Bachelor of Arts (BA) - The University of Hong Kong

100
AMER2016.
Making it in America: the 'Model Minority' experience (6 credits)
(This course is also offered to non-BA students for inter-Faculty broadening purposes.)
Asian and Jewish Americans are frequently described as 'model minorities,' for achieving the
American dream of education, wealth, and political power. Implicit in this notion of the model
minority is a critique of those ethnic or minority groups in America who fail to fit the 'model.' This
course will examine and challenge the 'model minority' idea in American culture and politics, using
materials from literature, film, politics, and popular culture. Special attention will be given to
instances of inter-minority conflict and co-operation, as individual American minority groups
attempt to achieve their own version of American success.
Assessment: 100% coursework.
AMER2018.
'Show me the money': doing business with Americans (6 credits)
(This course is also offered to non-BA students for inter-Faculty broadening purposes.)
This course is designed to familiarize students with business practice in the U.S. and in American
corporations in Hong Kong. Weekly sessions will alternate between lectures and discussions with
members of the American business community in the Asia-Pacific region. Topics include: U.S.
Business History and economic cycles, American entrepreneurs, the ethics and etiquette of U.S.
corporate culture, government/business relationships, gender and business, and business and
technological change.
Assessment: 100% coursework.
AMER2020.
'Smoke signals': Native American literature and American culture (6 credits)
(This course is also offered to non-BA students for inter-Faculty broadening purposes.)
America was not 'discovered' by European explorers and adventurers. The continent was peopled
by hundreds of tribes representing many cultures and many histories. These natives (what to call
them – Indians, Native Americans, First Peoples – remains a subject of contention) offered the
newcomers an alternative way of life; they challenged their Western/European cultural assumptions;
but, most of all, they were perceived as a threat to be eliminated as the settlers/colonizers moved
ever westward. In this course we will not only examine the Native American literary tradition, but
we will also investigate the processes by which this tradition has entered into the dominant culture,
how it has been transformed by such encounters, and how, in turn, it has altered the national
identity.
Assessment: 100% coursework.
AMER2021.
On the road again: Field trip in American Studies (6 credits)
(By permission of the lecturer this course is also offered to non-BA students for inter-Faculty
broadening purposes.)
Concentrating on North American points of interest--from urban to natural to cultural sites--this
course will explore the variety and complexity of American life. Throughout the semester students
will conduct group research and deliver presentations on the cities to be visited in the summer.
This year the field trip may include Los Angeles and the Hollywood ‘Star Walk’, San Francisco and
its world-renowned Chinatown, metropolitan Seattle made famous by Bruce Lee and Bill Gates, the
Calgary stampede which every year reenacts the cowboy rituals of the Wild West, and Edmonton
where students will have a chance to experience university life and learn about the exchange
program between HKU and the University of Alberta. This course is required of all American
Studies majors, but may include other students as well.
Assessment: 100% coursework.