hkac newsletter

LETTER TO FRIENDS OF

HONG KONG-AMERICA CENTER

Dear Friends of the Hong Kong America Center:

Greetings and Best Wishes for the Year of the Snake!

Thank you for your interest and support for the HKAC. We assist

our university members in HK to link with their counterparts in

American academic programs, and to serve as a bridge between

China and America in higher education.

I wish to share some highlights of the programs the HKAC

organized with our member universities in second half of 2012.

Looking into the New Year, I want to convey to you what we see

on the horizon for programs in spring and summer 2013. More

information is at www.fulbright.org.hk/hkac.

HIGHLIGHTS OF SUMMER/ FALL 2012

International Conference in General Education and

University Curriculum Reform. The HKAC and City

University of HK jointly organized a major three-day conference

in summer as the culmination of the four-year Fulbright HK

General Education Project. We highlighted the accomplishments

of the eight HK universities in re-engineering the undergraduate

curriculum, and invited senior educators from universities around

Asia, thanks to the United Board, to share ideas for building

general and liberal education in their institutions. Most former GE

Fulbrighters from the US returned to HK for the conference,

which hosted over 400 academics from across Asia and the US.

What does a liberal education mean for Asian universities in the

21st century? Hong Kong has shown leadership in addressing

this question.

Board of Governors

Chairman: Karl C. Kwok, Chairman

Wing On International Holdings Ltd.

Vice Chairman: Bernard Auyang, Chairman, Vida Nova

Ventures Inc.

Treasurer: Robert McBain, Chief Financial Officer, SJM

Holdings Limited

Secretary: Ada Tse, President & CEO, PineBridge

Investments Asia Limited

Peggy Blumenthal, Senior Counselor to the President,

Institute of International Education

Albert Chan, Vice Chancellor & President

Hong Kong Baptist University

Tony F Chan, President

The Hong Kong University of Science & Technology

Yuk-shee Chan, President

Lingnan University

Cheng Yin Cheong, Acting President

Hong Kong Institute of Education

Kevin Dunning, Head, Hong Kong International School

Yiu-Kwan Fan, Executive Director, Hong Kong Council for

Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications

Janie Fong, Managing Director, International Business of

East West Bank

Nini Forino, Director, Public Affairs Section, American

Consulate General

Eric J. Heikkila, Director of International Initiatives, Price

School of Public Policy, University of Southern California

Patrick Ho, Business Group President, Epoxy & Specialty

Chemicals

Albert Ip, Independent Non-Executive Director, Eagle

Asset Management (CP) Limited; Hopewell Highway

Infrastructure Limited

Way Kuo, President

City University of Hong Kong

Mark Michelson, Senior Counselor

APCO Worldwide

Lloyd Neighbors, U. S. Foreign Service (ret.)

Joseph J. Y. Sung, Vice Chancellor

Chinese University of Hong Kong

Timothy W. Tong, President

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Lap-chee Tsui, Vice Chancellor

The University of Hong Kong

Richard Vuylsteke, President, American Chamber of

Commerce in Hong Kong

Michael Wu, Managing Director

Maxim’s Caterers Limited

Pauline Yu, President

American Council of Learned Societies

February 18, 2013

Tel.: (852) 3943-8748 Fax: (852) 2603-5797 Web: www.cuhk.edu.hk/hkac

Mail: The Hong Kong-America Center Ltd., Room 503, Esther Lee Building, Chung Chi College,

The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong SAR, China

Details of the conference can be found at:

http://www6.cityu.edu.hk/edge/conference2012/

FULBRIGHT RETREAT AT KADOORIE CENTRE

The HKAC assists the US Consulate in

supporting four young American

teachers of English at the Macau

Polytechnic and six at the University of

St. Joseph in Macau. We organized

their orientation program in August in

HK and Macau. The HKAC also

recruits young teachers of English to

work in English language centers in

HK universities.

Fulbrighters made moon cakes during the Fulbright retreat.

Please visit HKAC website at: http://www.fulbright.org.hk/hkac/

RGC-FULBRIGHT HK SCHOLAR PROGRAMS

The Fulbright Advisory Committee (FAC) selected two

senior and eight pre-doctoral scholars from HK

universities to go to American universities in 2013-2014

academic year for research with generous support from the

Research Grants Council (RGC). Ten HK scholars

returned in late summer 2012 after their Fulbright

sojourns in American universities. They add to our active

Fulbright alumni association in HK.

