Prof. Edmund Kwok, Executive Vice-President of UIC, shared with staff and students how his historical perspective developed at a lecture organized by DSHH at Mr. Fung Sunkwan's Lecture Hall on May 11. The title of Prof. Kwok's lecture was "From Family, History to Education: A Matrix of Post-Modern Cross-Cultural Narrative". A round-table discussion and Q&A followed afterwards, with faculty and staff members sharing their experience in relation to UIC. Prof. Jeff Wilkinson hosted the lecture.
As the title of the lecture implied, Prof. Kwok started the speech by sharing some photos of his family. For Prof. Kwok, the study of history should not be as simple as memorizing huge events recorded on textbooks. He briefly presented the trends of historical studies in the West and the East, and developed his own approach of historical study which attached sufficient emphasis to the narrative of individuals, and formed a matrix of post-modern narrative. Prof. Kwok maintains that each individual has his/her own standpoint, and has his/her own story to tell. That provides theoretical support to the emphasis of teamwork and collaboration for the post-modern organizational management. From this perspective, Prof. Kwok emphasized that UIC was built by the joint efforts of all UIC staff and students.
How culture travels from one place to another was Prof. Kwok's another intellectual interest. Witnessing a group of Shanghai minority's relocation and prosperity in Hong Kong, Prof. Kwok embarked on the study of the migration of culture and authored the book entitled "Travel-a cross-cultural imagination".
Prof. Kwok said each book he wrote marked a significant state of his life, and, inheriting the spirit of May Fourth Movement, his efforts has a resonating objective, that is, to find a solution for the education in China.
Prof. Kwok's speech was followed by a round table discussion. Some of the first cohort of staff members of UIC shared their experiences and feeling about their engagement with UIC, among them Prof. Eva Lai, Dr. Dave Towey, Dr. Michael Fitzhenry, Mr. Howard Huxter, Dr. Gary Linebarger, Ms. Vicki Steven, Ms. Lillian Li, and Mr. Ng Yiu-fai, etc.
Students from IJ and CTV sent their good wishes to Prof. Kwok through a video clip, and Dr. Connie Milbourne and Dr. Ivette Vargas-O'Bryan sent souvenirs to Prof. Kwok on behalf of the organizer of this lecture.
Reporter: Richard Xu
MPRO
