The University of British Columbia
Hong Kong Studies Initiative
Hosted by the Department of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia, the Hong Kong Studies Initiative (HKSI) is devoted to promoting the teaching and research of this most-improbable metropolis, both as an extraordinary Chinese city and as a spectacular international and transnational hub. Our goal is to facilitate the creation and transmission of knowledge about the past and present of Hong Kong, both by fostering academic research and dialogue as well as by building bridges between academia and the community.
Upcoming Activities
Oct 21, 2021
Roundtable
Pursuing Graduate Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences 想讀就去讀
Oct 29, 2021
Webinar
Late Colonialism: “Hong Kong People” and the Popular Re-imagining of an Instituting Imaginary
Nov 5, 2021
Webinar
The Battle of Hong Kong in 1941: A Spatial History Project
For the most updated event information, please visits hksi.ubc.ca
Members
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Leo K. Shin
Associate Professor, History and Asian Studies
Leo K. Shin is Associate Professor of History and Asian Studies as well as the Convenor of the Hong Kong Studies Initiative at the University of British Columbia. Born and raised in the former British colony, Dr. Shin was for a brief period an education and political reporter for The Hong Kong Standard. Trained as a historian of China, he is interested in how the ideas of “China” and “Chineseness” have evolved, and he is intrigued by how the production, transmission, and consumption of beliefs and practices have shaped not only how the boundaries of China have been drawn but also how China has been historicized. While his research has been centered on the later imperial period (ca. 1200–1800), he has also maintained a strong interest in the recent past, especially as it relates to the formation and transformation of modern-day Chinese and—by extension—Hong Kong identities.
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Helena Wu
Assistant Professor of Hong Kong Studies, Department of Asian Studies
Dr. Helena Wu’s primary area of research is Hong Kong cinema, literature and culture. With her comparative literature, cultural studies and sinological training from Hong Kong and Europe, she is keen on developing interdisciplinary approaches to textual and visual narratives, popular culture, creative industries, and identity studies. In one of her latest projects, she explores film, television and sport spectatorships in post-handover Hong Kong, in order to understand how creative expression and audience activities affect cultural (industry) practices, the construction of identity and the relationship between content producers, distributors, and spectators, and vice versa.