Common Core, The University of Hong Kong

The university’s main campus covers 160,000 square metres (1,700,000 sq ft; 40 acres) of land on Pok Fu Lam Road and Bonham Road in Lung Fu Shan[citation needed] of Central and Western District, Hong Kong Island. The university also has a few buildings in Sandy Bay Gap. HKU buildings are some of the few remaining examples of British colonial architecture in Hong Kong. The university lends its name to HKU station, the main public transport access to the campus (and the Lung Fu Shan and Shek Tong Tsui neighbourhoods), opened on 28 December 2014.

The Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine is situated 4.5 km[clarification needed] southwest of the main campus, in the Southern District near Sandy Bay and Pok Fu Lam. The medical campus includes Queen Mary Hospital, the William M.W. Mong Building and research facilities. The Faculty of Dentistry is situated in the Prince Philip Dental Hospital, Sai Ying Pun.

The university also operates the Kadoorie Agricultural Research Centre, which occupies 95,000 square metres (1,020,000 sq ft; 23 acres) of land in the New Territories, and the Swire Institute of Marine Science at the southern tip of the Cape d’Aguilar Peninsula on Hong Kong Island.

The Main Building

Main article: Main Building of the University of Hong Kong

Constructed between 1910 and 1912, the Main Building of the University of Hong Kong is the university’s oldest structure and was sponsored by Sir Hormusjee Naorojee Mody and designed by Architect Messrs Leigh & Orange. It is built in the post-renaissance Edwardian Baroque style with red brick and granite and has two courtyards. The main elevation is articulated by four turrets with a central clock tower (a gift from Sir Paul Chater in 1930). The two courtyards were added in the south in 1952 and one floor in the end block in 1958. The building was originally used as classrooms and laboratories for the Faculty of Medicine and Engineering and was later the home of departments within the Faculty of Arts. The central Great Hall (Loke Yew Hall) is named after Loke Yew, a Malayan benefactor of the university in its early years. It became a declared monument in 1984.

Introduction to the Common Core

ENGAGE, EXPERIMENT, ENJOY!

The University of Hong Kong’s Common Core, fully launched in 2012, facilitates the teaching of the trans- and inter-disciplinary undergraduate curriculum offered by all 10 Faculties of the university. As the “crossroads” of the undergraduate curriculum, the Core provides the key holistic learning experience for all HKU undergraduates. In addition to the formal curriculum, the Common Core has continuously added new student-based initiatives, increasing the emphasis on project-based learning, undergraduate research, and local and global partnerships to enhance the experience of students.

WHY THE CORE?

The Common Core is organized around offering courses and events that deepen imagination, knowledge, and friendships across campus; that enhance the skills and dispositions for active learning in the classroom and beyond; that provide a context to think about the ethical dilemmas we are all facing; and that support students as they prepare for meaningful careers in a volatile and rapidly changing world.

The Programme Learning Outcomes (PLOs) of the Common Core are:

Articulate a broader perspective and a deeper critical understanding of the complex connections between issues of profound importance.

Better navigate the similarities and differences between their own and other cultures.

More fully participate as individuals, members of social groups, and citizens in global, regional, and local communities.

Demonstrate the creative, collaborative, and communication skills that will contribute to the quality of their own and others’ lives.

More broadly, the Core is designed to contribute to students’ achievement of the University’s Educational Aims (UEAs), specifically to develop their capabilities in:

Pursuit of academic/professional excellence, critical intellectual enquiry and life-long learning

Tackling novel situations and ill-defined problems

Critical self-reflection, greater understanding of others, and upholding personal and professional ethics

Intercultural understanding and global citizenship

Communication and collaboration

Leadership and advocacy for the improvement of the human condition.
The fundamental purpose of the Core is to broaden students’ perspectives and develop the intellectual, social, and innovative capacities that all of our graduates will need to address the complexities of 21st-century life.