I'm Dirk, a mainland student from last year (2021-2)'s CUHK ELS program. It is my great pleasure and honor to share my experience studying in this wonderful community. Perhaps a lot of you are new to Hong Kong, hence my experience will be featuring three aspects about your upcoming year at this fascinating metropolis.
The first thing is, of course, the academic excellence. Even this might be among the last few stops before your disembarkation at the real society, which is surely exciting and dazzling, it's still the very beginning of your lifelong study. Hence, I would strongly suggest that you should seize the time and find your lifelong interest -- you've read so many books, articles, reviews, and theories. Is there any question unanswered? Is there any problem unsolved? There must be, and your duty as a student here is to find the question/problem that is so important to both you and the society you are in that it will irritate you from a sweet sleep, deter you from your inner peacefulness, and awaken you from self-indulgence. To find this important question/problem is so crucial, that not only the excellence of your Final Project depends totally on it, but also the meaningfulness of your academic career.
The second thing is to make the best of your opportunity of living in Hong Kong. To be honest, I was so disappointed during the first two months in HK, for its money-mania, for instance, and other things that would cause the disenchantment of a mainland outsider. However, the deeper you get involved in the city, the more you see, meet, think, and reflect, the more surprises you will have from this place. It's okay to connect your experience in HK with your academic interest, but if not, your experience here will still be a unique part of your personal history.
The last thing, future. This is a vital thing that you have to be aware of at this time. Think about your future after this program. What can it provide for you, and your future career in HK, mainland or wherever in the world? Set goals for your future and draw the most from this program. If you don't know what you want, all the help will be useless. Those idealistic dreams to read for reading’s sake, study for study’s sake are only for the gifted or geniuses. As common people, we have been thrown into the reality from the very beginning.
I earnestly hope that my sharing will be helpful for your study and your life in the upcoming year.
If you’re reading this, it means you’re interested in sinking your teeth into this MA programme. Look no more as I guarantee you that it’s exactly what will fit your learning and academic needs.
I enrolled as a part-time student and graduated in 2021. Currently, I’m an English teacher at a local secondary school. I experienced completing my masters in a hybrid mode as the pandemic struck halfway of my first year. Yet, the programme carried on the quality it had promised - with being able to speak our minds during the lectures and to be able to critique well. I fell in love with English literature only when I was in my undergrad and I wanted to pursue it further. I thought that what is offered here in CUHK was what I needed, suitable for those exploring but deep enough for our minds to be stretched. What’s more is what our professors’ credentials bring to us, with a combination of expertise and experience, I found myself aspiring to be like them one day wherein they impart knowledge in such a grace that is unlike other specialists in the field. If you are able to enter this programme, congratulations, expect to have fun and to be intellectually challenged.
The MA programme in English literary studies was one of the most enjoyable, challenging, and rewarding learning experiences in my life. It broadened my horizons with a wide variety of exciting modules while allowing me to locate and pursue my own research interest, which eventually led me to a PhD in English Literature funded by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council at the University of York. The Department has specialists in different niche areas of literature, and everyone in my cohort was always keen to offer fascinating insights. Together, they made a vibrant community for literary studies. There was never a dull day between a stroll through the Western canon, Shakespeare in performance, the Gothic literary world, and everything else that we got to explore.
My name is Wu, You (Helen), and I was a student of the MA in English (Literary Studies) programme at CUHK in the year 2016-17. I am now an English book editor at Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press (SFLEP).
The MA programme provided an opportunity to explore several literary topics in depth. There was a balance between lectures, discussion, and reading of relevant literary works. One could also hear the sharings by professors in the English Department on their latest researches. I felt lucky to have met inspiring and passionate professors and like-minded classmates during my study at CUHK.
It is after I started working as book editor that I truly learnt the importance of my education as an English major student. All that I read and wrote at university has become the resource at my service. And it is a resource I can use to fuel my career for a lifetime.
I was admitted by the ELS MA programme in 2013, and had spent an intense year with prominent professors and peer students. From different genres to a large-scale literary history, from critical approaches to creative writing, I was exposed to a wide range of literary knowledge. We are trained not only to appreciate literary works, but to appreciate them with observant eyes and a critical mind. It is this intellectually stimulating experience that ignited my passion to pursue a further adventure in the English Department. So here I am now, proudly continue the academic expedition in the MPhil programme.
Being a full-time MA student of literary studies was blissful not only because of classmates who were also very passionate in literature but also the enthusiastic Professors who spared no effort to teach and guide me, whether during or outsider the class. The well planned modules covered a board range of literary texts and made it possible for me to explore different aspects of literature in a rather short period of time. Such a vast coverage indeed helped me locate my research interest and paved the way for my PhD studies! As a matter of fact, the compulsory individual research project significantly polished my research skill and prepared myself for the research degrees I pursue then. It is the kind of intensive yet diversified learning experience that breeds and nourishes you for going further in the academia.