Talk: A Year in Tibet
From June 2006 to July 2007, filmmaker and writer Ms Sun Shuyun spent a year in Gyantse, Tibet's third largest town, recording the life of 8 ordinary Tibetans throughout the four seasons. The result is a 5-episode TV series broadcasted on BBC and a book of the same title: A Year in Tibet. What is the culture as it is lived by the Tibetans today? What are the threats to the Tibetan culture? Ms Sun will enlighten us with a talk illustrated with photographs she took. Born in China in the 1960s, Ms Sun studied English Literature in Beijing University and did her M.Phil in International Relations in Oxford. For the past decade, she has been dividing her time between Beijing and London, making documentaries for the BBC and Channel 4 in the UK, and Discovery, National Geographic and History Channel in the US, mostly on issues on Asia, and particularly on Mainland China. Besides A Year in Tibet, Ms Sun has made some of the most watched films on China, such as Dying to Leave (BBC), Half the Sky (Channel 4), and has written several critically reviewed books, such as Ten Thousand Miles Without a Cloud and Long March.

Date: September 9, 2008 (Tue)
Time: 7:30pm - 9:30pm
Venue: Convocation Room (M218), Main Building, HKU
Language: English
Contact: HKU Centre of Buddhist Studies (Tel: 2241 5078 / E-mail: cbsinfo@hku.hk)
Remarks: For further information, please visit:- http://www.buddhism.hku.hk/newsevents.html

Shaw Prize Laureates in Life Science and Medicine to speak on Stem Cell Researches
The 2008 Shaw Prize in Life Science and Medicine is awarded one-half jointly to Sir Ian Wilmut and Professor Keith H S Campbell, and another half to Professor Shinya Yamanaka, for their pivotal innovations in reversing the process of cell differentiation in mammals. Their stem cell researches contribute to potential new approaches for the treatment of human diseases and to the improvement of agriculture. The three distinguished scientists will share their invaluable expertise and academic experience with the professionals and the general public in a public lecture in HK. They will speak on:- 1) "Implications of the Dolly Experiment" -- Sir Ian Wilmut; 2) "Cloning Dolly 10 Years On: Understanding and Improving the Efficiencies of Development" -- Professor Keith H S Campbell; 3) "iPS Cell, Perspective and Challenge" -- Professor Shinya Yamanaka.

Date: September 10, 2008 (Wed)
Time: 9:00 am - 1:00 pm
Venue: Lecture Theatre 2-4, Cheung Kung Hai Conference Centre
            William M W Mong Block 21 Sassoon Road, Hong Kong
Language: English
Contact: HKU Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, Ms Winnie Lam (Tel: 2809 5102) or Mr Terence Poon (Tel: 2819 9305)
Remarks: For more background information, please visit:- http://www.shawprize.org/en/laureates/2008/life/index.html

"Critical Thinking in Action" -- To What Extent is the World Readable?
Can social, cultural and political phenomena be interpreted like a text? To what extent is the world that we are living in readable? Cultural critic Mr Perry Lam and editorial director of MUSE magazine will base on his Chinese book Critical Thinking in Action (《能說「不」的秘密》) to tell us why writing criticism is an intellectual quest for him. Moderating the HKUL Reading Club book talk will be Mr Pang Chi-ming, Director of the Subculture Press.

Date: September 11, 2008 (Thur)
Time: 7:15pm - 9:00pm
Venue: 1/F, Main Library, HKU
Language: Cantonese
Contact: HKU Journalism and Media Studies Centre, Ms Velentina Ma (Tel: 2219 4012 / 9123 0252) or HKU Libraries, Ms Carmen Tsang (Tel : 2859 2211)
Remarks: For online registration and further information, please visit:-
http://lib.hku.hk/friends/reading_club/bt2008_9.html

Shanghai Real Estate Brokers and the Building of the Land Market
The privatization of residential and commercial urban real estate has led to the emergence of new professionals. Just in Shanghai, there are more than 25,000 registered real estate brokers, and probably more than 100,000 acting as informal intermediaries. Through analysis of the careers of these individuals, Professor Gilles Guiheux will elaborate on the building process of the real estate market in Shanghai, which plays a key role in shaping the city. Professor Guiheux is Professor in Oriental Languages and Civilizations, Paris Diderot University in France. From 2003 to 2006, he was Director of the French Centre for Research on Contemporary China (CEFC) in HK. He specializes in economic sociology of contemporary China. He has also published numerous articles in French and English on Mainland China and Taiwan enterprises and entrepreneurs.

Date: September 12, 2008 (Fri)
Time: 2:30pm - 4:00pm
Venue: Room 1118, K K Leung Building, HKU
Language: English
Contact: HKU Department of Sociology, Mr Vincent Chau (Tel: 28592053 / E-mail: sscws@hkucc-com.hku.hk)