About

The Multicultural and Global Diversity project was funded by the Teaching Development and Language Enhancement Grant (TDLEG) 2022-2025. The project aimed to foster multicultural understanding and enhance linguistic diversity within HKU campus by organizing and conducting in-person (f2f) and interactive intercultural workshops and activities, based on language exchange. This initiative is led by Dr Loretta Kim, Dr Li Chong and Dr Mercedes Vázquez. These events promoting intercultural understanding and exchange not just between English and Chinese-speakers but also with speakers of all the languages offered by the School of Modern Languages and Cultures and certain languages currently not taught at HKU. We aimed to provide students with a platform to share across cultures and languages through the following media:

Lectures/performances about significant attributes of

societies around the world delivered by guest speakers

These interactive and broadly appealing events will pique students’ curiosity and raising their awareness of the culturally-specific dimensions and demonstrate respect for cultural differences within the HKU community, within Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area, and in the global context.

Sharing sessions

Students and other speakers will give multimedia presentations about their experiences participating in language and cultural exchange programmes overseas and inspire students to pursue experiential learning opportunities outside of Hong Kong.

Festival of Languages and Cultures

This annual event will feature locally based visual and performing artists from various countries and cultures, and will also expose HKU students to forms of intangible cultural heritage similar to the Hong Kong Culture Festival.

In total, around 700 staff, students, and members of the Hong Kong community participated in our events across the span of three academic years. The following events had been organised (in summary):

September 2022-August 2023:

1. Sharing Session: “Studying Abroad during the Pandemic: Living and Learning in New Environments”: Completed on October 31, 2022.

2. Sharing Session: “Multicultural Communication through Romance and Relationships”: Completed on February 1, 2023.

3. First Festival of Languages and Cultures including language games, workshop on multicultural understanding by Ms Margot Lin and film screening (Ajoomma) + post-screening discussion over Zoom with film producer Mr. Anthony Chen: Completed on April 4, 2023.

4. Film Screening (Machine for the Aura) plus Post-Screening Discussion over Zoom with the film Directors (Ms Ana Laura Monserrat & Mr Nahuel Srnec): Completed on April 11, 2023.

5. Lecture on “Teaching, Learning and Assessing Multilingual and Intercultural Communication Competence in Higher Education” by Dr Lotta Kokkonen of the University of Jyväskylä (Finland): Completed on April 19, 2023.

6. Multicultural Sports Event “Sportival” held at the Pakistan Association of Hong Kong: Completed on May 4, 2023.

7. Literature Recital of Texts by Colombian Women Writers at the School of Modern Languages and Cultures of the University of Hong Kong: Completed on May 16, 2023.

List of Events

September 2023-August 2024

1. Sharing Session: “Linguistic Diversity in China”: Completed on September 22, 2023.

2. Film Screening Return to Seoul + post-screening discussion: Completed on October 11, 2023.

3. A Taste of Arabia: Arab Culture Event: Completed on November 6, 2023.

4. Lecture on “Another World is Possible: Applying the Intercultural Praxis Model” by Prof Kathryn Sorrells of California State University, Northridge: Completed on February 22, 2024.

5. Workshop on Building Intercultural Capacities and Alliances: An Intercultural Praxis Approach by Prof Sorrells: Completed on February 23, 2024.

6. Second Festival of Languages and Cultures 2024: Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) Project. HKU students and students from different institutions collaborated in the development of a project through virtual communication and created two exchange projects: Project 1 focused on Language and Identity in Hong Kong and the USA, while Project 2 focused on Language Education in Hong Kong and Germany: Completed with two exhibitions on May 17, 2024.

September 2024-June 2025:

1. Performance: “Magic of Music: A Celebration of Cultural Diversity”: Completed on November 15, 2024.

2. Sharing Session: “Music as an International and Multicultural Experience with Mr Kian Chong”: Completed on February 28, 2025.

2 Third Festival of Languages and Cultures including: Film screening of Unteachable, A Taste of Scandinavia - Scandinavian Culture Event, Sharing Session: Around the World in Three Languages: A Sharing about Turkish, Mongolian, and Greek. Completed on April 8th, 2025.

4. Performance: “Indian-Karnataka Cultural Evening: Language, Dance, Food and Reflection on Nurturing Community Culture in Hong Kong”: Completed on April 11, 2025.

5. Lecture on “Multilingualism and Teaching of Foreign Languages: Prerequisites, Didactic Concepts, Suggestions for Implementation” by Prof Marianne Hepp of the University of Pisa, Italy: Completed on May 7, 2025.

Meet the Team

The Multicultural and Global Diversity Project is led by three faculty members from the School of Modern Languages and Cultures, Faculty of Arts, HKU and supported by various alumni, students, and research staff on a rotating basis.

Dr. Li Chong

Li Chong is Senior Lecturer and Director of German Programme at the School of Modern Languages and Cultures, University of Hong Kong. She obtained her PhD in Psycholinguistics and Teaching German as a Foreign Language at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München in Germany. As one of Hong Kong's foremost Chinese-German-English academics, she has published research on German language education, multilingual language acquisition and intercultural studies by leading international and peer-reviewed journals and reputable publishers. She leads the Knowledge Exchange & Outreach Subcommittee of the Committee on Gender Equality and Diversity at HKU. She has also been appointed a specialist panel member of the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications and committed herself to serve the education community.

Dr. Loretta Kim

Loretta Kim is Associate Professor and Director of the China Studies programme at the School of Modern Languages and Cultures, University of Hong Kong. She is a historian of late imperial and modern China. Her primary research areas include the comparative history of borderlands and frontiers, Sino-Russian cultural relations, and Chinese ethnic minority languages and literatures. She is the author of Ethnic Chrysalis: China’s Orochen People and the Legacy of Qing Borderland Administration (2019) and The Russian Orthodox Community in Hong Kong: Religion, Ethnicity, and Intercultural Relations (2021). Loretta also works on the preservation of languages with relatively small user populations and support for ethnic and other social identities that reflect the internal diversity of these groups and organic changes to “tradition” that occur in response to political and economic factors through her research.

Dr. Mercedes Vázquez

Mercedes Vázquez teaches Spanish language and Film and Cultural Studies at The School of Modern Languages and Cultures of The University of Hong Kong. Her long-standing interest in promoting intercultural communication and developing students’ global competence crystallized in numerous cultural projects such as film screenings and discussions with filmmakers from different regions of the world, talks, seminars, and courses involving virtual collaboration with overseas students. This TDLEG project constitutes a new stage in the promotion of understanding between people from both different and similar cultures across the world, and the celebration of diversity at multiple levels.