Page 198 - SYU Prospectus

Shue Yan University Prospectus 2021-22

SOC 357 Migration and Mobility
1 Term; 3 Credits
Migration has become a significant issue in the era of globalization. This course takes up
migration, both international and internal, as the primary object of study and category of
analysis. This course will give students some basic familiarity with major theories, issues, and
controversies of contemporary migration. It aims to stimulate students to reflect on and engage
in critical analysis of the causes, mechanisms, and social consequences of international
migration, as well as internal migration in contemporary societies. In considering the
relationship between migration and late modernity, the course will also investigate the impact
of transnationalism and the formation of diasporic communities on the transborder
dissemination of culture and heritage.

SOC 358 Poverty, Social Policy and Social Innovation
1 Term; 3 Credits
This course enables students to analyse the social causes of poverty and the ways in
which social innovation is effective in poverty alleviation in Hong Kong. It starts with the
sociological reasoning of how poverty comes into being. It then provides an empirical
discussion of poverty in contemporary Hong Kong (e.g. the working poor, the elderly poverty,
unemployment, etc.) and introduces the various policy initiatives for poverty alleviation
developed by the government, NGOs and the business sector. A special emphasis is put on
how each of these sectors attempts to introduce innovative measures beyond conventional
practices. Innovative measures such as empowerment, microfinance, social entrepreneurship
and corporate social responsibility will be discussed. This course will conclude by analysing
how social innovation reduces poverty in Hong Kong.

SOC 362 Tourism and Culture
1 Term; 3 Credits
This course is designed to introduce to students various aspects of tourism, mainly
focusing on the interrelation between tourism and culture from an anthropological perspective.
The course will cover the origin, major theories, methodology and practice of the anthropology
of tourism. The course will analyse tourism as a cultural phenomenon with complex meanings
for both host and guest societies. Students will learn about the relationship among culture,
society and tourism by examining the socio-cultural complexities implied in a changing world.
Particular emphasis is placed on the socio-cultural dimension of travelling behaviour, cultural
development, heritage preservation, community involvement, ethnic identity construction, and
commodification of both the tourist and the toured.

SOC 371 Chinese Culture and Society
1 Term; 3 Credits
This course will explore what “traditional” Chinese culture means in Chinese-speaking
societies. It will also consider the new Chinese cultural identity of the urban “middle-class”,
which has emerged through the processes of commoditization, urbanization, privatization, bio-

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