College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences

College requirement (for CAH, EN, LT, COM and SS)

(Applicable to Normative 4-year degree students and Advanced Standing I students admitted/transferred to the majors offered by the Departments of Chinese and History (CAH), Media and Communication (COM), English (EN), Linguistics and Translation (LT) and Social and Behavioural Sciences (SS) from 2016/17 onwards)

Aim of the College Requirement

To enhance students’ sense of belonging to the College and to broaden students’ intellectual horizons in liberal arts and social sciences studies.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILO) of the College Requirement

Upon completion of the College Requirement, students will have acquired foundational knowledge in liberal arts and social sciences studies. Students will also have developed broader perspectives and enhanced critical thinking skills in their academic as well as intellectual pursuit. In addition, students will be able to demonstrate the attitude and/or ability to accomplish discovery and/or innovation.

Course Structure

Normative 4-year degree students and Advanced Standing I students admitted/transferred to the majors offered by CAH, COM, EN, LT and SS from 2016/17 onwards

Normative four-year students and Advanced Standing I students are required to take two College foundation courses (total 6 credit units) each from the liberal arts group and the social sciences group (3 credit units per course) for fulfilment of the College Requirement. Students should complete the two College foundation courses in their first-year of study. Students should not take the foundation course offered by their home department for fulfilment of the College Requirement in their first-year of study in CLASS. (see Table 1).

Table 1: College Foundation Courses for Normative 4-year degree students and Advanced Standing I students admitted/transferred to the majors offered by CAH, COM, EN, LT and SS from 2016/17 onwards
College Requirement (6 credit units)
Course code Course title Credit units
Select one course from liberal arts group:
CAH1603 Great Works in the Humanities 3
EN2011 English on the Move 3
LT1101 Amazing Things about Language 3
Select one course from social sciences group:
COM1101 Media and Communication in the Digital Age 3
PIA2801 Social Change and Governance Challenges: A Critical Appreciation through Film 3
SS1600 Discovering the Mystery of Applied Social Sciences 3
Notes
  1. The College Requirement and the College-specified course requirement for students changed from other academic units to CLASS departments will follow the same arrangements for the Advanced Standing I students. If a student has already successfully completed a Discipline-specific GE English course required by his/her original home academic unit at the University, the student will not be required to take another Discipline-specific English course after transferring to CLASS departments.
  2. Students who have already successfully completed a College foundation course offered by their new home department are not required to take another College foundation course from the same group after change of major within CLASS departments applicable to students admitted/transferred to CAH, COM, EN, LT and SS in Semester A 2022/23 and thereafter.
  3. If students of the 2025 entry and thereafter change their home major from PIA to CAH/COM/EN/LT/SS and have not fully completed the College Requirement framework (Language Component), they should follow the existing (old) College Requirement framework to take two College foundation courses (total 6 credit units), each from the liberal arts group and the social sciences group (3 credit units per course) offered by CLASS departments for fulfilment of the College Requirement and the courses must not be offered by their home department.
  4. Credit Transfer in relation to the College Requirement are not permissible.

Advanced Standing II students

Students entering the 4-year degree with Advanced Standing II will be given full exemption from College Requirement.