Abstract


While Hong Kong has often been regarded a multi-lingual, multi-cultural and multi-racial city of diversity, how diverse and global is its university classrooms and learning environment? Does the presence of diversity necessary drive true understanding and embrace of diversity among the student body, or does diversity merely result in students of similar background congregating into segregated comfort zones that co-exist alongside one another?


This talk will present several research findings on the level of diversity and integration among students of different national, cultural or ethnic backgrounds at HKUST. It will also discuss the challenges facing the objective of internationalization on university campuses in Hong Kong and explore ways both in the academic and co-curricular front that may generate greater inclusion and diversity.


Biography


Professor May-yi Shaw is an Assistant Professor of Humanities Education at HKUST. She received her BA degree in Political Science and East Asian Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, and her PhD degree in East Asian Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University.


A U.S.-born and Taiwan-raised “third culture kid,” Professor Shaw is fully bilingual in English and Chinese and a proficient speaker of Japanese. Having lived most of her adult life as a global nomad, she is passionate about East Asian literature and culture, identity and cross-cultural studies.


At HKUST, Professor Shaw has served as the Associate Director for the BSc Global China Studies Program and MA in Humanities and China Studies Program, and the Director for the SHSS PG Student Services Program. She is currently the Director for the MA in Chinese Culture Program and the Faculty Leader for the HeadStart@HKUST Program, an early career enhancement program for first- and second-year undergraduate students. She has taught courses such as “China in the Foreigners’ Eyes”, “Questions of Humanity in World Literature," and "Popular Culture of East Asia.” She is also the recipient of the 2014 Common Core Course Excellence Award for her course, “Identity Goes Global – From Border Crossing to Boundary Remaking.”