International Virtual Student Seminar 2023

Division of Arts and Languages of College of International Education (CIE) has been organising international virtual student seminar annually since 2021. In early April, CIE jointly organised a seminar with two universities from Kazakhstan, KIMEP University and Yessenov University, as well as Hong Kong Shue Yan University to provide a unique platform for students from diverse cultural backgrounds and discipline studies to share their research findings despite geographical distance. CIE students from Cultural Studies (CULS) and Professional Communication and English Studies (PENG) impressed the audience with their presentations on the representation of gender, the different portrayal of Hong Kong in movies, culture and linguistics. Dr. Michelle Chan, Associate Head (Internal) of Department of English Language and Literature of Hong Kong Shue Yan University gave high remarks on their presentations after the seminar.

The theme of the seminar this year was “Differences”. Students from Hong Kong and Kazakhstan exchanged ideas on areas, such as how individuals construct their understanding of the “reality” while facing different ideologies; how different information is used and constructed for a particular “truth”; the deviance and the conformity to accepted norms or values that are legitimised by specific organisations; the discursive practices of participants facing different settings; the management of category memberships and “differences”.

The seminar was inspirational and motivating to CIE students who learnt more about border disputes in Central Asia, how the news media of the U.S. and Central Asian countries frame violent clashes between Central Asian countries, Kazakh traditions-based stereotypes, the representation of gender in different areas, such as the English language, K-pop, and commercials.