, Director of the Art Museum, CUHK
Mr. Mark R. Barnekow, Director of the University of Chicago Francis and Rose Yuen Campus in Hong Kong
Moderator: Prof. Ian Morley, Dept. of History
Language: English