Introduction

SHSS Creative Arts Education

 

The HUMA music curriculum is based on a hands-on approach to learning. Courses are taught by a number of internationally and locally acclaimed practicing artists in the fields of composition, vocal music, and instrumental performance. Our curriculum ranges from highly accessible introductory courses in history and theory to advanced classes in chamber music, composition, electronic music, counterpoint, and vocal performance, among others. Private lessons are available to select students through the course Independent Study in Creative Arts.

In collaboration with HKUST’s Shaw Auditorium, members of the music faculty head various ongoing initiatives that form an integral part of the music program. These include the annual Cosmopolis Festival, featuring world-class performers from a wide range of cultures, traditions, and idioms: Carnatic music, South African jazz, virtual-reality-based performance, Western opera, orchestral music, Gamelan, and much more. Masterclasses, workshops, and other educational events by our guest artists, usually in front of a live audience, are open to HKUST students. Similar educational events and concerts take place also outside of the festival season, often in collaboration with HKUST’s Institute for Advanced Study.

The HKUST Community Musical provides an extraordinary opportunity for HKUST students and other campus members to showcase their talent on stage in a commercially produced and ticketed production. Past musicals featuring HKUST community members include The Music Man, Wonderful Town, and Singin’ in the Rain.

Established in 2013 through a collaboration between the Institute for Advanced Study and the Division of Humanities, the Chinese Creative Writing Program has been a beacon of literary engagement at HKUST. The program’s primary mission is to cultivate a profound appreciation for the humanities within the university, fostering direct engagement and meaningful exchange between faculty, students, and celebrated contemporary writers, poets, scholars, and filmmakers from both China and abroad.

Since its establishment, the program has regularly invited a diverse array of distinguished guests working in literature, art, and cinema to deliver public lectures and conduct writing workshops on our campus. We have proudly hosted numerous large-scale international literary conferences, attracting renowned writers, scholars, and filmmakers from around the globe.

In addition, the Division of Humanities offers a selection of general interest and hands-on classes in topics such as photography, painting, and art history — for more, see the course catalog below. 

 

Courses Currently Offered

* denotes a Common Core Arts course.

Literature, Film, and Media Studies

Course Code

Course Title

HUMA 1210*

Chinese Women on Screen

HUMA 1231*

Popular Culture of East Asia

HUMA 1250 (3150, 215)

Themes in Literature: Love and Death [C]

HUMA 1300 (2201, 113)

Introduction to Western Literature

HUMA 1301*

World Literature and Film

HUMA 2200 (112)

Masterpieces of World Literature

HUMA 2202*

The Modern Japanese Novel

HUMA 2203*

Japanese Cinema

HUMA 2210 (3310, 231)

Western Short Stories

HUMA 2240 (124)*

Reading Chinese Literature: Dreams of the Red Chamber [C] [PU]

HUMA 2250 (125)

Modern Chinese Fiction (1917-1949) [C] [PU]

HUMA 2260 (126)

Contemporary Chinese Fiction (1949-present) [C] [PU]

HUMA 2280

Identity Goes Global: From Border Crossing to Boundary Remaking

HUMA 2300 (130)*

Traditional Chinese Poetry: Early Chinese Poetry [C] [PU]

HUMA 2310 (131)

Traditional Chinese Fiction [C] [PU] [EN]

HUMA 2320 (132)

Chinese Drama [C] [PU]

HUMA 2330*

Anime

HUMA 2331*

Media Theories of Japanese Animation

HUMA 2340*

Between Old and New: Chinese Stories and Their Reinventions

HUMA 2930

What am I Personal Identity and the Self

HUMA 3000C

Entering the World of Art Films, Independent Films, and Documentary Films [C] [PU]

HUMA 3200

Questions of Humanity in World Literature

HUMA 3201*

Animation: A Global Perspective

HUMA 3202 (3000A)

Chinese Creative Writing: Reading Literary Classics and Writing Essays [C] [PU]

HUMA 3203

Nineteenth-century foreign literature [PU]

HUMA 3204

Chinese Creative Writing: Reading Literary Classics and Writing [C] [PU]

HUMA 3205

Technologies of Passion: Self and Love in Chinese Literature [C]

HUMA 3210 (221)

Traditional Chinese Poetry: Tang and Song Poetry [C] [PU]

HUMA 3220 (222)*

Modern Chinese Poetry [C] [PU]

HUMA 3240 (3140, 214)

The Gothic Imagination in Literature and Film

HUMA 3250

Independent Cinema in Contemporary China

HUMA 4000D

Hollywood Goes to Asia: Transnational Asian Media

HUMA 4000E

The Foreigners' Look at China

HUMA 4000G

Global Hong Kong in Literature and Film

HUMA 4220 (4110)

Verbal and Visual Representation of China

HUMA 4221

Chinese Classics in World Media

HUMA 4250 (4130, 313)

Masterpieces of Modern Literature

 

History and Anthropology

Course Code

Course Title

HUMA 1650 (2650, 165)*

Appreciation of Western Art

HUMA 1660 (066)*

Introduction to Chinese Art [C] [PU]

HUMA 1671*

Cantonese Opera in Hong Kong Culture [C] [CA]

HUMA 1672*

Studio Arts Workshops: Cantonese Opera [C] [CA]

HUMA 1673*

Art and Digital Culture

HUMA 2660 (166)*

Introduction to Chinese Painting [C] [PU]

HUMA 2661 (100A)*

Chinese Oil Painting

HUMA 2670 (167)*

Understanding Western Painting

HUMA 2680 (168)

Understanding Western Architecture

HUMA 3660 (266)*

Tradition & Modernity: Chinese Ink Painting in 20th Century

HUMA 3680 (200W)*

Contemporary Architecture: The Pritzker Prize Winners

HUMA 4650 (300L)

Western Painting: From Renaissance to Impressionism

 

Music

Course Code

Course Title

HUMA 1100 (2100, 110)*

Music of the World

HUMA 1102 (2102, 115)*

Enjoyment of Classical Music

HUMA 1107

Music and Film

HUMA 1108*

Expressive Sounds

HUMA 2000B

Art of Singing

HUMA 2101 (3101, 211)*

Enjoyment of Western Opera

HUMA 2103 (116)

Introduction to Music Composition

HUMA 2104 (117)*

Music Theory I

HUMA 2105 (3100, 210)*

Music, Drama and Theatre

HUMA 2106 (2000A)

A New Approach to Music Making

HUMA 2107*

Introduction to Electronic Music Composition

HUMA 2108*

Music of China

HUMA 2109*

East Asian Pop Music

HUMA 3102 (3000G)

Making Chamber Music A

HUMA 3103

Making Chamber Music B

HUMA 3104

Music Theory II

HUMA 3105 (2000C)

Making Choral Music

HUMA 3107

Electronic Music Composition II

HUMA 3150

Independent Study in Creative Arts

 

Creative Arts

Course Code

Course Title

HUMA 1150*

Exploration of Drawing

HUMA 1154*

Photography

HUMA 1155*

Video Art

HUMA 1156*

Exploration of Chinese Calligraphy

HUMA 1157*

Introduction to Acting and Public Speaking