Course Enrolments

Students who wish to change their 2025-26 First Term course enrolments are reminded to do so via the CUSIS during the following specified add/drop periods:

Undergraduate programme: Between 8:30pm on 8 September 2025 and 8:30pm on 14 September 2025
Postgraduate programmes: Between 10am on 1 September 2025 and 5:30pm on 15 September 2025

Recapping the “Academic Counselling for New Students of the Undergraduate Programme” conducted on 12 August 2025

Almost 70 new History students joined the Academic Counselling Session organised by the Department of History on 12 August 2025 to gain a better understanding of the Undergraduate Programme offered by the Department.

The Academic Counselling began with a warm welcoming speech given by Prof. CHEUNG Sui Wai, Department Chairman. After that, Prof. TSE Wai Kit Wicky introduced the programme features, study schemes, and course selection requirements. Senior undergraduate students were also invited to share their fruitful experience of university life. During the welcome lunch, participants were keen to take the opportunity to meet and exchange views with the Department’s teaching staff.

Recapping the “Kyoto University - CUHK History Student Cultural Exchange Seminar and Fellowship Dinner” held on 12 August 2025

“Kyoto University – CUHK History Student Cultural Exchange Seminar and Fellowship Dinner” was held on 12 August 2025. Prof. Ian MORLEY, Vice Chairman of Department of History, delivered the welcome speech. Fourteen undergraduate students from Kyoto University visited the Department and participated in the seminar. They also gave presentations on four topics, namely “Japanese University Life,” “Contemporary Japanese Culture,” “The History and Culture of Kyoto,” and “Japanese Food Culture.” Thirteen undergraduate students from our Department took part in the seminar, in which three of them made presentations on “History Undergraduates’ Bizarre Adventure,” “Food Culture in Hong Kong and Delicacies at CUHK,” and “The Five Things to Do in CUHK as a Year 1 History Major Student.” Students from both universities greatly enjoyed the presentations, discussions in the seminar, and fellowship dinner.

Recapping the “Orientation Workshop for Research Postgraduate Students 2025-26” conducted on 21 August 2025

The Orientation Workshop for Research Postgraduate Students was conducted on 21 August 2025. The workshop was hosted by Prof. PUK Wing Kin, Head of Graduate Division, with the welcome notes delivered by Prof. CHEUNG Sui Wai, Department Chairman. It provided an overview of the Department and programme features to postgraduate students. Miss Emily CHEUNG, Assistant Lecturer, then gave a briefing on the duty of teaching assistants in the Department.

Recapping the Academic Seminars delivered by Prof. SO Kee Long Billy conducted on 25 August and 27 August 2025

Prof. SO Kee Long Billy, Fellow of the Hong Kong Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences at The University of Hong Kong, was invited by the Department of History to deliver two academic seminars on 25 August and 27 August 2025.

The first lecture was entitled “The Morality, Rationality, Legality of Modern Corporations: From the Perspectives of Kinkōdō in Tokyo and the Commercial Press in Shanghai before 1930.” In the lecture, Prof. SO revealed a comparative history of modern corporations in China and Japan.

This lecture is a summary of Prof. SO’s latest monograph, The Morality, Rationality and Legality of Modern Corporation, coauthored with Prof. Sufumi SO. At the beginning, Prof. SO raised his central research questions: What is wealth and what is justice, in the context of a corporation? He highlighted three keywords—morality, rationality and legality—and explored how modern Chinese entrepreneurs, the new Western corporate system, and corporate law interacted with one another. The Commercial Press in Shanghai was a significant publisher in modern China. However, due to difficulties in accessing its archives, research is mostly limited to the company’s own history. By examining other relevant sources, Prof. SO uncovered the early history of the Commercial press as a Sino-Japanese joint venture invested by Kinkōdō, the leading publisher in Meiji-era Japan. The experience of Kinkōdō and the Commercial Press exemplifies different approaches in adapting modern corporate system in the context of “glocolisation.” Prof. SO concluded his talk with four cases: the corruption affair of textbooks, Chinese typewriter, paper used for printing books, the traditional judgment system of Chinese guilds.

The second talk was entitled “What is History? A Matter of Knowledge, Narrative, and Commitment?” In the talk, Prof. SO shared his experience as a historian spanning over 50 years.

Prof. SO traced his academic journey across various parts of the world. He majored in history at The Chinese University of Hong Kong and later pursued his PhD at the Australian National University under the supervision of Prof. WANG Gungwu. After graduation, he held academic positions at the National University of Singapore, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, the University of Macau, and The University of Hong Kong. His understanding of history evolved through different phases of his career, as reflected in his scholarly works from different periods. He concluded that insightful historical knowledge could bring peace of mind in unsettling times.

Over the past decades, Prof. SO’s interpretation of history shifted from positivism to post-positivism, from merely verifying historical materials to reconstructing narratives based on evidence. His deep concern for the issue of wealth, justice, and humanity has been a driving force throughout his academic journey. Prof. SO emphasized the need for historians to engage in dialogue beyond the academic circle, emphasizing that sharing historical knowledge is a public historian’s commitment. As for what constitutes history and what does not, Prof. SO concluded that the answer lies within knowledge, narrative, and commitment.

Recapping the “Orientation Workshop for the M.A. Programme in Comparative and Public History” conducted on 30 August 2025

The Orientation Workshop for the M.A. Programme in Comparative and Public History was conducted on 30 August 2025. Over 120 new students attended the workshop. In the workshop, the Department’s teaching staff provided students with information on programme features, study schemes, and courses offered. Students were keen to take the opportunity to meet and exchange views with the teaching staff and their academic advisors.

Academic Writing Workshop

Graduation Thesis Meeting and Workshop

For teachers and students who have information to share with the Department, please email your articles in both Chinese and English to chanfiona@cuhk.edu.hk by 4:00pm every Monday.