Tag: Lingnan University

Lingnan University was well represented at a recent prestigious conference that brought together leading academics and policymakers from around the region. The focus of the Times Higher Education’s Digital Universities Asia 2024, which took place in Bali from 1 to 3 July, was the transformation now being seen in two important areas.

One involved the steps academic institutions are taking to become more accessible and inclusive environments. The other centred on groundbreaking developments in the zone where education and technology intersect, in particular how innovative tools like generative AI will reshape diverse aspects of university life.

In a keynote speech, Lingnan’s President S. Joe Qin addressed the topic of “Reimagining Higher Education in the Age of AI”. He assessed the evolving impact of the digital revolution and what it means for curriculum content, teaching methodologies, research projects, and the overall concept of education in arts and sciences.

He noted that AI can already work on cognitive tasks, if not physical ones like cooking or cleaning. However, the rate of advances in autonomous driving, large language models (LLMs), and GPTs (generative pre-trained transformers) indicate the possibilities of using knowledge gained from data.

In May last year, ChatGPT was asked what it can bring to the field of higher education. The answers included easy access and enabling individuals or groups to generate content such as essays, poems, summaries, lyrics and code based on user input and preferences. Also mentioned were the feedback and suggestions given to improve content. ChatGPT claimed too that it can be integrated into liberal arts and AI courses and projects to enhance learning outcomes and engagement.

For universities, the key question is whether this will lead to some majors being discontinued and others being created or expanded. There are also implications for how students are taught, what skills are expected of them, and what is left to learn.

“We still want our students to build critical thinking skills, especially high-order thinking,” said Professor Qin, who is also Wai Kee Kau Chair Professor of Data Science at Lingnan. “And we need to instil our value system, so that we control AI, not the other way round.”

In July 2023, the university committed to making ChatGPT and subsequent releases available for everyone on campus. It also encouraged proposals for several new undergraduate programmes in arts and social sciences with more digitally relevant content. Starting in September 2024, all freshmen will take a common core course on generative AI to ensure they have the basic know-how and apply it.

Similarly important is a plan to promote the concept of digital humanities. The aim is to study the meaning and making of human culture, finding new insights through geographical information systems, data visualisation, network analysis, and text mining.

“History, for example, will become a lot more interesting and accessible,” Professor Qin said. “My message is that humans are at the centre of the post-AI world. In higher education, we have to adapt; we cannot expect to teach things that AI will replace effectively and efficiently.”

At the recent Global Sustainable Development Congress in Bangkok, Professor Xi Chen of Lingnan University delivered a keynote address highlighting the urgent need for groundbreaking solutions to combat climate change. As the Chair Professor and Dean of Lingnan’s School of Interdisciplinary Studies, Chen brought a wealth of expertise from his previous roles at Harvard and Columbia Universities.

Chen’s talk focused on the critical issue of “Addressing Climate Change: Negative Emission based on AI-Driven Evolution of Advanced Materials .” He emphasized that while reducing emissions through clean energy and energy efficiency improvement is crucial, it will not be enough to achieve carbon neutrality and combat climate change on its own. Direct air capture (DAC) of carbon dioxide and other carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technologies are essential to actively remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.

“It is only the CO2 in the air that can affect our climate,” Chen stated. “The Earth has the capability of absorbing CO2 naturally through forests, the oceans, and the soil; however, even during the preindustrial period, that takes tens of thousands of years. Therefore, to rely on Mother Nature to absorb the huge amount CO2 we are now producing will be impossible.”

With atmospheric CO2 levels now reaching over 420 parts per million (ppm), Chen warned that besides global warming and extreme weather we are experiencing, the first critical threshold is 450 ppm, beyond which the oceans will become dangerously acidic, leading to the potential collapse of coral reef and endanger ocean ecosystems.

Economy growth heavily relies on energy, where the inertia of fossil fuel is massive and more CO2 will be produced. Chen estimated that even by the time of carbon neutrality, over 40% of carbon emission may still persist and that must be removed through engineering pathways.

