Keynote Speaker & Guest of Honour
Hiram E. CHODOSH
President
Claremont McKenna College
A renowned scholar and innovator in higher education and global justice reform and graduate of Wesleyan University and Yale Law, Hiram Chodosh is the fifth president of Claremont McKenna College, which was recently ranked 1st among U.S. liberal arts colleges and 5th overall among U.S. universities by The Wall Street Journal. Under Chodosh’s leadership, Claremont McKenna has become a national liberal arts leader for the highest return on value, including for students on financial aid. In response to affective polarization in the U.S., CMC’s Open Academy has been widely recognized for commitments to freedom of expression, viewpoint diversity, and constructive dialogue. Chodosh has led the launch of the revolutionary Kravis Department of Integrated Sciences and the construction of its future home, the iconic Robert Day Sciences Center, designed by Bjarke Ingles. Claremont McKenna has simultaneously doubled the size of its campus footprint and developed the Roberts Campus, including a new Sports Bowl, to support their top-ten NCAA Division III athletics program. In 2023, Claremont McKenna topped a Forbes list of 33 institutions with an A+ in financial strength and announced the completion of a nearly $1.1 billion campaign (the largest in liberal arts history) to fund these major initiatives.
Guest of Honour
Ada Ying-Kay WONG
Supervisor of School Committee
HKICC Lee Shau Kee School of Creativity
Founder and Chair
Make A Difference Institute
Ada has led a varied career as solicitor, educator, social innovator and entrepreneur. She is a staunch advocate of creative education cultural development and social innovation.
Ada founded Hong Kong Institute of Contemporary Culture (HKICC) in 1998, a non-profit cultural organization with global vision. Apart from cultural exchange projects, HKICC, since 2006, founded the HKICC Lee Shau Kee School of Creativity. This is a specialist secondary school dedicated to the nurturing of talents for art, cultural and creative industries development.
With her extensive knowledge of public policies and cross-sector innovations, Ada has also founded nonprofit organizations such as Make A Difference Institute (to nurture young creative changemakers), Good Lab Foundation (a social innovation consultancy) and is also Chair of Ednovators, an organization for education innovation.
Ada has sat on statutory and advisory bodies in areas of art, culture, urban regeneration and education. She was an elected member of the Urban Council and Wan Chai District Council between 1995 and 2008 with the last four years as Chairperson of the Wan Chai District Council. She received her BA (Hons) from Pomona College, California USA, and MEd from the University of Hong Kong. She has been guest lecturer at universities and speaker at international conferences. She is an Honorary Fellow of Lingnan University, Hong Kong Education University and the Hong Kong Baptist University respectively.
Presenter
Pasoot LASUKA
Associate Dean of Faculty of Humanities
Chiang Mai University
Dr Pasoot Lasuka holds a doctoral degree from the Australian National University, specializing in literary and media studies. In recent years, he has focused his research on environmental humanities, utilizing his expertise in literary and media analysis to examine how we treat nature as a resource, which is part of the mechanism that drive the exploitative practices of environment. Currently, he serves as an assistant professor in the international undergraduate program in humanities and sustainability and is the vice-dean for education at the Faculty of Humanities, Chiang Mai University.
- How Humanities Studies Can Cultivate Leadership in Sustainability
Humanities studies are essential in addressing sustainable development challenges, particularly in the Global South countries in Asia, where social and economic inequalities are more pronounced. By critically examining language, history, and culture, the humanities illuminate the specific contexts of power imbalances and marginalised voices that are frequently neglected in development policies. The presentation introduces the audience to Chiang Mai University’s humanities programme, which embraces a liberal arts educational philosophy to cultivate in students both the mindset and professional skills necessary to help organisations achieve more ethical and sustainable goals.
Presenter
Scott MACEACHERN
Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs
Duke Kunshan University
Dr Scott MacEachern is the Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Professor of Archaeology and Anthropology at Duke Kunshan University. In this role, he works to provide strategic academic leadership in educational programmes and research activities. He is responsible for faculty recruitment and development, accreditation and academic policies and procedures, and he oversees all academic and academic-support units on campus. Dr MacEachern joined Duke Kunshan University as one of the founding faculty in its undergraduate degree program in August 2018.
Dr MacEachern has undertaken archaeological research in Africa since the early 1980s. His research interests include state formation in Africa, the archaeological study of ethnicity and social boundaries, African cultural heritage management, and archaeogenetics. He is the author of Searching for Boko Haram and co-author of Komé – Kribi: rescue archaeology along the Chad-Cameroon Oil Pipeline, 1999-2004, has acted as co-editor on four edited volumes, and has written approximately 60 papers on different aspects of African prehistory.
- What Organisational Processes within Liberal Arts Institutions Enable Students to Make Sustainable Impacts?
Twenty-first century universities, almost by their nature, are globalising institutions, wedded as they are to ideals of academic and social exchange and mobility. As such, they bear particular responsibilities in engaging with the challenges of sustainable practices. We can best support our students in generating sustainable impacts by making this goal a priority for the university as a whole, and by placing environmental sustainability at the core of what we do – similar to how we prioritise financial sustainability and academic merit, for example. At DKU, our student sustainability efforts span the entire campus and serve as exemplars for many of our institutional initiatives.
