The Inauguration of Centre for Research and Services in Humanities and Social Sciences (CRSHSS) and Book Launching Ceremony, organised by UIC’s Division of Humanities and Social Sciences (DHSS), was held on 24 September.
Inauguration of Centre for Research
DHSS’s previous Centre for Social Management Research and Service had been highly successful in attracting local and provincial funding for social management service projects. Therefore, it is proposed to re-name the Centre as the Centre for Research and Services in Humanities and Social Sciences to reflect current government emphasis better.
President of UIC Prof Tang Tao explained that this occasion calls for two celebrations, one for each milestone. The first milestone is the unveiling of the new Centre, and the second is for the launching of the new book.
President Tang Tao opens the ceremony with a speech
Associate Vice President (Internationalization) and Dean of DHSS, Prof Adrian Bailey, presented the advantages of the new Centre, including delivering meaningful research and service projects drawn upon DHSS's expertise.
Prof Adrian Bailey talks about the new Centre and the new book
President Tang and Associate Dean for Research and Development and DHSS Professor, Prof Simon Zhao Xiaobin, joined Prof Bailey on stage to participate in unveiling the Centre's plaque to signify that it is now open.
(From left) Prof Simon Zhao, President Tang Tao and Prof Adrian Bailey unveiling the Centre's plaque
Introduction of the book
After the centre plague unveiling, Prof Zhao took to the stage to talk about the new book, COVID-19 Pandemic, Crisis Responses and the Changing World: Perspectives in Humanities and Social Sciences.
Prof Simon Zhao Xiaobin talks about the new book
The book was edited by Prof Simon Zhao Xiaobin, Prof Johnston HC Wong (professor of DHSS), Dr Charles Lowe (Associate Dean for Learning, Teaching and Student Experience), Dr Edoardo Monaco (Programme Director of GAD) and Prof John Corbett (Programme Director of ELLS), published by Springer Nature on multiple platforms on 28 August 2021.
The book assesses the intense impact that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has been exerting throughout the globe in various domains across humanities and social sciences. The authors of the chapters in the book are faculty members of the DHSS at UIC. In addition, outstanding alumni, as well as world-renowned scholars, are also among the contributors.
The book has been divided into three sections: the first section focuses on "Global Economics, Politics and Public Health Responses", thus delving into the politico-economic governance side of the pandemic, mainly from a transnational perspective. The second section presents "Country Reports and Comparative Studies" of relevant national contexts in Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas. Finally, the third section explores various realms across social disciplines as it examines "New Order and Impacts in Business, Culture and Society".
President Prof Tang Tao and Provost Prof Chen Zhi deliver their messages in the foreword and preface of the book.
"It is a series of varied snapshots of how the pandemic gripped different parts of the world, affecting different areas of the economy, society, the media and education, and impacting on different groups of people,” writes President Tang. “It is also a record of how a community of scholars perceived the unfolding of this outbreak narrative, interpreted the developing plot and assessed the possible consequences, even as the pandemic raged."
Prof Chen writes, “It is to be hoped that the present volume will give future commentators some sense of how this generation has dealt with its own health emergency, and that future crises may be better managed as a result.”
Prof Simon Zhao and Dr Charles Lowe, expressed how the book was achieved even though all staff were scattered across the world during the original COVID outbreak. Over 30 authors contributed to the book, with 22 coming from DHSS.
Dr Charles Lowe
"The responses to the crisis has therefore essentially consisted of a variety of national public governance initiatives which deserve to be assessed, given the diversity of both the factors that inspired them and of the results they produced. This volume intends precisely to constitute an initial survey of this diverse range of approaches, measures, impacts, achievements and shortcomings across social sciences," Dr Edoardo Monaco explained in the book's introduction.
Pre-recorded videos from two UIC alumni students, Zhang Zhen and Gong Zekai were played at the event. These two former UIC students helped co-author the book. They talked about the challenges and jumping out of their comfort zone to work on this book.
Zhang Zhen
Gong Zekai
The next video was from Ms Lydia Wang, Assistant Editor for global publisher, Springer. She congratulated UIC and explained how this book has gained much interest, especially for a social sciences book.
Ms Lydia Wang spoke via a pre-recorded message
Prof Johnston Wong Hong-Chung explains how the book has brought everyone together
Link to the book - https://www.springer.com/in/book/9789811624292
Link to the press release - https://www.einpresswire.com/article/551625284/new-book-about-the-covid-19-pandemic-perspectives-in-humanities-and-social-sciences
Keynote Speaker
After the launching ceremonies, Prof Richard Hu Weixing gave a keynote speech. He is a Distinguished Professor of Politics and Public Policy as well as the Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Macau. His topic at the event was titled, The Pandemic, Great Power Rivalry and Changing International Order.
Prof Richard Hu Weixing was the event's keynote speaker
Prof Hu congratulated the unveiling of the new Centre and the launching of the new book before saying how he likes to get students involved in research projects. He then spoke about how the pandemic is changing the world and when rising powers meet the ruling powers on a global scale.
From MPRO
Reporter: Samuel Burgess
Photographers: Xie Feng, Zhao Shuchan
Editor: Deen He
