Lingnan University (Hong Kong)

Lingnan University
嶺南大學
Motto	Chinese: 作育英才，服務社會 (lit: Training People for Service to Society) English: Education for Service
Established	1888 (as Canton Christian College in Guangzhou) 1967 (as Lingnan School in Hong Kong) 1978 (as Lingnan College) 1999 (granted full university status)
Type	Public
Chancellor	Donald Tsang (曾蔭權)
President	Chan Yuk-shee (陳玉樹)
Admin. staff	538
Students	2,311
Location	Tuen Mun, Hong Kong
Affiliations	ASAIHL, ACUCA
Website	www.ln.edu.hk

The Lingnan University (LU) (Chinese: 嶺南大學; Cantonese Yale: Ling Nam Tai Hok, formerly called Lingnan College (Chinese: 嶺南學院; Cantonese Yale: Ling Nam Hok Yuen)) is a public liberal arts university in Hong Kong. It was granted full university status on 30 July 1999.

The Lingnan University administration believes that it provides students with a quality education distinguished by the best liberal arts tradition from both East and West. It attempts to adopt a whole-person approach to education which enables its students to think, judge, care and, ultimately, act responsibly in the changing circumstances of Hong Kong, the region and the world.

History

Canton Period

An old building of Lingnan University in Guangzhou, in which now used by Sun Yat-sen University

Lingnan University founded as Canton Christian College in Guangzhou, China as a Non-Denominational Christian university by the American Presbyterians (North) Council in 1889.

The school changed location several times over the years. In 1900, the school was relocated to Macau due to the Boxer Rebellion. The school moved back to Guangzhou and built a permanent campus at the Haizhu District in 1904.

The university moved to Hong Kong for the first time in 1938 after Guangzhou fell to the Japanese military. The university stayed in Hong Kong for 4 years before moving to Shaoguan after Hong Kong's capitulation to the Japanese forces.

After World War II concluded, Lingnan University moved back to its permanent campus at Haizhu.

Lingnan School

After the communist revolution in Mainland China, the university remained in Guangzhou, and was merged into Sun Yat-sen University in 1952.

In 1967, the Lingnan Secondary School Board of Directors, along with the Lingnan University Hong Kong Alumnus Club and Lingnan Club founded the Lingnan Education Expansion Council, and began to organise the Lingnan School in Hong Kong. In the formative years, the school only provided preparatory form (Sixth Form) education and non-degree programmes.

During the 1970s, Lingnan School began to offer diploma programmes in such subjects as liberal arts, commerce, and science.

Lingnan College

At the end of 1978, the colonial government in Hong Kong issued a White Paper on post-secondary education. Lingnan accepted the government's suggestions, and abolished the 4-year system that is used in other universities around the world in favour of the "2-2-1" regimen (2 years of preparatory courses, 2 years of study for higher diplomas, 1 more year for an honours diplomas). At the same time, the school registered as an Approved Post Secondary College, and changed its name to Lingnan College.

During the 1980s, the school began to focus its resources on Social Science, Commerce, and Literature programmes, and shut down other programmes such as Music and Science to conserve funding. In 1985, an interdisciplinary degree programme was established.

Lingnan's speed of development increased as the 80s drew to an end, due to the colonial Hong Kong government's policy of expanding higher education. At the same time, the preparatory courses that were first mandated by the government in 1978 were steadily abolished.

Lingnan University

In 1991, the Lingnan College received funding from the Hong Kong government directly after it passed an academic accreditation review from the Hong Kong Council for Academic Accreditation (HKCAA).

During the 1990s, the University's development as a Liberal Arts university was confirmed by the school's board, and the school moved to its permanent residence in Tuen Mun in 1995. The school began to receive authorisation to open bachelor courses in 1992, then master courses in 1996, eventually receiving self-accreditation status and full recognition as a university by the government in 1998, and renaming the institution as Lingnan University on 30 July 1999.

The university has a reputation for the high quality of teaching and learning, particularly for its Faculty of Business. In 2007 Professor Edward Chen retired after his 12 years as president. Professor Yuk-Shee Chan, ex-vice president of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology become the new president. Lingnan University is now preparing the new "334" system which is planned for introduction in 2012; in the new system, a new 120-credit programme will be divided into parts, e.g. General Education, Ethics.

