UGFH 1000

The course invites students to investigate the problem of "humanity"—i.e., what it means to be human—at two levels: human as an individual and human as a social being. Students will be engaged in a direct dialogue with literary writers, philosophers and social reformers who address three fundamental questions: What is it that makes a "good" life for me? What is it that makes a "good" society for everyone? How do I make possible such a "good" life and "good" society? Students are expected to read, discuss, and write about a wide range of texts extracted from influential classics in the humanities East and West. They will be encouraged to discover their own answers to the three questions by considering views and arguments expressed in the texts, and by exploring how far and in what ways such views and arguments may hold true for the contemporary world. Where appropriate, the selected classic texts will be given bilingually to help students enter the world of classics and develop confidence and competence in approaching primary texts. Students will meet for one lecture and two tutorial sessions every week. Emphasis will be placed on students’ capacity to respond critically to the selected texts in oral and written presentations, in the form of class discussions, short write-ups and term papers. Class size will be kept small to maximize discussions and to facilitate intensive guidance on academic writing, in Chinese and/or English as specified by the instructor.