About Us

The Hong Kong Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences (Incorporating the Centre of Asian Studies) was established in 2001 at the University of Hong Kong.  It has a mission to promote innovative, multi-disciplinary work in the humanities and social sciences by supporting diverse platforms for a critical community of scholars to share experiences across the globe.  It organizes field-oriented and team-based research programs by means of lecture series, advanced summer workshops, research clusters, conferences, and academic publications.  Its outreach programs and commissioned projects connect with policy and business professionals.  

The Institute has nurtured a generation of young scholars in China and Hong Kong who are eager to cross disciplinary and institutional boundaries.  It has leveraged key academic partners such as Sun Yat-sen University, Beijing Normal University, East China Normal University, Fudan University, Tsinghua University and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Since 2007, the Institute has broadened its agenda to explore China’s global engagements and a dynamic Asia.  While deepening existing comparative regional studies of China, the Institute is developing new strategic alliances in the United States, Europe, Singapore, India, and the Middle East.  Key partners include Yale University, the Harvard-Yenching Institute, National Singapore University, and the Social Science Research Council.  The Institute’s “Asian Connections” agenda includes multi-year research clusters centering on historical trading empires and contemporary finance flows, urban ecologies in Asia’s mega-cities, colonial medicine and global public health, indigenous charities across cultures, and Chinese-African diasporas.  More research clusters are being generated.

The Institute is blessed by the commitment and hard work of students, staff, and colleagues, and the generous support of public and private funds.  In future, the Institute hopes to develop joint graduate teaching programs across the faculties and schools, and to attract more visiting researchers to the region.  It continues to use critical thinking in humanistic and social science research to promote innovative academic dialogue, to enrich open, civil policy debates, and to inform an educated public on relevant issues in the Asian region.

The Centre of Asian Studies (CAS) was established in 1967 to promote interdisciplinary research on Asian topics within the University of Hong Kong and to serve as a focal point of contact for Asian studies scholars around the world. Led by three former Directors, Professors Frank King, Edward Kwan Yiu Chen and Wong Siu Lun, numerous projects and programs were implemented, completed with output disseminated, involving generations of scholars from all parts of the world. With the wholehearted support from friends and colleagues, CAS successfully created a “home” for Asian studies scholars at the University.

On July 1, 2009, CAS was incorporated by the Hong Kong Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences. The Institute (incorporating CAS) now provides a robust platform for Asian and China studies, well connected at the University and with global academic partners.

A fuller account of the activities and archives of CAS from 1967-2009 will be put on the website when it is fully constructed in the spring/summer of 2012.

TOP