The management team and heads of departments of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS) welcomed the new students at the College Orientation Ceremony held on 30 August 2017. About 400 freshers attended the event and were joyously greeted by the faculty, staff and senior students of the College.

Professor Xiaowei ZANG, Dean of CLASS, warmly welcomed all of the freshers and congratulated them on joining the CLASS family. He introduced the Associate and Assistant Deans and the Heads of Departments of CLASS and encouraged the new students to study hard, take on new endeavours and have fun in their university life. “With the strong support of the College and departments, you will experience development and transformation in the next few years,” Professor Zang told the new students. “Absorb everything, persist and above all, have fun!”

Dr Peppina LEE, Associate Dean (Undergraduate Curriculum), introduced the University and College requirements in the four-year undergraduate curriculum and the Discovery-enriched Curriculum (“DEC”), which is actively promoted in CLASS and CityU to train students to think outside the box and make original discoveries. Dr Lee also reminded the students of the importance of academic honesty and urged them to abide by CityU’s academic honesty rules and requirements.

English Department students Sophie LAW and Emma YU shared their learning experience of working on a creative project known as “HomeTaste,” which provides a platform for non-local people to have home-cooked meals and experience local culture in Hong Kong families. “HomeTaste” won several awards at the Young Genius Convention held in Hong Kong and the World Genius Convention held in Tokyo.

Photo 2: Sophie LAW and Emma YU shared their learning experience of working on HomeTaste.

Professor Hon S CHAN, Assistant Dean (Internationalisation), encouraged the freshers to expand their horizons by taking part in a variety of internationalisation activities, such as international exchanges, cultural and language immersion and overseas summer schools. The College is active in cultivating new links with international partners to provide students with more opportunities to study abroad and explore the world. Nicola CHING, a year 4 student from the Department of Linguistics and Translation, shared her experience of the cultural and language immersion programme at Hertford College, University of Oxford.

A group of CLASS students participated in an international community service programme for four weeks in Myanmar in the past summer. They developed a tailor-made teaching curriculum for young children in Mandalay in collaboration with the Phaung Daw Oo Monastic Education School, a local NGO in Myanmar. “Our students are well prepared and well trained before they embark on service in Myanmar. They are required to attend training workshops and learn about Myanmar’s history, the core values of service delivery as well as the practical skills of classroom teaching and management,” said Dr Elaine Au, Assistant Dean (Institutional Advancement). “Engaging in service enables our students to develop their helping skills, while they also learn to respect different cultures and to show their values as global citizens. We hope to engage more CLASS students with a heart to serve.”

Photo 3: Dr Elaine AU and her students introduced the international community service programme in Myanmar.

The College has initiated an Elite Leaders Programme led by Professor Dennis Wong, Associate Dean (Student Life and Learning), to foster students’ whole-person development and nurture them to be role models, offering support to their fellow students. At the ceremony, the dean presented certificates to the elite student leaders in appreciation of their service and contributions to the College.

Photo 4: Prof Xiaowei ZANG presented the certificates to the elite student leaders.

Departmental orientation activities were also arranged to help the freshers become familiar with the people in their home academic unit and what they should know about their studies. The freshers felt welcome and they know they have the support and opportunities in CLASS to help them grow and flourish.