Looking Ahead
Not letting itself be held back by a modest beginning, the Institute has flourished into a hub of learning in a well-connected Asia, and is now one of the two key independent research units at HKU. Our distinguished characters — multi-disciplinary approach, dynamic structure with multiplier effects, strategic leveraging in teaching and research, stable funding unencumbered by bureaucratic restrictions — have allowed us to build a dedicated community of critical minds. We continue to sink roots in the University, to extend our global and regional connections and reach out to society. By so doing, we will continue to serve as a model to show what is possible for collaborative research in the humanities and social sciences, and how it can inspire younger generations to be creative.
We spent the first ten years securing a solid scholarly infrastructure and governance. The last eight years saw an acceleration of program-building, networking, and establishing a global brand name. The next ten years will be a period of consolidation and strategic repositioning in view of the drastic transformations in Hong Kong, China, Asia, and the world. We are launching a major fund drive to ensure that our efforts in the past two decades are sustainable, and can be passed on to the next generation of academic leaders.