School at the Crossroads: New Head of the School of Chinese and Her Visions

The School of Chinese has always occupied a special and somewhat separate place at HKU. It is the only unit where Chinese is the medium of instruction and, largely, of research output. And there is the challenge.

The School’s achievements have tended to be overlooked because of the language barrier and also because of a natural reticence of the minority to speak out. It is often mistaken as a “quiet” unit compared with others in the Faculty and the University.

Now, the new Head of the School, Dr Wu Cuncun, hopes to reach out to the university community and beyond.

“Many colleagues have a very strong Chinese education which makes us a little different from other schools in the Faculty. Part of my job is to get people to understand that,” she said. “I also hope colleagues can actively engage and keep in touch with the rest of the Faculty. We should feel comfortable to speak out and say what we think.”

One thing on Dr Wu’s mind is that the School’s research reputation has not been given its due recognition. While the School has a strong recent record in securing GRF grants, it did not do so well in last year’s research assessment exercise.

“I think one of the reasons is that more than 50 per cent of our publications are in Chinese-language journals. Theoretically, they are supposed to be treated equally [to English-language publications] but there are problems. I would like to see that change,” she said.

Recent recruits will help the cause because most have overseas qualifications from the West and are comfortable in English. (Dr Wu, after teaching at Nankai University in China for 10 years, spent 12 years teaching at Australian universities.) This should help the School to achieve her bigger ambitions.

“HKU is the leading university in Hong Kong and our School should play the leading role in Chinese studies. I hope we can consolidate the School’s international profile,” she said.

Dr Wu also wants to bring teaching more to the forefront and provide additional support for those teaching in the Chinese Language Enhancement Programme and Chinese Language Centre, which employ more than half of the School’s academic staff.

Her deep and infectious enthusiasm for HKU will undoubtedly be a help in her new position. She came here in 2010 because of the proximity to China, the research environment and the extensive networks with overseas universities – connections that have enabled her to spend 10 months at Harvard University as a Harvard-Yenching Visiting Scholar and two months at both Cambridge University and King’s College London.

“I love HKU and I think it’s a great place to do research. Most School members would agree there are lots of opportunities here,” she said.

“People have been really nice to me, so when my colleagues approached me to take up the headship, I felt I should do something to repay the School.”

The one trade-off is having to reduce her research activities, which focus on a topic that fascinates whatever the language and culture: sexuality in the late Ming and Qing dynasties, including homoeroticism, prostitution and pornography. “I really love my research, but I also like having the opportunity to support my colleagues and strengthen the School’s position,” she said.

See the original article in Arts Faculty Newsletter Winter 2015.