February 18, 2013



FULBRIGHT ENGLISH TEACHING ASSISTANTS IN MACAU

With support from the US Consulate, the HKAC

organized a weekend retreat in late September at HKU’s

Kadoorie Centre in the New Territories for 30 Americans

on Fulbright grants in HK and Macau this year and

Fulbright alumni in HK.

Fulbrighter Dennis Berg shared his views on teaching and learning with sub-degree teachers.

STRENGTHENING GENERAL EDUCATION FOR THE SUB-DEGREE SECTOR IN HONG KONG

Drawing on Fulbright resources, the HKAC is working

with the Federation for Self-financing Tertiary Education

(FSTE) in HK to consult with providers of associate

degree and higher diploma programs on their curriculum

and teaching-learning practice for general education. This

project also includes developing articulation pathways

between the sub-degree and the university sectors in HK.

Dr. Lockwood shared English learning culture in Hong Kong with new Fulbright ETAs.

February 18, 2013

MEDIA COMMENTARY ON THE AMERICAN ELECTION

The coverage in HK-based media of the American election this fall

gave me many opportunities to speak on TV and radio about the

American political system and its prospects. I also spoke on many

campuses in HK, Macau and the mainland about the election process

and outcome.

Dr. Shive provided commentary on the US election at RTHK in November.

ST OLAF COLLEGE PROGRAMS IN HK

The HKAC hosted two groups of 30

undergraduate students from St. Olaf

College in Minnesota. Based at

CUHK, the September program was on

global public health and the December

program was on Chinese fine arts.

Participants of St. Olaf College Programs in Hong Kong.



The HKAC has joined with the Peking University Press to edit and publish a series of new books

of essays written by Fulbright scholars. They feature American lecturers who have taught in

Chinese universities and were asked to write up their favorite lectures. I will edit a three-volume

anthology of new writing about the US called American Identities as a part of this series. Other

volumes deal with American law, post-WWII history, education, and literature and popular

culture. I will work on this series while being a Senior Fellow at Peking University in spring

2013.

AMERICAN PANORAMA: A SERIES OF BOOKS BY

FULBRIGHT SCHOLARS TO CHINA

LIBERAL ARTS EDUCATION IN BURMA

The HKAC assisted the Open University of HK to create a program of study in social sciences in

Burma for 40 mid-career professionals working in civil society organizations. The US Embassy

in Burma funded two cohorts, the second of which will graduate in summer 2013. The HKAC

has also assisted the United Board in developing a national project to strengthen liberal arts

education in Burma.

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TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP: SIMULATION OF TRADE NEGOTIATIONS

In early January 2013, the HKAC hosted 60 university

students from across HK to participate in a three-day program

on the negotiations underway among nine nations to reduce

barriers to trade in the Asia Pacific region. We partnered with

CUHK/Law for a one-day workshop in Central which briefed

the students on TPP in regional and global contexts. Students

participated in country teams and held intensive negotiations

on trade in goods, trade in services, investment, intellectual

property, and labor/environment. We developed a new respect

for how difficult it is to get so many parties with divergent

interests to reach agreement in reducing barriers to trade and

thus stimulating global economic growth.

CHINA - HONG KONG DIALOGUE ON CHARITY LAW AND INFRASTRUCTURE

The HKAC and the Asia Foundation collaborated to host a delegation of senior mainland officials

who are advocating a revised law on charity and philanthropy. We organized a week-long program

in January with champions of the “third sector” in HK in government, law firms, charitable

foundations and universities.

SPRING AND SUMMER 2013

AMERICAN UNIVERSITY

PROGRAMS STUDYING HK AND

THE PRD

Each year the HKAC assists American

universities to bring student delegations

to study aspects of HK and south China.

In April, we will host 21 students from

IES to come to HK to launch an

international urban research project. We

also brief many delegations of business

students from the US studying China

and US-China economic relations. In

May-June, the USC will send 25 post-

gradate students for an urban lab to

study patterns of integration between

HK and Shenzhen. We thank the Better

Hong Kong Foundation for assisting in

this project.

SIMULATING NEGOTIATIONS FOR

THE SOUTH CHINA SEA

Hosted by the Macau University of Science and Technology,

the HKAC will organize a weekend simulation of

negotiations among the parties claiming portions of the

South China Sea. About 60 students from three universities

in Macau will gather in late February to negotiate a code of

conduct for all the parties in this contested region.