Addressing this challenge, Chen highlighted the development of “moisture swing” materials that can capture CO2 effectively from air. Furthermore, his team developed multiple ways of converting CO2 into various products, closing the carbon loop in an economical way. He led the establishment of China’s first negative emission industrial park zone, and his overall effort of distributed carbon capture and utilization has been recognized by many awards.

Furthermore, Chen discussed the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in optimizing carbon capture and utilization technologies. He explained that existing AI systems like ChatGPT lack the specific knowledge required to enhance the performance of these systems. By encoding the necessary chemistry language and design principles, Chen’s team has been able to develop generative AI platforms that can predict and optimize innovative materials and processes for more effective carbon removal.

As the world grapples with the escalating climate crisis, Professor Chen’s work at Lingnan University underscores the critical importance of pursuing multifaceted solutions that combine cutting-edge technology, policy, and individual action. By addressing the challenge of negative emissions through DAC and CCUS, alongside AI-driven advancements in energy systems, the global community can take concrete steps towards a more sustainable future.

Please click here for details of Lingnan’s talks at the Congress.

Lingnan University in Hong Kong has set up a new School of Data Science in a move designed to lead the next wave of digital developments in the higher education sector.

The objective is to offer a range of interdisciplinary programmes from bachelor’s degree to PhD level, with a focus on the transformative impact of artificial intelligence (AI) and all aspects of data science. Each course will also emphasise the importance of critical and strategic thinking skills, with a view to making the school a centre for research partnerships and positioning Hong Kong as a global hub for innovation and technology.

According to Lingnan’s President S. Joe Qin, the goal is to pioneer understanding and use of AI and, in doing so, to become Asia’s leading liberal arts research university in the digital era.

At a special plaque-unveiling ceremony to mark the establishment of the new school, the attendees included notable figures from government, academia, and business.

Professor Dong Sun, Hong Kong’s Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, took the opportunity to commend Lingnan’s initiative, noting that it was the beginning of a new chapter which would see greater integration of the arts, humanities and sciences. This, he said, is the future direction of higher education, as data-related expertise becomes indispensable and demand for talent with diverse skills and attributes continues to rise.

Looking ahead, new programmes which specifically address these needs will help to drive economic growth and ensure Hong Kong remains highly competitive in a fast-changing world. With that in mind, Lingnan is introducing a new common core course in generative AI for all first-year undergraduates as from the 2024/25 academic year. This will give students the essential knowledge and practical skills needed to make best use of the latest technology, while also covering methods of evaluation and key ethical considerations.

Programmes Offered:

Undergraduate:
LEO Dr David P. Chan Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Data Science
Minor Programme in Data Science
Common Core Course in the Core Curriculum: Generative Artificial Intelligence

Taught Postgraduate:
Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence and Business Analytics (MScAIBA)
Master of Science in Data Science (MScDS)
Master of Science in Industrial Data Analytics (MScIDA, to be offered in 2025/26)
Master of Science in Smart City Technologies and Applications (MScSCTA, to be offered in 2025/26)

Research Postgraduate:
M.Phil./Ph.D. Programme in Data Science (to be offered in 2025/26)

Explore more: https://www.ln.edu.hk/sds/programmes-and-courses

The potential of the arts and culture sector to enrich lives, boost economies and generate new career opportunities, can be witnessed across the globe. In Hong Kong, the M+ art museum only debuted to the public in late 2021 but has already established itself as one of the most popular exhibition spaces in Asia. While on the Mainland, the boom in the construction of cultural infrastructure has continued apace since the early years of the century.

This growth is leading to a burgeoning demand for trained professionals who have both a broad perspective and an innovative approach, as well as the ability to run a wide range of facilities and events in this rapidly evolving field. That is why Lingnan University, Hong Kong, together with Goldsmiths, University of London, are launching a new MA in Arts Administration and Cultural Policy (MAAACP) this year. Students enrolled on this dual-degree programme will split their time between Hong Kong and London, and will have the opportunity to gain not only a unique international perspective but also two internationally-recognised degrees.