Notable faculty

Arts

• Prof. Leung Ping-kwan (Comparative Literature)
• Prof. Lau Shiu-ming, Joseph (Emeritus Professor)
• Prof. Cai Zong-qi (Chair Professor of Chinese)
• Prof. Meaghan Morris (Chair Professor of Cultural Studies)
• Prof. Eugene Eoyang (Emeritus Professor)
• Prof. Richard Basil Freadman (Chair Professor of English)
• Prof. Richard Davis (Chair Professor of History)
• Prof. Nathan Paisley Livingston (Professor of Philosophy)
• Prof. Haugom Stein Olsen (Chair Professor of Philosophy)
• Prof. Neven Sesardic (Professor of Philosophy)
• Prof. Anne Mette Hjort (Professor of Visual Studies)

Business

• Prof. Dean William Tjosvold (Chair Professor of Management)

Social Sciences

• Prof. Jesus Seade (Chair Professor of Economics)
• Prof. Ma Yue (Professor of Economics)
• Prof. Peter Baehr (Chair Professor of Social Theory)
• Prof. William Keng Mun Lee (Professor of Sociology)
• Prof. David Phillips (Chair Professor of Social Policy)

Degree Programmes

Undergraduate Programmes

• Chinese
• Contemporary English Studies
• Contemporary English Studies and Education (Programme suspended from the year 2009)
• Cultural Studies
• History
• Philosophy
• Translation
• Visual Studies
• Business Administration
• Social Sciences

Graduate Programmes (Research)

• Chinese
• Cultural Studies
• English
• History
• Philosophy
• Translation
• Business
• Social Sciences

Graduate Programmes (Instruction)

• Business Administration
• Chinese
• English Studies
• Cultural Studies
• International Banking and Finance
• Accountancy
• Liberal Studies

Departments and Units

Arts

• Department of Chinese
• Department of Cultural Studies
• Department of English
• Department of History
• Department of Philosophy
• Department of Translation
• Department of Visual Studies

Business

• Department of Accountancy
• Department of Finance and Insurance
• Department of Computing and Decision Sciences
• Department of Management
• Department of Marketing and International Business

Social Sciences

• Department of Economics
• Department of Political Sciences
• Department of Sociology

Research

• Hong Kong Institute of Business Studies (HKIBS)
• Institute of Humanities And Social Sciences (IHSS)
• Public Governance Programme
• Office of Research & Staff Development (ORSD)
• Hong Kong and South China Historical Research Programme

Other

• Office of General Education
• Office of Mainland and International Programmes
• Office of Service Learning

Affiliated Institutions

The Community College at Lingnan University

In January 2003, Lingnan established a Community College to provide full support for one-year pre-associate degree and two-year associate degree programmes on a full-time basis. They are designed to provide an educational experience that prepares students for work and an enriched life as educated persons, as well as a solid foundation for the possibility of further studies.

To accommodate these classes, a Community College Building was completed in the 2004-05 academic. The complex provides lecture rooms, computer and language laboratories, laboratories for science subject, art studios, a Christian activities centre, multi-purpose rooms, student consolation rooms and a student function hall for the students at the community college and their instructors.

Lingnan Institute of Further Education (LIFE)

In April 2001, Lingnan established the self-funded Lingnan Institute of Further Education (LIFE). LIFE's remit was to enable and encourage students to learn continuously and to obtain recognised qualifications for their career and personal development.

Student life

Lingnan considers "hostel life" (life in college dormitories) as a form of informal education. As a result, all full-time undergraduate students are required to stay at student hostels on campus for at least one academic year within their duration of study at the University. A majority of students stay for two academic years.

There are six blocks of student hostels in Lingnan University, each hostel can carry about 250 people, they are divided into two zones:

Southern Hostels

• William M. W. Mong Hall, The Bank of East Asia Hall (Hostel A)
• Tsung Tsin Association Hall, Fok Cho Min Hall (Hostel B)
• Chung Shun Hall, Yee Man Hall (Hostel C)
• Lam Woo Hall (Hostel D)

Northern Hostels

• The Jockey Club Hall (Hostel E, F)

The lower floors of hostels are for male student residents and the upper floors female student residents. All student rooms are double occupancy.

See also

• Lingnan University Library
• Education in Hong Kong
• List of universities in Hong Kong
• List of buildings and structures in Hong Kong
• The Community College at Lingnan University

External links

• Lingnan University
• Lingnan University Community College