This course investigates various discourses of Hong Kong ranging from the British colonial perspective to the post-1997 handover Beijing-government perspectives, to the nuances between migrants and expats. Throughout a variety of themes, students will learn to listen to and articulate different discourses and the connections between them. The major course objective is to understand these various discourses of the city, and to investigate their ideological implications and effects on its everyday life. By looking at marginalised groups and spaces that are often overlooked in official narratives of economic prosperity and cultural hybridity, this course engages with alternative stories in the city through readings, screenings, and fieldtrips. The course approaches less talked about dimensions of the city from various film, spatial and food productions. Students will be able to visit vibrant and precarious cityscapes of Nepali ethnic minorities, the less talked about New Territories, and engage with other local marginalized communities.n
4 units · Letter or Credit/No Credit
This course investigates various discourses of Hong Kong ranging from the British colonial perspective to the post-1997 handover Beijing-government perspectives, to the nuances between migrants and expats. Throughout a variety of themes, students will learn to listen to and articulate different discourses and the connections between them. The major course objective is to understand these various discourses of the city, and to investigate their ideological implications and effects on its everyday life. By looking at marginalised groups and spaces that are often overlooked in official narratives of economic prosperity and cultural hybridity, this course engages with alternative stories in the city through readings, screenings, and fieldtrips. The course approaches less talked about dimensions of the city from various film, spatial and food productions. Students will be able to visit vibrant and precarious cityscapes of Nepali ethnic minorities, the less talked about New Territories, and engage with other local marginalized communities.n
Offered in Autumn 2026 at Stanford University.