To underline the value of the MAAACP’s international aspect, programme co-director Professor Eric Chan, of Lingnan’s School of Graduate Studies, points out that successful professionals working in this sector are likely to move around the world in the course of their careers. “This mobility exposes these professionals to more diverse experiences, influences and ideas, that can enhance their creative outputs and their understanding of different cultural contexts.”

However, Prof Chan adds, an international perspective is also increasingly important for those who work solely in their home countries. “Local arts and culture professionals need to adopt a more global lens when presenting the local arts and cultural content to a global audience.”

A unique partnership and a unique opportunity

Professor Elle Li, School of Graduate Studies faculty and Prof Chan’s fellow programme co-director, believes the MAAACP will give students a wonderful chance to experience the differences, as well as the similarities, between the cultural environments in London and Hong Kong.

“In London they are likely to encounter a multicultural-metropolis scene that reflects its diverse population with a variety of cultural expressions from around the world,” she notes. “By contrast, Hong Kong’s arts and culture scene is shaped by its unique position as a nexus between East and West, its relatively recent colonial past, and its return to China.”

But beyond the opportunity students will have to immerse themselves in these exciting environments, the rich mix of theoretical and experiential learning in the programme’s curriculum is designed to leave them extremely well-positioned for life after graduation.

“We want to help our students enhance their employability in this super-competitive world,” says Prof Li. To that end, the MAAACP curriculum integrates theory and practice in areas such as arts management, cultural policy, curatorial practice, art projects, entrepreneurial initiatives, and professional education. “It is crucial that in arts education, nowadays, we provide out students with a broader and more diverse understanding of the global arts trends, theory, knowledge and practice.”

Today’s historians are able to deploy a range of digital technologies to identify new research sources, analyse historical patterns and uncover once-marginalised voices. They can also visualise, present, and disseminate historical materials and findings, through digital media, and via Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality simulations, to reach ever wider audiences. Most excitingly, the possibilities of some of the latest developments, such as in the field of generative AI, are still yet to be fully explored.

“We could train an AI bot with text from the Han Dynasty, from around 2,000 years ago,” explains Professor Leung, Head of Lingnan University’s Department of History. “Once properly trained, we could then talk to a ‘person’ from the Han Dynasty.”

Prof Leung believes such technologies are opening up unprecedented opportunities for researchers, teachers and students, and enabling the general public to engage with and appreciate history, as never before. To support those aiming to seize these opportunities, Lingnan’s Department of History will launch its new MA programme in Digital History in Global Asia (DHGA) in September 2024.

Lingnan University’s new MA in Digital History in Global Asia

The DHGA will be the first MA of its kind, both within Hong Kong and the wider region, and Lingnan’s liberal arts ethos combined with the Department of History’s teaching talent, make the university the ideal home for such a programme.

“We hope to train our students to, first, use the tools really well and then to understand the meaning of the new data that is generated,” Prof Leung says.

The focus on Asia’s global past in the programme is intended to provide students with concrete material to apply the digital tools to. What’s more, many of the early developments in the digital humanities, digital history and geographical information systems, were made by scholars in Asian studies.

“One of the first corpuses of text fully digitised was the Buddhist corpus,” Prof Leung notes. This track record provides the MA with deep foundations to build on, and Asia continues to be at the forefront of the evolution of digital history.

Preparation for an exciting future

The skills and understandings to be gained on the DHGA programme are in demand in a range of fields, such as education, the creative media, cultural management, heritage preservation, information science, programming, and academia.

The programme’s four core courses are designed to provide foundational knowledge, while the elective courses will explore digital tools and their potential uses. Students will learn to use a range of digital applications for historical research, including: QGIS (Geographic information Systems mapping); Gephi, Tableau, Excel and other database software, and; SketchUp and Visual Novel, for 3D rendering and visual storytelling.

