Head’s Message
For 35 years, the Department of English at City University of Hong Kong has been a leader in professional communication, applied linguistics and English language education while developing cutting-edge research in emergent fields in sociolinguistics and digital literacies.
Our faculty publish frequently in top-tier international periodicals, underpinning outreach activities that produce demonstrable beneficial impact on society, and are named among the Stanford University list of the top 2% of the world’s most highly cited scientists.
Our ambitious recruitment strategy has established a team of excellent scholars in modern literature, inspiring coherent research synergies that culminate in “peaks of excellence” on Urban Narratives, World Literature, and Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, all areas in which the Department strives to be a leader in the Asia-Pacific region. Our faculty publish books on literature with prestigious university presses and articles in wide-circulation global journals such as the New York Times Magazine and Financial Times Weekend.
Visiting Professors from Oxford, Cambridge, London, Tsinghua and other world-leading universities enrich our Departmental culture. We regularly present talks from distinguished guest speakers and collaborate with colleagues in organising international conferences at our home, the award-winning Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre. We encourage postgraduate researchers to direct seminars and reading groups as part of their professional development.
As an integral constituent of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, the Department of English contributes discipline-specific knowledge and a valuable humanities perspective to the interdisciplinary research clusters on digital society and public health that address some of the most complex global challenges facing humanity in the 21st century. And we co-ordinate Gateway Education courses with the Language Centre that raise academic literacy and professional education across all branches of university instruction.
We believe that our international faculty’s wealth of expertise drives our high-quality degree programmes in linguistics and literature. We employ innovative discovery-enriched learning, embracing the use of technology in the classroom, and have been one of the most successful departments in winning very competitive CityU Teaching Excellence Awards. Our distinctive degree programmes blend foundational disciplinary knowledge at their core with an exciting menu of specialist elective courses that open learning pathways to groundbreaking research.
Our undergraduate Final Year Project (Professional) is recognised as world-class. Partnering with host companies and NGOs in Hong Kong, FYP delivers practical real-world experience which promotes exceptionally high levels of graduate employment (97.9% in 2022). We are justifiably proud of the many alumni from our Department who go on to achieve success and fulfilment in a wide range of professional career opportunities.
Above all, the Department of English at City University of Hong Kong is a welcoming and inclusive environment that provides an outstanding education, state-of-the-art facilities, and a tailored unique learning experience designed to nurture personal and professional growth that can transform lives and careers.
Jason Harding
Head and Professor
