Undergraduate newsletter 2021-2022 Campus view at HKUST. Photo taken by Prof. Cameron Campbell. School of Humanities and Social Science
Quantitative Social Analysis (QSA), offered by the Division of Social Science is a unique program binding rigorous social science knowledge and theory with data science and analytic skills. In a world where big data are increasingly available and analyzing them creates a new business and industry, the potential of young but rigorous QSA can be infinite. Globally the last academic year was so severely hit by the pandemic. In our University, most classes were conducted either online or in a mixed-mode. Yet, our students have carried out their best efforts despite the unprecedented challenge. We had our first cohort who graduated with the QSA degree andmoved forward to their next chapter in life. We are hearing great achievements by this first cohort of graduates including working as an analyst in a leading global firm, being admitted to a prominent PhD program, and many others. Many of our rising final and third-year students have already participated in internships in government, businesses, and nonprofits where they apply what they learned in class to the real world. Others have joined faculty research projects with a more academic application of their learning. In this newsletter, you will learn more about the activities of our students, with stories and thoughts from their perspectives. As a new director of the program, I look forward to meeting all of our new and returning QSA students face to face in the coming academic year. “ ” On behalf of the School of Humanities and Social Science and Global China Studies (GCS), I want to welcome you all, our new and returning students. GCS is a unique program which provides a learning environment for students to explore issues pertinent to China across disciplines in humanities and social sciences and to deepen their inquiry through focused tracks of study. Students are trained to examine the issues critically in relation to the modern world. To enrich students’ learning experience and broaden their horizons, a variety of training programs are offered including exchange and internship programs. Because of the pandemic, the exchange program has been suspended and may be resumed in Spring 2022. Nevertheless, the internship program has continued. On the other hand, new opportunities such as the virtual exchange program and the co-op program have been introduced to provide students with a different kind of exposure. Moreover, with the generous support from our honorary advisor, Prof. Albert Ip, potential internship and full-time opportunities were brought to the current students and the class of 2021. Through the introduction of these new initiatives and opportunities, we hope to covey one message – we care about our students and are here to help especially during this trying time. No one would have expected that the pandemic would have gone on for so long. Our daily lives have been disrupted. Nevertheless, the disruption does not deter our students from continuing to excel in their performances. You will find in this newsletter the achievements and learning experiences shared by your fellow classmates including the honors and awards they received, the internships they undertook and the stories they told about their unforgettable experience in this past year. I wish you a fruitful and exciting year ahead and look forward to meeting you face-to-face. Please continue to stay safe and healthy. “ ” Welcome Message from the Associate Dean and Program Directors Prof. Carine YIU Associate Dean (UG) and GCS Program Director Prof. Jean HONG QSA Program Director 3 SHSS Undergraduate Newsletter 2021________________________________________________ 2 ________________________________________________SHSS Undergraduate Newsletter 2021
Students’ Achievements AU Yee Man (GCS) - Tin Ka Ping Scholarship (Community Leadership), HKUST CHAN Sze Yuen (QSA) - Alumni Endowment Fund Community Service, HKUST CHENG Yu (GCS) - 3rd runner up, HKUST Inter-University Public Policy Case Competition 2021 DONG Bochen (GCS) - Talent Development Scholarship, HKSAR Government FOO Wing Yung (GCS) - Young Geographer of the Year Award 2021 of Critical Eye Theme in Tertiary Education Division, Royal Geographical Society KWAN Lok Man (GCS) - 優秀訪員獎，中國人民大學中國調查與數據中心 LAM Ka Yan (GCS) - HKUST Diversity Scholarships LI Jingchen (QSA) - Continuing Awards, HKSAR Government NGAU Ming De Pearl (GCS) - HSBC Greater Bay Area (Hong Kong) Scholarship, HSBC WANG Yinan (GCS) - Tin Ka Ping Scholarship (Dream Chaser), Tin Ka Ping Foundation WANG Yiwei (QSA) - Ng Hong Mun Educational Foundation Outstanding Student Scholarship, HKUST YIU Ching Tung (QSA) - HKUST Diversity Scholarships 5 SHSS Undergraduate Newsletter 2021________________________________________________ 4 ________________________________________________SHSS Undergraduate Newsletter 2021
