Newsletter No. 131

CUHK Newsletter No. 131 19th September 1998 3 New Dean, New visions Prof. Kwok Siu-tong graduated with a BA in history from The Chinese University in 1972, and obtained his MA and Ph.D. in history from the University of California at Berkeley in 1974 and 1981 respectively. He joined the University as assistant lecturer in history in 1977, was promoted to lecturer rank in 1981, and senior lecturer (professor) rank in 1992. Prof. Kwok was dean of students of Chung Chi College in 1992-93, and has been University Dean of Students since August 1996. In June 1998’ he was elected Dean of Arts to serve a term of three years from 1st August 1998. Prof. S.T. Kwok Out l ines Plans for the Faculty of Arts From the economic takeoff in the 70s to the Sino-British talks in the 80s, from the beginning of the transitional period to the opening of the Chek Lap Kok airport, Hong Kong has undergone multitudinous changes. As a faculty that traditionally emphasizes synchronization with the times, how should the Faculty of Arts respond to changes and the approaching millenium? Prof. Kwok Siu-tong, the newly elected Dean of A r t s , believes that repositioning the faculty in relation to university, society, country, and the world, is c r u c i a l . Time Opportune for Overall Review Prof. Kwok w i l l begin his new appointment by carrying a detailed review of the faculty with the help of the three sub-deans, posts he newly created, who are respectively responsible for teaching development, research development, and cultural and educational development. Each department in the faculty will do an internal review of its curriculum, teaching methodology, and research activities to find out, in particular, i f they are congruous with the times. Prof. Kwok explained, 'In the past 10 to 20 years, for example, increasing emphasis has been placed on inter-disciplinary teaching and research. Yet is there enough inter-disciplinary or interdepartmental cooperation? Are we only keeping up with the times or leading? Is the knowledge we disseminate at the foremost of the times?' Prof. Kwok pointed out that other than conducting reviews, the departments w i l l organize new academic programmes, embark on new ventures to improve teaching quality, and explore new directions for development. Teaching exchange with leading universities in the world, which Prof. Kwok described as lagging behind that of research, will be a major focus of development. To make the most of such activities, especially those related to mainland Chinese institutions, he suggests putting on a CD-Rom all data concerning the development of arts subjects in all universities on the mainland, so that one can tell at a glance what kind of exchange and involving wh i ch institutions wou ld be most beneficial to all concerned. Teaching Evaluation Teaching evaluation is another area at issue. Prof. Kwok has observed from speaking to teaching staff at the Faculty of Arts that many have reservations about the current evaluation exercise. An ideal evaluation should take into account the unique characteristics of the faculty as well as those of the individual departments and programmes. 'The University and the University Grants Committee should perhaps give greater consideration to the individual attributes of the departments and faculties when designing teaching evaluations. We may discuss this with other faculties of arts at other universities as this is a common issue,' he remarked. Uniqueness of Research in the Arts Research in the arts disciplines traditionally tends to be an individualized effort, emphasizing the individual scholar's profound and thorough understanding of a topic. It is substantially different from group research, which involves the expression of many different viewpoints on a broad topic and is more prevalent in the medical, engineering, and science disciplines. As it tends to be more extensive in scale and scope than individual research, group research is generally given more favourable consideration by the Research Grants Council (RGC) when vetting earmarked grant applications. The very nature of research in the arts disciplines sets them at a disadvantage in the competition for financial support for research. Prof. Kwok pointed out that for medium- to small-sized departments such as the Departments of History, Japanese Studies, or Fine Arts, developing a large research proposal involving the entire department is neither easy nor practical unless the research interests of all teaching staff coincide. However, the department may then suffer from another setback—a lack of diversity. 'It is unreasonable to expect the departments to demonstrate both harmony and diversity in terms of research interests. A characteristic of the Department of History, for instance, is its comprehensiveness— there are staff doing research on different eras and areas. Group research would necessitate a narrowing down of their respective topics which would subsequently l imit the research development of the department,' Prof. Kwok explained. A related issue is having enough appropriate local reviewers. Given the diversity of the fields of specialization, researchers w i t h similar interests may become competitors, and hence, may adversely affect reviews. Another problem for the faculty is the RGC's requirement that research be 'relevant' to the demands of society. The good thing about being 'relevant' is, amongst other things, that immediate contribution to society is greater. Yet, Prof. Kwok believes what the faculty or this university is dealing with is the world and questions of human existence which may not directly have much to do with the practical needs of a particular society. ' A research project at the Department of Philosophy or the Department of Fine Arts, for example, may not have any direct bearings on the demands of the times,' he said. 