HUANG Lumiao

In such a special year, I would like to thank every teacher for their dedication and guidance. In MAICS, in addition to learn a lot of knowledge, the most important thing is that it breaks my many solidified views and brings a lot of new insights. Although most of the time I couldn’t attend the face-to-face lessons with the teachers, I still feel the love and warmth.

LIANG Rufei

This year's life is full of vitality and surprises. I didn’t have many opportunities to communicate with teachers and classmates face to face due to COVID-19, but I met many gentle, interesting, and knowledgeable teachers. The gain in MAICS may not be a practical skill, but a far-reaching way of critical and pluralistic thinking about things and phenomena. If to say something regretful, that is there are too many courses I would like to take but didn’t have the time to! I hope in the future I will have the opportunity to listen to the academic sharing of teachers and make up for my regrets.

ZHAO Jiagen

From social movements to the COVID-19, this year we met in MAICS was a year full of unrest. Apart from the theoretical knowledge learnt, I think I gained more experience in this year, where the special social environment has taught me to understand social dilemma. At the same time, I also learned to think through dilemmas and pay attention to the low-class groups in society that are often overlooked. Empathy, tolerance, critical thinking...these may be the spiritual backing that supports my life in this world of changes. I believe that the impact MAICS has brought me is profound and long-lasting!

In CUHK, I really felt the feeling of "university" and "classmates". After every evening class, groups of students, including me, often went down to MTR together, either laughing or continuing to discuss the content of the class. The classmates who we studied with and competed with are excellent, friendly and humble.

WANG Yuji

In this tough year, teachers were doing their best to enrich the form of the classroom: online art festivals, screenings, presentations, Q&A discussions changes… Teachers were adding more colour elements to the Zoom online teaching. MAICS is a special and unforgettable experience where cultural studies interacts with realistic situations in the world. It is a starting point for us to think critically about the society.

SHI Chenyun

This one year in MAICS has changed my ways of thinking about the world. My old-fashion views of myself and the world are gradually moving away. We criticize capital, challenge authority and sketch ideals for a better future. On the long road to the future, independent and critical thinking will be my driving force for continuous improvement. And it would be the driven force that helps the young people to change the world one day.

QIU Zhongying

Thank Meili and Datu for their careful guidance. In the gender theatre workshop, we discussed the contents of and wrote the script. Instructors gave us many valuable suggestions for the final script presentation. Every group discussion inspired me a lot. In the process of listening to others and sharing my own experiences, I always found that there were extreme differences between individuals. Even more valuable is that the members of our group have also become very good friends after class. I am very happy and lucky to have the chance to join this workshop.

WEI Houyuan

I am very glad to be able to participate in a workshop on gender theatre. Throughout the process, I had a very good interaction with Meili, Datu and all the students, and I was very happy. In the course, we discussed gender equality, and opened up my views on gender-related topics, such as the first night, open relations, sexual assault cases, etc... Because of the pandemic, we were unable to perform in the theater. But it also gave us more space for imaginative creation. In the situation where everyone can't meet offline, how to write a script, how to make and present the story, all pose challenges to us. But also because of this, we were also able to try to modify the traditional form of theatrical performance. Thank you very much Meili, Datu and the students in the workshop for letting us have a good time together. Thanks also to MAICS for providing us with such a workshop, so that we can learn and gain more from regular courses.

SIU Lok Yiu Noel

MAICS was an experience of a lifetime to me. The courses and readings provided me with brand new perspectives in viewing the world. I re-learned everything I knew in the past, everything about me, the people around me, and the society that created me. I realized that I took many things for granted and that I had never tried to look at the things and people around me as 'what they really are'.

The core of intercultural studies, in my point of view, would be to critically question ‘why things are what they are as presented to us’. It challenges nearly every related concept that the person had never questioned: What is ‘human’? What is identity? What is gender? What is love? What is a family? What is a nation? What is…And the list goes on and on.

I would like to thank all teachers and staff of MAICS for their great support to students in this challenging year. I could feel the warmth and care of the teachers both inside and outside of the classroom.