Presenter
Xian-Rong ZHOU
Director of Academic Affairs Office
East China Normal University
Xian-Rong Zhou, a female academic serving as the Director of Teaching Affairs at East China Normal University and a professor in the School of Physics and Electronic Science, received support from the Ministry of Education’s Program for New Century Excellent Talents in 2007. Her research focuses on nuclear theory, and she has published over 70 papers indexed by SCI in prestigious international journals such as Phys. Rev. Lett. She has hosted five projects four of which are funded by the National Natural Science Foundation and one by the Shanghai Natural Science Foundation. In recognition of her contributions to education, he was awarded the first prize for the 2022 National Teaching Achievement Award and a special prize for the 2021 Shanghai Teaching Achievement Award. Professor Zhou has extensive teaching experience in courses like Quantum Mechanics and History of Quantum Mechanics; notably, both her Quantum History and History of Quantum Mechanics course were designated as key courses in Shanghai.
- Exploration and Practice of Thinking-Oriented General Education at East China Normal University
The rise of artificial intelligence has brought tremendous impacts on traditional education, posing challenges to human ingenuity. East China Normal University, taking “thinking education” as the breakthrough point, has systematically promoted the reform of general education. We have established a pyramid-shaped general education curriculum system that transcends knowledge points and features thinking training, and developed a progressive digital intelligence education framework. This initiative actively explores a new model of general education with Chinese characteristics, aimed at nurturing free-thinking and all-round developed individuals. This report will comprehensively introduce the concept, implementation, and outcomes of general education at East China Normal University and its impact on developing sustainability leadership.
Presenter
Hyun-Gwi PARK
Associate Professor of Humanitas College
Kyung Hee University
Hyun-Gwi Park is Associate Professor at Kyung Hee University. She holds a PhD in Social Anthropology from the University of Cambridge. She has been researching the Russian Far East since 2002, and is interested in how places and peoples are connected, separated, or mediated by particular powers and ideas. Her book, Displacement of Borders among Russian Koreans in Northeast Asia, was published in 2018. She has been an ESRC (UK) Postdoctoral Researcher, a Clare Hall (Cambridge) Research Fellow, and a Research Associate at Chung-Ang University. Since 2019, she’s been teaching cultural anthropology at Humanitas College, Kyung Hee University, Seoul.
- Sustainability and SDGs in Global Citizenship Programme
This panel discussion aims to stimulate a dynamic exchange of ideas, highlighting various strategies and institutional frameworks for fostering sustainability leadership in liberal arts institutions. The discussion will focus on the actionable steps for AALAU to enhance sustainability leadership across member institutions and its broader scope of responsibilities and development. By sharing best practices and innovative approaches, the dialogue seeks to inspire collaborative efforts that empower students to emerge as impactful sustainability leaders within and beyond their academic spheres.
Presenter
Bradley R. BARNES
Interim Associate Vice-President (Global Affairs) cum Director of Global Education and Professor of Department of Marketing and International Business
Lingnan University
Dr Bradley R Barnes is Professor, Interim Associate Vice-President (Global Affairs) cum Director of Global Education. Prior to joining Lingnan University, Bradley was Dean and Professor at the School of Business of the Hang Seng University of Hong Kong. He also served concurrently as Chair of Global Exchange prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. Before residing in Hong Kong he was the Assistant Dean of Research and Professor of International Management & Marketing at Sheffield Business School and prior to that was Associate Dean for Internationalisation and Professor of International Management & Marketing at the Sheffield University Management School. His first professorial appointment was as the Hong Kong Alumni Endowed Chair Professor in International Management at the University of Kent.
- The Future of AALAU – What Next?
This panel discussion aims to stimulate a dynamic exchange of ideas, highlighting various strategies and institutional frameworks for fostering sustainability leadership in liberal arts institutions. The discussion will focus on the actionable steps for AALAU to enhance sustainability leadership across member institutions and its broader scope of responsibilities and development. By sharing best practices and innovative approaches, the dialogue seeks to inspire collaborative efforts that empower students to emerge as impactful sustainability leaders within and beyond their academic spheres.
Moderator
Dale KONSTANZ
Associate Dean for International Affairs
Mahidol University International College
Dale Alan Konstanz is an Assistant Professor based in Bangkok since 2003, with a distinguished career in international higher education. As Associate Dean for International Affairs at Mahidol University International College, he focuses on developing global partnerships and enhancing student and faculty mobility. With over thirty years of teaching experience across universities, art schools, and liberal arts colleges in the U.S. and Thailand, Dale is dedicated to guiding students from foundational levels to professional careers in creative fields.
Dale has played a key role in curriculum development, notably as part of the team that created the Communication Design Program at Mahidol University International College. His creative work spans photography, painting, and mixed media, earning international exhibition opportunities. He authored the book Thai Taxi Talismans and several articles focusing on Thai art and contemporary culture. A TEDx speaker, he explores themes of appreciation and engages in innovative and collaborative design projects that incorporate print media, street photography, and emerging technologies.