'The kind of intellectual reflection involved may be of a higher level than what one would expect of mundane living. Yet how is this going to help a project in the competition for research funding?' The sub-dean of research development is to work closely with the Arts and Languages Panel of the University's Research Committee and the Research Institute for the Humanities to coordinate research efforts within the faculty and to encourage interdisciplinary research in particular. Prof. Kwok hopes that in this way, staff w i ll find new directions for development and intellectual reflections of a more interdisciplinary nature w i ll take place. 'On the one hand, we hope to maintain the uniqueness of the faculty, and on the other hand, we have to heed the government's requirement,' Prof. Kwok concluded. Uniqueness of Publishing Activities 'Publish or perish' may be a platitude for academics, yet being able to produce a required quantity of publications remains a painful reality for many trying to survive in academia. Academic contribution is increasingly measured through quantification, a Western approach widely adopted in medicine, engineering, and to some extent, social science, by governments and universities. For the arts disciplines which focus on the publishing of books rather than articles, and on individual rather than joint effort, this can pose a problem. While stressing that the quantification of contribution is 'not completely inappropriate', Prof. Kwok pointed out that writing a book may take much longer than ajournal article. 'A famous academic may only be able to complete one or two books of importance in an entire lifetime. An experienced staff may take about five years to write a book, and is able to maintain the uniqueness of his/her research while satisfying requirements for quantity. But staff w i th fewer years behind them may have a hard time,' he said. Creativity is also an important element in the arts. And one cannot expect novels to be written at the same rate as medical papers. Prof. Kwok calls for more f l ex i b i l i ty and diversity, more attention to quality and not only quantity in setting academic requirements. Another standard he wishes to question is the use of English in publishing. 'As The Chinese University, we have a cultural mission towards Hong Kong and China, and as such, we should write in Chinese,' said Prof. Kwok who prefers to have works translated from Chinese for the international market. He admitted that works written in Chinese may have problems becoming international, yet becoming international should not be the University's primary aim. 'If going international was our primary aim, we should teach and publish purely in English. We shouldn't even be bilingual. What is special about Hong Kong and this university is they are multicultural and bilingual, but with roots in Chinese culture.' The faculty w i ll meet with other faculties of arts in Hong Kong to discuss how articles and books should be published and evaluated, how creative endeavours in music, art, literature, philosophy, and religion should be compared and evaluated, and how to handle works that fall between creation and research, between being cultural and academic. Culture and Education The sub-dean for cultural and educational development will be responsible for promoting culture in educational activities among secondary schools and youth in general. 'We as academics at this university should not hide in an ivory tower. An important mission in the founding of the University is to contribute towards the society we live in. There are 10 departments at the Faculty of Arts, each of which is capable of influencing culture and society in its own way. There's a lot we can offer. We have to decide how,' said Prof. Kwok. Budget Cuts Would the carrying out of these basic issues of repositioning be affected by tightening resources? Prof. Kwok said an ideal underlying the founding of the University back in 1963 was its cultural mission towards China which it should carry out through the development and dissemination of Chinese culture and Chinese-Western cultural exchange. The University was created to be one with a world vision and Chinese characteristics. This founding ideal, Prof. Kwok pointed out, is closely related to the mission of the Faculty of Arts. T he arts and humanities are about the study of people and the value of people. Resources are important for our development but it is not the most important consideration. People's ideals, their sense of mission, responsibility, and belonging, and their identification with the times, society, and this university, are more important.' Piera Chen