The experience was eye-opening that we were exposed to various Chinese cultures like Kungfu, Cha Dao, etc. Although it was relatively intensive, my summer has never been that fascinating. The course I took is about Development Economy taught by Prof. Liu Yu and it doesn’t require students to have any specific knowledge beforehand. Though the course is a bit demanding, I’m trained to become a quick learner. Collins FANG (Fudan University) I took German courses during the summertime as I’m interested in it, and I think it might be helpful to my personal enrichment. I’m delighted that students could receive great support for various exploration even under the pandemic. Danial DONG (University of Vienna) The 3 weeks Summer Virtual Exchange was an intellectually stimulating journey. I enrolled in a course called War & Diplomacy offered by the Department of War Studies. As the only Asian in the class, I was able to share my views and discuss the issues related to China and Hong Kong with others. Hugo CHU (King’s College London) Exchange I went to Prague a few years ago and I love the city, so I applied to the virtual exchange program offered by Charles University. I took a course about the architecture styles in Prague and one about Jewish history, and both courses were fascinating. We even had virtual tours of the city during the class to find out more about the place! Natalie CHU (Czech Republich) I’m very happy to have the opportunity to participate in the Summer Virtual Exchange Program. It was definitely a great opportunity to meet different amazing people around the world, especially under the pandemic. And I got a chance to take courses that are not offered at HKUST! Charlotte LAU (Tsinghua University) I really enjoyed the SJTU AI Camp! At first, I was afraid it’s hard to catch up as I didn’t have any knowledge about programming. Yet, the Camp was designed for students without any background on AI. Therefore, I was able to learn how to use Python and create a simple calculator. Lok Man KWAN (Shanghai Jiao Tong University) This summer exchange had broadened my horizonsandallowedme to furtherdevelopmy interests. I took two courses at RUC with one on international relations in movie industry and the other on hedge funds. Though the program was held online, we were able to meet with people from different parts of the world and exchange views with them. Waverly OU YANG (Renmin University of China) NOTE: Due to the pandemic, HKUST has suspended all physical exchange programs and offered virutal exchange experiences to all undergraduate students. 7 SHSS Undergraduate Newsletter 2021________________________________________________ 6 ________________________________________________SHSS Undergraduate Newsletter 2021
Angel CHEUNG Inter Cultural Education Ltd. During the internship at ICE, I got a chance to work in the marketing department and was involved in the social media promotions and event organization. I got hands-on experience on content creation for social media promotions and participated in a YouTube video production. I gained knowledge on how to maximize the promotion effects by the use of hashtags and keywords, the tone of the captions and more. It was an invaluable experience for me to receive the online marketing training in real workplace. I really enjoyed my time at ICE and thank SHSS for organizing the internship program. Internship I spent a month interning at Hong Kong Maritime Museum during the winter semester break and I was assigned to prepare educational materials for children to learn more about the maritime history. Throughout the designing process of the booklet, I got to know more about the lighthouse and Zheng He’s treasure ships, and how to showcase these exhibits to younger audiences. I also learned about the maritime history in China and Hong Kong, which enriches my knowledge gained from my major studies at SHSS. During the internship, I engaged in a project which evaluates the behaviors of the audience when they browse the websites. The project is divided into 3 parts: page views, webpage layout, and user experience. As a marketing assistant, I was also responsible for content creation and design work, which I enjoyed most and which enabled me to expose to Adobe Illustrator, as well as data analysis. It is important to know the trend and audience tastes in order to boost your promotion to the right recipients. This internship allowed me to expose to various kinds of art exhibitions, and I was able to engage in the whole preparation process from developing the theme and concept to communicating with the artists and finally the holding of the exhibition. With the experience of organizing an art exhibition, I obtained the basic knowledge of contemporary art, which differs from other kinds of art that it does not have a specific form or shape for display but ideas matter. Next time when you go to an art exhibition, try to understand the meanings behind the art piece. GCS GCS QSA GCS I personally