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John Brennan

It is not just the fact that Lingnan University (LU) is the only public liberal arts university in Hong Kong that makes it stand out.
One of the special features of the four-year undergraduate programmes at LU is that they are all based on a core curriculum. All undergraduates, irrespective of major, have to complete this core curriculum, which constitutes 33 credits, out of a total of 120, in their programmes. This ensures a well-rounded education, while making LU’s Bachelor of Arts (BA) and Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) programmes among the best in the city.
Formerly, BA students have been able to choose from one of seven majors: Chinese, cultural studies, English, history, philosophy, translation and visual studies. But the options have since expanded.
“Last year we introduced a student-designed major as well as an  inter-disciplinary degree that combines philosophy, history and Chinese,” explains Wong Yiu Chung, LU professor in the department of political science, and director of core curriculum and general education. “We also have what we call the double-track system, with 20 per cent of the intake admitted by faculty and 80 per cent by individual departments,” he adds.
A more compact university compared to other tertiary institutions in Hong Kong, the total number of students at Lingnan is capped at 2,600, which leads to strong bonds between faculty and students. “This means more care is taken to listen to students and their demands,” Wong explains. “The faculty has a close relationship with the students, who feel comfortable asking for advice.” Such support, he believes, can be especially helpful for first year students, as adjusting to university life can be a challenge.
So what happens once students have completed their BA degree? “Graduates go into a very diverse range of careers, from teaching to TV scriptwriting and advertising,” Wong says.
Fourth-year LU undergraduate Anson Lau who entered Lingnan as a broad-based student, opted to join the arts faculty rather than a particular department. However, as someone who’s had a passion for Chinese since he was a child, he opted to become a chinese major, and is now making career considerations. “I’m thinking of becoming a teacher or tutor,” he says. “I feel very comfortable and happy teaching children.”
“The Chinese department has many branches such as creative writing, classic and modern literature, Chinese language and also comparative literature. Students can have a taste of everything,” he explains. Lau is currently working on his final year project, a research essay on the classic, “The Journey to the West”.
“I have to say the course has been brilliant, and the teachers and students have all been very kind,” Lau adds. “Since Lingnan is a small place, the relationships are close. We become very familiar with our professors and they call to us by name on campus. This is very helpful to our learning, as they are willing to explain talk us and explain things outside of the classroom,” he notes.
LU launched its BBA programme back in 1993. Since then, the specifics of the courses offered have developed in step with evolving industries and a fluctuation marketplace.
“We have several streams, such as human resource management, risk and insurance management, finance and accounting, to train students in specific skills,” explains Wong.
Wong believes that LU’s core curriculum requirements benefit BBA students, and the rest of the university’s undergraduate students, immensely. The courses within the common core are: Logic and Critical Thinking, The Making of Hong Kong, Understanding Morality, and World History and Civilisations.
“Students will take select courses from a variety of clusters, including Creativity and Innovation, Humanities and the Arts, Science, Technology and the Society,” Wong says. “I think this sort of training helps to give students broader horizons and make them more receptive to new ideas.”
Anthony So, who graduated from Lingnan’s BBA programme in 2014 with a major in marketing, recently graduated from the New World Development management training programme. “I am now working as the senior officer in sales and marketing for residential projects in Hong Kong,” So explains.
So sees the benefit of the wider perspective he gained from studying at LU. “Lingnan is famous for its teaching concepts in the liberal arts in which students must complete different courses outside their major,” he says. “Ranging from rational thinking, to societal values and sciences, we call these general education courses. They help train our critical thinking and adaptability to dynamic social change.”
So says the programme he followed at Lingnan also helped enhance his soft skills in areas such as planning and communication, which are important attributes to possess in the marketing industry.
Several highlights come to mind from his four years at Lingnan, he says. One was working with a local massage parlour in Tuen Mun, which was struggling to find customers. “We got the chance to create a very comprehensive business plan and presentation, which we presented to the local NGO and the operator of the massage house,” recalls So.
Another was his involvement in a case study contest, for which LU was very supportive. “For the HSBC Asia Pacific Business Case Competition, the department provided two professors as consultants, and one senior instructor as our coach,” So says.
He adds that the support from faculty members has continued even after his graduation.“I’ve just come back from the UK where I’d been admitted to a continuing education course at Oxford University. LU fully supported my application, with several professors writing reference letters on my behalf,” So says.


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Lingnan university’s core curriculum requirements help shape well-rounded individuals.


Lingnan University’s liberal arts education unique to Hong Kong

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Lingnan university’s core curriculum requirements help shape well-rounded individuals.

Lingnan university’s core curriculum requirements help shape well-rounded individuals.