The Center for the Study of Globalization and Cultures (CSGC), set up in 1999 under the joint directorship of Professor Ackbar Abbas and Professor Benjamin Lee, is an interdisciplinary center based in the Department of Comparative Literature. The focus of its work is on issues of culture and globalization with special reference to Asia, China and Hong Kong. Major research themes include: the cultures of capitalism; global flows of culture, media and technology; cities and globalization; new communities, publics, and identities; and postcolonialism and neo-liberalism. It is now under the joint directorship of Professor Daniel Elam and Professor Alvin K. Wong. Its activities are structured around a series of lectures, workshops and seminars with distinguished international scholars on short- or medium term visits working in collaboration with our own faculty members.
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UPCOMING EVENT
Montreal, My Beautiful (2025) A Conversation with Director Xiaodan He
Moderator: Alvin Wong, Associate Professor, Comparative Literature, HKU
Date: Monday, September 7, 2026
Screening: 4:00-6:00 pm Hong Kong Time (In French and Mandarin with English subtitles)
Conversation (in English): 6:00-6:45 pm Hong Kong Time
Venue: Room 436, 4/F, Run Run Shaw Tower, The University of Hong Kong
Registration link: https://hkuems1.hku.hk/hkuems/ec_hdetail.aspx?ueid=109002
All HKU staff and students are welcome. Registration requires HKU Portal ID.
Please note that this film is restricted to persons aged 18 or above.
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UPCOMING EVENT
Black Girl from Pyongyang: In Search of My Identity
Speaker: Monica Macias, London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London
Moderator: Arnika Fuhrmann, Professor, Comparative Literature, HKU
Date: Tuesday, September 15, 2026
Time: 5:00 pm Hong Kong Time
Venue: Faculty Lounge (Room 430), 4/F, Run Run Shaw Tower, The University of Hong Kong
Registration link: https://hkuems1.hku.hk/hkuems/ec_hdetail.aspx?guest=Y&ueid=109085
All are welcome. Registration is required.
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UPCOMING EVENT
The Speculative Uncanny in Li Yi-Fan’s Digital Art
Speaker: Gabriel Remy-Handfield, Research Assistant Professor, Academy of Language and Culture, Hong Kong Baptist University
Moderator: Arnika Fuhrmann, Professor, Comparative Literature, HKU
Date: Tuesday, September 22, 2026
Time: 5:00 pm Hong Kong Time
Venue: Faculty Lounge (Room 430), 4/F, Run Run Shaw Tower, The University of Hong Kong
Registration link: https://hkuems1.hku.hk/hkuems/ec_hdetail.aspx?guest=Y&ueid=109028
All are welcome. Registration is required.
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Professor Ackbar Abbas 1942–2026
Professor Ackbar Abbas (b. 1942, Hong Kong) died peacefully in Beijing on July 13, 2026 after a brief period of illness. He taught at HKU from 1967-2006 and contributed greatly to the establishment of the Department of Comparative Literature in 1989. During his tenure at HKU, he co-founded the Center for the Study of Globalization and Cultures and served as Department Chair. Professor Abbas is best known for his 1997 book Hong Kong: Culture and the Politics of Disappearance, a landmark work that brings together film studies, postcolonial theory, and urbanism to transform understandings of Hong Kong and make the city a crucial site for rethinking postcoloniality, globalization, and urban modernity. Professor Abbas is survived by his dear wife Sola, his four children and three grandchildren. He will be remembered as a loving husband, proud (grand)father, devoted colleague, and an inspiration to countless students and readers of his work over many distinguished years at HKU and UC Irvine. A champion of “poor theory”, connoisseur of the fake, master of the paradoxical turn — one of a kind. He will be deeply missed.
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