City University of Hong Kong (CityU) is an international university that emphasises the integration of teaching and research. It has been promoting diversified cross-cultural studies through a wide range of educational programmes. Tomorrow (18 March), CityU will officially launch the series "Beyond Boundaries: Dialogue with Presidents of World’s Leading Educational Institutions”, hosted by President Way Kuo of CityU. This series is one of the highlights of CityU's celebration of University Day.

President Kuo is a world-renowned expert in design for reliability, including electronic systems and energy systems. He has been awarded academician titles from around the world. He is also an expert on education issues, having published books about education such as Soulware: The American Way in China’s Higher Education in English and Chinese. His books have aroused wide responses.

In this series, President Kuo talks to presidents of renowned universities. Through dialogues with these educational experts, they understand each other's strengths and explore the characteristics of education around the world, the problems they face, and solutions to those problems.

Each episode has two parts: the first consists of on-site videos of universities around the world, illustrating the general situation and characteristics of local education; the second is President Kuo’s interview with presidents of world-renowned universities or high schools. The production team is mainly composed of CityU faculty students and staff. They carry out directing, filming, lighting, dubbing and post-production duties.

"Universities are not only places for awarding degrees. They should lead society, train creativity, and benefit people. Ultimately, we should give back to society through learning and scientific research activities," said President Kuo.

The first series of "Beyond Boundaries: Dialogue with Presidents of World’s Leading Educational Institutions” is mostly President Kuo’s interviews with presidents who have visited CityU for academic activities. The interviewees come from top universities in South Africa, India, Germany, Japan and mainland China. As higher education and secondary education are closely related, a high school’s head in Hong Kong is also interviewed for the series.

 

Part of the following series was carried out during the pandemic. The production team used modern information technology to film the dialogue between President Kuo and the interviewees online. Some of the interviews were conducted during President Kuo’s outbound visits.

In the first episode, President Kuo interviews Professor Phakeng, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Town, South Africa, the first university in the world to successfully perform a human heart transplant. Professor Phakeng is one of the few African-American women to serve as a leader in higher education in South Africa. The programme will premiere on the CityU YouTube channel on 18 March.

Programme website: https://www.cityu.edu.hk/beyond-boundaries

Other dialogues include:

• Episode 2:       "Indian Institute of Technology - The MIT of India "
• Episode 3:       "Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - The mother of modern universities”
• Episode 4:       "Tohoku University - A top university in Japan "
• Episode 5:       "Universität Stuttgart - The best engineering university in Germany"
• Episode 6:       "Shanghai Jiaotong University - A university of gratitude and responsibility (Part 1)"
• Episode 7:       "Shanghai Jiaotong University - A university of gratitude and responsibility (Part 2)"
• Episode 8:       "Hong Kong Diocesan Girls' School - nurturing top talent in academics and sports"