When it comes to the DHGA’s final capstone project, Prof Leung says he wants students to make their own personal choice of topic, one that is not only relevant but also that they find inspiring. “It will really depend on the specific interests of the students, but we do want it to have a very concrete, substantive digital component.”

The QS Higher Education APAC Summit 2023, a crucial event for academics and administrators, took place in Kuala Lumpur from 7-9 November 2023. As a significant precursor, Lingnan University hosted a Pre-Summit APAC 2023 at its Hong Kong campus on 3 November 2023. The Pre-Summit primarily focused on liberal arts, exploring the ongoing evolution of these disciplines and the growing impact of technology inside and outside the classroom.

This hybrid event drew an audience of 400, with influential figures from the Asia-Pacific region discussing the future evolution of arts and humanities disciplines and their implications for universities, students, and teaching and learning approaches.

Professor S. Joe Qin, Lingnan’s President, highlighted the significant development in China’s higher education system, with a growing emphasis on innovation, entrepreneurship, internationalisation, and student outcomes. He stressed that forward-looking institutions must commit to change and foster the outlook and partnerships necessary for keeping pace with the digital era.

The agenda included discussions on the latest uses of technology in and beyond the classroom and specific steps liberal arts universities are taking to adapt and thrive in this new age. In his keynote address, Professor Michael Hui, Vice-Rector of Academic Affairs at the University of Macau, emphasized the need to integrate technology into all aspects of campus life and promote interdisciplinary collaboration.

In a subsequent session, the special President’s Forum focused on “The Art of STEM”. Speakers discussed how to integrate scientific thinking into a liberal arts curriculum, agreeing that all students will require STEM-related skills for their research projects, future careers, and meaningful contributions to society.

Professor Diana Laurillard, Professor of Learning with Digital Technologies, UCL Knowledge Lab, Institute of Education, University College London, in her keynote at the Pre-Summit APAC 2023, discussed the importance of digital technology in enhancing student engagement and critical thinking in a liberal arts education. She highlighted the need for teachers’ confidence in delivering online content and for assessments to reflect real-world digital realities.

In a panel discussion, academics and a tech CEO emphasized the importance of liberal arts education in fostering global understanding and employability. They discussed the value of internationalization, cultural exchange programs, industry-academic collaboration, and the critical role of liberal arts education in tackling societal issues like nuclear power safety.

In summary, the QS Higher Education APAC Pre-Summit 2023 underscored the critical and evolving role of liberal arts in higher education. The discussions emphasized the need for integrating technology, fostering internationalization, promoting interdisciplinary collaboration, and preparing students for a rapidly changing world. The event highlighted that universities, teachers, and students must embrace change, collaborate broadly, and harness the power of technology to enhance learning and address complex societal issues.

Please follow this link for highlights from the keynote speeches, President’s Forum, and Panel Discussion.

Lingnan University, a distinguished institution in Hong Kong, is globally recognized for its commitment to quality education and impactful research. As a leading liberal arts university, Lingnan is renowned for its top-tier international faculty and strong emphasis on nurturing close relationships between staff and students. This creates a uniquely supportive environment for advanced studies in this vibrant and energetic city.

Established in Guangzhou in 1888, Lingnan University has a rich and illustrious history. It prospered in higher education under the names of Lingnan Xuexiao and Lingnan University until 1952, before being re-established in Hong Kong in 1967. Today, Lingnan’s goal is to evolve into a research-intensive liberal arts institution in the digital era, recognized globally for exceptional teaching, learning, research, and community engagement.

The university’s consistent performance in promoting sustainable development goals has been highlighted in the Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings. Lingnan has been ranked among the world’s top three for “Quality Education” for four consecutive years, most recently claiming the second spot globally. The university also secured a position among the top 100 universities in East Asia in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2023 for its impressive performance in individual subjects.