enjoy communicating with people to find out what they need, so I think the Human Resources Department is definitely a good place from which I could gain a lot of experience. During my internship, I was responsible for the onboarding and offboarding matters for all interns as well as data management. Though it sounds like a piece of cake, time management and accuracy are important. This internship is challenging yet rewarding. It is worth learning the basics of Natural Language Processing (NLP) and designing the algorithm for the project, which I might not have a chance to do so during my studies. The internship experience is just like an early bird offer for me to try different things related to my study. It is very helpful to my career and academic planning. SHSS internship program has given me a rare chance to gain real-life experience fromcompanies and organizations in different industries. It is hard for students to find a job that is related to their major – Quantitative Social Analysis, as it is a relatively new program. I was lucky to have a chance to know more about the work that is related tomy course. After the internship program, I think I have a better and clearer understanding of myself and even my future career path. I am happy that I can apply my knowledge to a real-life business situation. I have learned a lot of questionnaire design techniques in psychology and major courses. So, it should not be a very difficult task to design a questionnaire. Of course, there is still room for improvement, but we at least met our targets. Through this internship, I learned how to do the data cleaning properly and how to design a good questionnaire. I am confident that I could clean the data more effectively next time! GCS QSA QSA QSA Chloe FOO HK Maritime Museum Kristy HO Asia Society HK Centre Cheuk Yiu IP Datafarm Limited Mei Kuen WONG TWGHs Maisy Ho Archives and Relics Centre Koey YAO BNET-TECH Company Limited Morris TSOI Tai Kwun Contemporary Selah LO ELCHK, Social Service Head Office 9 8
SHSS1050 Co-op Program The Co-op Program has sharpened my skills in internship hunting. Moreover, students will have an alumnus assigned to them as their mentor and provide themwithadviceoncareer andacademic development. I’m delighted that I am given the opportunity to intern at Lidl Asia and I really enjoy my time there. Before joining the Co-op program, I struggled a bit as it requires us to take a gap semester for the internship though the program is credit-bearing. But I’m glad that I’ve made a right decision and is currently one month of my internship at Lidl Asia. I’m currently working at the Regulatory Compliance Department focusing on the supply chain, social compliance and corporate social responsibility. I’m delighted to be exposed to an unknown area and be involved in project work with my colleagues. None of this would be possible without the support of SHSS UG Team and Development and Alumni Office. Hugo CHU (GCS) Natalie CHU (GCS) Amidst the uncertainty and challenges brought about by the global pandemic, we are delighted to partner with the Development and Alumni Office to launch the SHSS Co-op Program, the first credit-bearing program at HKUST that engages our alumni in a systematic way to support our students’ personal and professional development. Before starting to work in the Co-op companies, our first cohort of Co-op students had received pre-employment training from seasoned alumni professionals and attended one-on-one mock interviews conducted by alumni in senior mangement. During the six-month employment period, the Co-op students work full-time and receive remuneration while being given advice and support from their dedicated alummentors. We look forward to welcomingmore Co-op students in the fall / winter semester. Meanwhile, please take a moment to see what our students have to say about their Co-op experience below! By joining this program, I’ve got the opportunity to work in an international company – Recruit Express, which allows me to know more about the operation of a recruitment organization as well as the utilization of IT skills in the industry. Apart from the internship experience, I’mpleased to have an alumnus being my mentor and giving me advice on my academic development and career planning. I’mglad that I have joined the Coop program which brings me such an invaluable experience. Yannes LAM (GCS) Scan and find out more about the Co-op program! 11 SHSS Undergraduate Newsletter 2021________________________________________________ 10 ________________________________________________SHSS Undergraduate Newsletter 2021
BSc in Global China Studies (JS5411) gcspgm@ust.hk 2358 8023 BSc in Quantitative Social Analysis (JS5412) qsapgm@ust.hk 2358 8438 Editor-in-chief: Prof. Carine YIU Design & Initial Editing: Tina YIK @hkust.shssug HKUST SHSS Undergraduate www.shss.ust.hk Program Enquiries Follow us and stay connected!
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