Professor Leo HUE Ming-tak on Graduate School Development: Strengthening Research, Integrating Technology and Contributing to Society

Since its establishment in 2017, the Graduate School of Hong Kong Shue Yan University (HKSYU) has been committed to promoting interdisciplinary education and digital humanities, offering master’s and doctoral programmes across the humanities, business and social sciences. Professor Leo HUE Ming-tak, Vice-President (Graduate School), said the University would continue to develop more high quality programmes in response to changes and needs in society.

As competition within Hong Kong’s higher education sector continues to intensify, Professor HUE sees this as a healthy form of competition that encourages institutions to consider where the gaps and needs in society lie, and in turn develop programmes that offer greater value.

He encouraged HKSYU’s twelve academic departments to “do more”. Knowledge, he said, comes from research, and departments should strengthen their research capabilities and apply their research findings to curriculum development and teaching. At the same time, while HKSYU has a strong focus on the humanities, it must also keep pace with changing times by integrating digital elements, including Information Technology (IT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), into humanities disciplines.

Another important consideration is how programmes can contribute to society. If students are able to apply what they have learned and acquire knowledge that society needs, Professor HUE believes this will contribute to the advancement of society as a whole.

Professor HUE also encouraged academic departments to work actively with community stakeholders, social welfare organisations and professional bodies. Such collaboration can support programme development and internship arrangements, while helping departments gain a better understanding of the practical needs of society.

In recent years, higher education has placed increasing emphasis on digital development and knowledge transfer. Professor HUE noted that, with technology advancing rapidly, academic staff must continue to keep pace with these developments.

“Apart from technology, we must also have a strong awareness of society’s needs. Only by understanding these needs can technological innovation make a difference.”

Professor HUE also hopes that HKSYU can become “more vocal” in promoting the research achievements and academic publications of its departments. He suggested organising interdisciplinary conferences and press conferences to increase the visibility of the University’s research, which would also help raise awareness of its postgraduate programmes in a less direct form of promotion.

Turning to the characteristics of the Graduate School, Professor HUE noted that HKSYU has a strong foundation in the humanities and social sciences, with the Department of Counselling and Psychology and the Department of Social Work having developed particularly well. Through collaboration with different community organisations, these departments are able to connect academic work more closely with practice and effectively transfer knowledge to the community.

A number of HKSYU programmes are also interdisciplinary in nature, including the Master of Science in Marketing and Consumer Psychology and the Master of Social Sciences in Smart Cultural Tourism. Academic departments also operate research centres of different sizes, providing a solid empirical research foundation for postgraduate programmes as well as internship opportunities for postgraduate students.

Professor HUE concluded by emphasising the importance of innovation: “Innovation does not come out of nowhere. It begins with doing well what we already have, continuing to develop our existing programmes, and introducing innovative elements along the way.”