More than 60 Gateway Education (GE) courses aimed at equipping students with cross-disciplinary knowledge were showcased at the GE Fair at City University of Hong Kong (CityU) on 10-12 January.

The information provided at the Fair, which was organised by the Office of Education Development and Gateway Education (EDGE), will help students select courses appropriate to their interests and future careers, while invited speaker Professor Martha Carothers, a Fulbright Scholar from the US, was on hand to answer students’ questions about general education.

Professor Carothers pointed out that GE courses help students broaden their horizons and appreciate how different disciplines relate to diverse aspects of life. “The interactive learning environment on the GE courses broadens students’ thinking and awakens their curiosity. The broad spectrum of knowledge that the GE courses provide helps students discover what kind of career they are interested in, too.”

Around 30 students who had previously studied GE courses at CityU were invited to share their experience and introduce some of the courses. Melanie Tam Yuk-kuen, a Year 2 student from the School of Creative Media, spoke about her course, “Psychology for Young Professionals”, at the Fair.

“The course not only helped me know myself better, it also taught me how to deal with pressure,” she said. “I found that stress often comes from myself or my family members and friends. When I encounter pressure now, I know how to identify its source and employ theories from psychology to analyse myself and the people around me. If I know how to handle myself and the people around me, I can become less stressed.”

Hester Wong Man-yee, a Year 3 student from the Department of Accountancy, completed the course “The Silk Road: A Pathway of Interactive Culture from the Ancient to the Modern World”. She indicated that the course deepened her understanding of the history of the Silk Road.

“To an accountancy student like me, the course enriched my knowledge about China and the Silk Road. On the surface, there seems no relationship at all between the course and my major. However, the current trend makes it clear that we will have a lot of chances to take business trips to mainland China in our future careers. As the course has equipped me with deeper knowledge about China, it would surely be a big help for my future work in the mainland,” she said.

In addition to the Fair, EDGE also hosted the GE Community Meeting on 11 January and the GE Book Show at the Run Run Shaw Library on 10-15 January to promote GE courses to the University community.