In the latest Research Assessment Exercise 2020 conducted by the University Grants Committee (UGC), its research in humanities, business, and social sciences was classified as “World Leading” (4 star) and “Internationally Excellent” (3 star). Some research disciplines under business and social sciences also ranked 1st or 2nd among all public universities in Hong Kong in terms of the percentage of “World Leading” research work.

Currently, Lingnan University offers 27 MPhil and/or PhD programmes in Arts, Business, Science, and Social Sciences disciplines. The university ensures close and supportive thesis supervision through student-centered learning, one of its core values. This focus on the student is further enhanced by full-time PhD programmes in collaboration with Mainland universities, providing a broader range of learning opportunities, especially for interdisciplinary research studies.

Lingnan provides generous funding support to research postgraduate (RPg) students, including scholarships and sponsorships. These include competitive studentships, conference/field trip sponsorships, and overseas research visit scholarships, all designed to facilitate participation in various scholarly, academic/research-related, exchange, and experiential learning activities. Tuition waivers and subsidies on hostel accommodation may also be available.

The University is now inviting applications for the 2024-25 academic year, commencing in September 2024. Successful candidates will have the opportunity to pursue in-depth study in specific research areas. Applicants may seek admission to our PhD programmes via the UGC’s Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme by 1 December 2023 (no late applications will be accepted) or to our MPhil and PhD programmes via direct admission by 19 January 2024.

For more details regarding Lingnan RPg programmes, application methods, and requirements, please visit the University website at https://www.ln.edu.hk/rpg/.

Lingnan University (Lingnan) is the innovative home of the liberal arts in Hong Kong. As part of Times Higher Education’s Connect Research Stories series, six of Lingnan’s leading figures described how the university is building on both its traditional values, and the possibilities of digital technology, to create exciting pathways for both staff and students.

“We are in a great position to venture and lead with our liberal arts education model,” noted Lingnan President Professor S. Joe Qin. This model, he said, is based on whole-person education, or boya in Chinese. Given Hong Kong’s status as a world city, Prof Qin wants to see Lingnan at the forefront of the merging of Eastern and Western aspects of liberal arts education.

Pun Ngai is chair professor, and head, of the Department of Cultural Studies at Lingnan. “Students come to cultural studies because they would like to pursue creativity,” she explained. “Through cultural commons, through social innovation, through creativity, we can really generate different forms of community projects.”

Prof Pun’s department created its i-COMMON platform to connect with more than 30 community partners engaged in activities such as social enterprises and organic farming.

Lingnan’s Science Unit also values collaboration with local communities, as well as its interaction with faculty from other disciplines. “It’s important to us to show that we’re doing something of worth,” said the Science Unit’s Professor Jonathan Fong.

Prof Fong explained that when conducting research – for example, into changes in Hong Kong’s air pollution – it was necessary to ask, ‘What does this mean to the general public?’, and can the work be used to influence public policy and make a positive impact on society.

William Hayward, chair professor of psychology and dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, pointed out that his faculty actively engage with not only Lingnan’s many international partners, but also with the surrounding community in Hong Kong’s socially deprived North West New Territories.

The possibilities of digital technology and data science offer new tools for this work, Prof Hayward said. “And that requires us to be interdisciplinary, to work with data scientists and to bring people in who have expertise in AI, social computation, and so forth.”

Professor William Liu Guanglin, of Lingnan’s Department of History, grew up on the Mainland as Deng Xiaoping’s economic reforms were transforming China, and this experience, he said, has shaped his outlook.

“Economic history is basically an interdisciplinary subject between history and economics,” Prof Liu explained. He added that it is both fascinating and challenging to reconcile the very different methodologies used in each subject.

Yau Yung is a professor of urban studies in Lingnan’s School of Graduate Studies. As an example of the ways in which his team aims to create real-world impact and help realise a more sustainable future, Professor Yau cited its work to help end unsafe and inadequate housing in Hong Kong.

“The city’s poorest have no choice but living in subdivided flats.” These are tiny, many have no natural light, and sometimes cooking, toilet and sleeping spaces are all in the same cubicle.

Please click here to view the video series.