Deep Archive: Faculty of Arts × Faculty of Social Sciences

Module: 01 Academic · Deep Archive Last updated: 2026-06-15 This deep dive covers the historical development, departmental architecture, and disciplinary strengths of HKU's two humanities and social sciences faculties: the Faculty of Arts (1912) and the Faculty of Social Sciences (1967). For faculty-level overviews, see faculties.md; for the full department listing, see departments.md.

# Part 1 · Faculty of Arts

# 1. Historical standing

The Faculty of Arts was one of the three founding faculties when HKU formally opened its doors in 1912 (alongside Engineering and Medicine). According to HKU Faculty of Arts (Wikipedia)^※, it is the oldest faculty of humanities in Hong Kong and has, for over a century, been the heart of arts education and research at the University.

HKU's teacher training was also initially housed within the Faculty of Arts: according to HKU Faculty of Education — Our History^※, the "Department for the Training of Teachers" was set up under Arts in 1917, only becoming independent in 1976 and being elevated to the Faculty of Education in 1984. In other words, today's Faculty of Education originated within the Faculty of Arts.

# 2. Four-school structure

According to HKU Faculty of Arts (Wikipedia)^※, the Faculty is now organised into four Schools:

It also houses the Centre for Applied English Studies, Centre for the Humanities and Medicine, Centre of Buddhist Studies, and others. As noted in HKU Arts assessment page^※, Arts undergraduates receive their degrees with honours classifications (see academic-system.md).

# 3. Disciplinary characteristics

• Equal emphasis on language and translation: The separate Schools of Chinese and English reflect HKU's "Chinese-English bilingual" tradition; the School of English's English Studies programme was among the earliest of its kind in Hong Kong.
• Interdisciplinary centres: The Centre for the Humanities and Medicine links Arts and Medicine; the Centre of Buddhist Studies is a regional hub for Buddhist scholarship.
• Modern languages: The School of Modern Languages and Cultures covers a broad spread of European and Asian languages, undergirding HKU's internationalisation and area studies.

The Faculty of Arts is home to numerous research centres in modern languages, art history, and other fields; this piece does not list them exhaustively. Refer to the Faculty's official website for the definitive list.

# Part 2 · Faculty of Social Sciences

# 1. Historical standing

According to HKU Faculty of Social Sciences — Departments & Centres^※, the Faculty of Social Sciences was established in 1967. It was a product of HKU's post-war expansion and served as the "parent body" for several later-established faculties: the Faculty of Law began life in 1969 as the "Department of Law" under Social Sciences, only becoming independent in 1984 (see deepdive-law.md).

# 2. Department and school structure

According to the Faculty's official page, it currently comprises five departments and two schools:

Major research centres include the HKJC Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention, Centre for Civil Society and Governance, Centre for Criminology, Sau Po Centre on Ageing, Stone Centre on Socio-Economic Inequality in Asia, among others.

# 3. Department of Social Work and Social Administration (SWSA) — the starting point of Hong Kong social work education

According to HKU SWSA — at a Glance^※:

• SWSA is the first social work training institution in the history of professional social work education in Hong Kong.
• Social work training at HKU began in 1950 (at the postgraduate diploma and post-secondary certificate level).
• In 1967, the Bachelor of Social Sciences (Social Work) [BSocSc(Social Work)] programme replaced the certificate-level courses to meet the community's urgent need for qualified professional social workers.

SWSA is therefore regarded as one of the wellsprings of social work professionalisation in Hong Kong and has long held regional influence in social policy and social work research.

# 4. Department of Politics and Public Administration (PPA)

PPA is the core unit for teaching and research in political science, public administration, and international relations at HKU. It also co-delivers several double-degree programmes, such as the BSocSc (Government and Laws) & LLB (according to PPA programme page^※).

Contentious matters touching on university governance or campus politics are assigned to Modules 13–16 by the site's division of labour; this piece states only the academic-structural facts.

# 5. Journalism and Media Studies Centre (JMSC) / School of Future Media

Journalism education at HKU is centred on the Journalism and Media Studies Centre (JMSC). According to JMSC — About Us^※ and JMSC (Wikipedia)^※:

• The JMSC was established in September 1999, under the Faculty of Social Sciences.
• Founder Ying Chan established the JMSC in 1999 and launched the Master of Journalism (MJ) programme, serving as its founding Director from 1999 to 2016.
• According to HKU Admissions page^※, the Master of Journalism is Hong Kong's first postgraduate degree programme designed specifically to train journalism practitioners. It is offered as a one-year full-time or two-year part-time course.
• According to JMSC materials, its alumni work at international and regional media organisations including the BBC, CNN, Bloomberg, and Reuters, as well as local news outlets; its internship network spans numerous international media.

In recent years, HKU has integrated media education into the School of Future Media (see the Faculty of Social Sciences official page).

Assessment of politicised issues such as press freedom and the media environment is assigned to Modules 13–18 by the site's division of labour; this piece records only neutral facts concerning the JMSC's establishment, programmes, and employment network, without evaluative commentary.

# 6. Interdisciplinary research centres in Social Sciences

Beyond the five departments and two schools listed above, the Faculty of Social Sciences' constellation of research centres deserves a mention. As collated from the Faculty's official page^※, the HKJC Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention has long been the authoritative body in Hong Kong's suicidology field, with its research findings regularly cited by government departments and the media as a reference for public health policy. The Sau Po Centre on Ageing focuses on social policy and care models related to population ageing, responding directly to the needs of Hong Kong's rapidly greying society. The Stone Centre on Socio-Economic Inequality in Asia concentrates on issues such as income disparity and social mobility. The common thread linking these centres is that their research agendas are closely attuned to concrete, local Hong Kong social issues—suicide prevention, an ageing population, the wealth gap—rather than simply following international academic trends. This reflects the Faculty's disciplinary ethos of being "locally rooted and serving the community."

# 3. Material Not Found / To Be Confirmed

• Precise founding years for individual Arts/Social Sciences departments: Some departmental pages do not specify an independent founding date (often evolving through reorganisations alongside their parent faculty). This piece records only dates with clearly identified sources.
• The latest affiliation relationship between JMSC and the School of Future Media: Given recent restructuring of media education units by HKU, the details of the subordination/integration of JMSC within the School of Future Media should be verified against the official pages — marked "refer to official pages for confirmation".
• QS subject rankings for the faculties: These fluctuate year by year; ranking data is assigned to Module 03. Specific numerical ranks are not recorded here.