Teaching
After publishing The Invisible Citizens: Urban Life of the Homeless, which documented sixty-five homeless stories and a year-long civic action project in Hong Kong, I organized twenty-five community-based experiential learning sessions, connecting over 600 students from universities, high schools, and nonprofits with the homeless population. This work was honored with the Seeds of Good Deeds Award from the Chinese University of Hong Kong for bridging academic learning with real-world experiences.
In both Hong Kong and Canada, I’ve integrated experiential learning into my teaching, encouraging students to reflect on their class backgrounds, challenge social stigmas, and engage with sociological concepts beyond textbooks. In Canada, I led the UBC Food Initiative, a homeless outreach program, while conducting research on homelessness for my thesis. My experiences, including my work as a journalist, continue to shape my approach to teaching.
As a cultural sociologist, I now design courses based on an original, multi-polarity framework. This framework encompasses four pillars: (1) third-place grounded learning, (2) critical evaluations, (3) reflexive writing, and (4) social innovation. My teaching aims to bridge academic theories and real-world issues, equipping students to address social challenges from diverse, critical perspectives.
Course Instructor
Diaspora Politics and Transnational Migration History
This course offers an in-depth exploration of the Hong Kong diaspora, examining its multifaceted nature through historical, immigration, and international relations studies. Students will analyze the identity and continuity challenges faced by overseas Hong Kongers and compare them with other diaspora communities to enhance critical perspectives on their future, both locally and globally.
Cultural Sociology and the Imagined Community
This course delves into the sociocultural dynamics of Hong Kong identity, redefined amid political upheavals since 2019. It examines the complex constructs of "us" through emotional, traumatic, and communal lenses, challenging established perceptions and reflexive thoughts within the society. Over eight sessions, key sociological concepts are explored, including emotions, trauma, identity, boundaries, memory, time, and diaspora, to critically reflect on what defines "Hong Kong people" and their "imagined community."
Teaching Assistant
Third-place Grounded Learning
emphasizes introducing students to lesser-known, global case studies to challenge their preconceived notions and epistemological blind spots. It promotes critical thinking by exploring perspectives beyond familiar environments, helping students see beyond their situated 'habitus'.
Critical Evaluation
encourages students to apply sociological concepts to real-world examples and then identify gaps in their understanding. It helps students deepen their analytical skills by critically evaluating concepts and connecting them to other lessons for a more comprehensive understanding of social phenomena.
Reflexive Writing
focuses on helping students recognize their personal standpoints through self-reflective written assignments. By encouraging reflection without peer pressure, students gain an awareness of how intersectional social dimensions including class, gender, and race shape their understanding of the world.
Social Innovation
integrates sociology with practical problem-solving, encouraging students to apply sociological insights to real-world social issues. It fosters creativity and solution-oriented thinking by prompting students to critically evaluate pre-existing civic actions and propose innovative approaches to addressing problems.