China: Hong Kong (June-July)

EAS395Y0 Topics in East Asian Studies: Leadership and Governance in China

This course will begin with an examination of academic theories of leadership and governance, particularly as they apply to the Chinese tradition, and its encounter with the Maoist attempt to reshape Chinese society and politics since 1949. It will finish by looking at Chinese leadership in the new era of Xi Jinping. Beginning with China’s imperial legacy, the failures of governance in the Republican Period (1911–49), the revolutionary successes and failures of Mao Zedong, and finally, the directions of post-Mao China, this course should provide the student with the tools to evaluate China’s role in the world today. Specific topics of interest might include such things as village elections and democratic reform; the nature of, and recent changes within the Communist party; the persistence of Confucianism in China, and the growing importance of the internet and such social networks as Sina Weibo. 

Prerequisites: None
BR: None
Note: Can be counted toward programs in Contemporary Asian Studies at the University of Toronto.
2025 Course Outline

Field Trips

This year’s week-long field trip takes students to Jiangxi province. Planned activities include a visit to the Ancient Yao Expo Area, China Ceramics Museum and Taoxichuan in Jingdezhen; Huyangyangjie, one of the five famous sentry posts in Jinggangshan and visiting museums and historical sites in Ganzhou.

Instructors

Richard Guisso is Emeritus Professor in the Department of East Asian Studies where he has taught for more than thirty years, serving two terms as Departmental Chair. His research interests lie in the sphere of Chinese social and cultural history with a special emphasis on gender, and he has published a number of books and articles on subjects related to these areas in the pre-modern period.

Victor Falkenheim holds a joint appointment as Professor Emeritus in the Departments of East Asian Studies and Political Science, specializing in the political economy of contemporary China. He has previously served two terms as Chair of the Department of East Asian Studies and has worked for more than a decade on a number of Canadian development assistance projects in China as well as a consultant on World Bank China projects. His recent work focuses on municipal and rural governance in China.

RLG290Y0 Religions in Hong Kong

It’s impossible to go anywhere in Hong Kong without running into something connected to religion, whether it's a temple, shrine, market, festival, feast, or the villain-hitters of Causeway Bay. This course will consider general concepts of religion (e.g., ritual, sacred text, art, gender, power, space, community) in relation to the very diverse religious life of the city, focusing on the traditions of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism, and Taoism. Students will explore how these traditions are shaped by the life and history of Hong Kong through visits to many religious sites throughout the city, including the New Territories, Kowloon, and three of the main islands. We will ask: How is being Buddhist (or Hindu, Muslim, etc.) different in Hong Kong, compared to being Buddhist (or Hindu, Muslim, etc.) in other parts of the world? 

Prerequisite: None
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
2025 Draft Course Outline

Field Trips

In addition to visiting churches, mosques, synagogues, and temples in Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, students will participate in day trips to Cheung Chau Island, New Territories and Lantau Island.

Instructor

Dr. Ken Derry is Associate Professor (Teaching Stream) in the Department of Historical Studies, University of Toronto Mississauga, focusing on comparative religion and modern culture. He has been teaching at UofT since 1996 in the areas of religion and literature/film, religion and violence, and world religions. His research includes publications on Indigenous traditions, religion and North American literature, Hong Kong religion and film, early Christianity, superheroes, and Star Wars. Ken has received numerous awards for teaching and student service, including the 2013 UTM Faculty Teaching Excellence Award, the 2022 UofT President’s Teaching Award, and the 2023 3M National Teaching Fellowship. 

VIS327Y0 Urban Studio Hong Kong

Urban Studio Hong Kong is an interdisciplinary art course where students will make use of the multi-faceted urban fabric of Hong Kong as a laboratory for visual art projects. The city’s intricate mix of high-density neighborhoods, informal and vernacular architecture, and diverse natural terrain offers a wealth of scenarios for studying how the urban environment shapes daily and civic life, social relations, and artistic production. Hong Kong is the premiere city in East Asia for contemporary art, home to M+ (the leading contemporary art museum in the region), Art Basel Hong Kong (the Asia Pacific outpost of the prominent Swiss contemporary art fair), and a growing artistic ecosystem of public and commercial galleries. Students will explore Hong Kong’s unique urban dynamics to create an artwork in your preferred medium whether it is photography, video, drawing, performance, or site-specific art. Guided visits to artists’ studios, galleries, and museums will give students special access to the city’s robust art scene and offer diverse perspectives on contemporary art and culture in Hong Kong.

This course is open to Daniels Faculty students and to students outside of the Faculty

Prerequisite: 1.0 credit at the 200-level in VIS courses (UTSC students: 2.5 FCE at either B or C level in studio) or with permission of the instructor
Breadth Requirements: Creative and Cultural Representations (1) 
2025 Course Outline (Draft)

Field Trips

In addition to making regular visits to the galleries and artist studios within Hong Kong, students will travel to Shenzhen.

Instructor

Will Kwan is a Hong Kong-born, Toronto-based artist and educator. Will joined the University of Toronto as a full-time faculty member in 2007, teaching courses in interdisciplinary art practice and time-based media at the University of Toronto Scarborough and serving as a faculty member in the Master of Visual Studies Program at the Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design. Will’s work is held in the permanent collections of M+ in Hong Kong, Folkestone Artworks in Kent, England, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Art Museum at the University of Toronto, and the Doris McCarthy Gallery at the University of Toronto Scarborough. Will’s work has been exhibited at triennial and biennial exhibitions in Folkestone, Liverpool, Montreal, and Venice, and at venues including MoMA PS1, Art in General, and the Cooper Union in New York, the Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) in Berlin, the Zentrum für Kunst und Medien (ZKM) in Karlsruhe, the Musée d'Art Contemporain du Val-de-Marne (MAC VAL) in Vitry-sur-Seine, France, the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin, the Contemporary Art Centre in Vilnius, the Polish National Museum in Poznan, the Zendai Museum of Modern Art in Shanghai, the Art Museum at the University of Toronto, the Art Gallery of Ontario, and The Power Plant in Toronto, and The Western Front and Centre A in Vancouver. Will has been an artist-in-residence at the Cittadellarte-Fondazione Pistoletto in Biella, the Duolun Museum of Modern Art in Shanghai, the Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art in Manchester, England, and the Headlands Center for the Arts in Sausalito, California. Information about his work can be found at www.studiowillkwan.com.