TTP simulation teams

February 18, 2013

CONFERENCE ON IMPACTS OF GLOBALIZATION

ON QUALITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION

The HKAC will co-sponsor with SEAMEO-

RETRAC a two day conference in Ho Chi

Minh City in Vietnam on June 20 to 21 on

the theme of globalization and regional

integration in higher education in Asia.

Fulbright scholar Dennis Berg has helped to

organize this event.

SOUTH CHINA INTERNSHIP (SCI) PROGRAM

In support of Obama’s 100,000 Strong Initiative, the Ford Foundation

has funded the HKAC to help launch a new internship program for

American and Chinese undergraduate students. In summer 2013, 20

American students, and 20 Chinese students from HKBU’s United

International College (UIC), will be placed as teams of two in 20

companies and NGOs in the south China region for eight-week, non-

paid internships. This program will grow each summer to reach a steady

state of 40 pairs of interns working in a wide range of enterprises and

civil society organizations. We thank the American Chambers of

Commerce in South China and in HK, and many Chinese and American

companies, for welcoming our teams of “tandem interns”.

SUMMER INTERNSHIPS FOR US

STUDENTS IN HONG KONG

The HKAC will sponsor students from Yale,

the University Southern California, New

School University (NYC), Ohio State,

University of Delaware, Gordon College,

Dream Careers, Phi Beta Dingo, Absolute

Internships and Next Step Connections for

eight weeks of practical learning in HK

businesses, media outlets, government

agencies and social service organizations.

Students will live in the residence halls in local

universities and have weekend cultural outings

together. Each year we facilitate more than 100

American interns to come to HK.

SUMMER INTERNSHIPS AND

SERVICE LEARNING PROGRAMS

FOR HK AND PRD STUDENTS

The HKAC cooperates with

Cultural Vistas (CV) in NYC

and Washington DC to offer

eight-week, non-paid internships

YOUNG WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP TRAINING PROJECT

The HKAC and The Woman’s Foundation of HK will conduct a

leadership training project for ten young women working in NGOs in

HK and South China. With a grant from the National Democratic

Institute, this pilot project will enhance practical skills in building

organizations that advance women’s concerns across sectors such as

early childhood education, reproductive and environmental health,

family services, eldercare, and culture and the arts.



February 18, 2013

in Washington DC, Chicago and Seattle in fields of

business, engineering, law, media and NGO

management. Last year HKAC recruited over 90

students for these summer internships. We also

assist our member universities to build new service-

learning projects in US and Asia and thematic study

tours to Washington DC. Our theme for the summer

2013 program is America’s Energy Policy.

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Hong Kong is an important and exciting place to create programs that engage Chinese and American

scholars and students to learn directly from one another. As a small organization, we can do so many

of these diverse and high-quality programs only with the active and continuing support we receive

from our fine colleagues in our member universities in Hong Kong.

We at the HKAC benefit enormously from the gracious help of government offices, business firms

and NGOs in HK, Macau, mainland China and the US. We welcome Ms. Nini Forino and Ms. Ann

Tsang at the US Consulate who oversee Fulbright and other exchange programs. Dr. Dennis Berg has

initiated new exchange activities as the Fulbright scholar-in-residence this year at the HKAC. My

staff and I are grateful for the continuing and invaluable services provided to the Center by our host

campus, the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

I appreciate the HKAC Board’s giving me a three-month leave of absence in spring 2013 to be a

Senior Fellow in the Institute for Advanced Humanistic Studies (IAHS) at Peking University. We

recently said farewell to Ms. Donna Lam and welcomed Ms. Vivian Chiu to work on in-bound

programs, especially internships, which is an expanding portion of the centers’ programs.

Through our growing partnerships with universities in Macau, Guangzhou and elsewhere on the

Mainland, we extend our horizons and see new potential for Sino-American academic exchanges over

the bridge of Hong Kong.

As we move optimistically into the future, we wish to take this moment at the beginning of the Lunar

Year to thank our many friends for your continuing moral and financial contributions that make the

work of the Center possible. We always welcome your suggestions and appreciate enormously your

loyal and gracious support. With best wishes for an auspicious Year of the Snake.

Sincerely,

Glenn Shive, Ph.D.

Executive Director



February 18, 2013

hkac newsletter

Documents

hong kong council

hong kong america center

hong kong michael wu

university members

city university of hk

president ceo

university curriculum

international conference