Presenter
Lin-Chi CHEN
Deputy Vice President for Academic Affairs
Director of Center for General Education
National Taiwan University
Dr Lin-Chi Chen is the deputy vice president for academic affairs at National Taiwan University. He directs the center of general education that oversees university’s core curriculum, liberal arts education, department of athletics and couples of non-collegiate degree programs. To empower students’ sustainability leadership through active self-directed learning, his center is now running the university interdisciplinary bachelor program under Future NTU Initiatives framework and has organized campus-wide Royal Palm Lecture Series that feature the speeches of Nobel Prize Laureates, university presidents and renowned scholars. Dr Chen is also a professor at department of biomechatronics engineering with expertise of sensor sciences and technology. He has co-authored more than 70 scientific journal papers published in the fields among renewable energy, biosensing, and smart agriculture applications. He and his research team are devoting R&D activities to meet the real-world sustainability needs. This enriches his thinking and practice in future NTU general education development.
- NTU Future General Education – Linking Sustainability Through Interdisciplinary Learning
NTU is committed to using interdisciplinary learning as a core strategy to integrate sustainability into general education courses and student activities, fostering key principles of sustainability leadership such as diversity, communication, collaboration, and innovation. In recent years, NTU has also launched the ” Future NTU Initiatives,” promoting interdisciplinary learning through mechanisms like the elective system between arts and sciences in general education, interdisciplinary general education courses, and the cross-disciplinary learning framework under the University Interdisciplinary Bachelor Program. Additionally, NTU has established the “Office of Sustainability” to advance sustainability policies, aiming to equip the younger generation with the skills and knowledge needed to link sustainability with leadership development for a sustainable future.
Moderator
Angela YIU
Dean of Faculty of Liberal Arts
Sophia University
Angela Yiu received her B.A. in Comparative Literature and Asian Studies from Cornell University and M.A. and Ph.D. in East Asian Languages and Literature from Yale University. She is Professor of Modern Japanese Literature in the Faculty of Liberal Arts at Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan. She served as Vice President of Academic Exchange (2011-2014) and is currently the Dean of the Faculty of Liberal Arts. Her most recent publication is Literature in Heisei Japan, 1989-2019 (Sophia University Press, 2024).
Presenter
Jeng LIU
Vice President
Distinguished Professor of Sociology
Tunghai University
Dr Jeng Liu earned his PhD in Sociology from the University of Texas at Austin in 1998. He joined Department of Sociology at Tunghai University in 2001, was promoted to Associate Professor in 2003, and became Full Professor in 2008. His research interests include Social Stratification and Mobility, Sociology of Education, and Labor Market Studies. To date, he has published more than 40 journal articles and book chapters. Dr Liu won the honor of Fulbright Exchange Scholarship in 2012 and the Japan Society for Promotion of Science Fellowship in 2015. He has held various administrative roles, including Associate Director of the Office of Research and Development (2009-2011), Chair of Sociology Department (2012-2015), and Dean of the College of Social Sciences (2015-2018). Since 2022, he has been serving as the Provost and Vice President of Tunghai University.
- Liberal Arts Education, USR, and Sustainability Leadership at Tunghai University
At Tunghai University, our holistic education emphasises the interconnectedness of Liberal Arts Education, University Social Responsibility (USR), and Sustainability Leadership. Our Liberal Arts Education helps students think critically and learn from different fields. This strong base supports our USR projects, where students take part in community service and make a social impact. These experiences help students become future leaders who care about sustainable development, balancing economic, environmental, and social needs. Through these efforts, we aim to develop well-rounded individuals who can make positive changes in society.
Presenter
Feiyu SUN
Vice Dean
Yuanpei College, Peking University
Feiyu Sun is a Professor of Sociology Department and Vice Dean of Yuanpei College in Peking University. He did his BA and MA in Peking University and his Ph.D in Social and Political Thought program at York University of Canada. He does sociological research from a double perspective of China-Western traditional culture and social theories.
His theoretical works mostly focus on classical psychoanalysis and phenomenological sociology. Besides various papers and translations, his books include: Social Suffering and Political Confession: Suku in Modern China (2013, in English, World Scientific Press from Singapore), Methodology and Life World: an Phenomenological Sociology Study, (in Chinese, 2018, Beijing: SDX Joint Publishing Company) and From Seele to Mind: A Sociological Study of the Classical Psychoanalysis (in Chinese, 2022, Beijing: SDX Joint Publishing Company, Harvard-Yenching Series). His recent studies focus on the social mentality of anxiety and depressions in the young generation of China and liberal arts education in higher education.
- Turn Isolation into Community: What Liberal Arts Education Should Do as a Response to the Challenges of Disciplinary Education
In this presentation, insights will be shared on addressing the current challenges faced by a liberal arts college in a research university. As the first and only non-professional undergraduate college at PKU, Yuanpei has grappled with balancing the demands on research and liberal arts education. Through the residential system, Yuanpei endeavours to tackle the fundamental question: how should we explore the meaning of liberal arts education in China’s universities? The cultivation of human values and individual characters may hold greater significance than professional education and are significant driving attributes of sustainability leaders.