Course Descriptions - Hong Kong Baptist University - Academic ...

GDAR 1835 Music, Mind, and Human (3,3,0) (E)ExperienceIs music a language? Is “Mozart Effect” a myth? Are we born tobe creative? Is emotion processed on the right brain and reason onthe left? In this course students will develop a critical knowledgeof music and the human brain and how they are interrelatedwith other disciplines such as language, psychology, robotics,mathematics, and mental health.GDAR 1837 When West Meets East: Modernity (3,3,0)( E)in the ArtsThis course aims to extend students’ knowledge and experiencebeyond their major study by exploring the Modernist art formsin Western culture, including visual arts, music and literature.Modernity and its theories are culturally specific concepts, and arenonetheless relevant to social-cultural conditions of the twentiethfirstcentury, the Modernist art forms derived a century ago are ofartistic and scholarly value.By examining key concepts and works of arts, students of differentmajor(s) will be able to understand the current world conditionwith references to what had happened and had been happening inthe past.The case study on Chinoiserie, including visual arts and opera,invite students to look closer to modernity and cultural influencein varying perspectives. Opera, once a popular art form,invites fresh insight of students of the 21st century as well asspectatorship and directorship like Zhang Yi-mou. It is expectedthat the course would allow students to link the past to the present,and learn to recontextualise the existing art forms of Hong Kongand the Anglophone, as the former is often considered at thecrossroads of East and West.GDAR 1865 Service Leadership and (3,2,1)Emotional IntelligenceIn order to become successful service leaders, our studentscan be well-prepared before they take up caring positions inthe community. A successful leader must possess abilitiesto understand self and others, to inspire and build strongrelationships and to respond effectively to the situations that oneis engaged in. This course thus brings together two significantcomponents of service leadership, namely leadership andemotional intelligence (EI) through the joint expertise of theSocial Work Department and Counselling and DevelopmentSection, Office of Student Affairs. We believe that to preparestudents to become mature, capable and competent serviceleaders, there are essential knowledge, attitudes and skills to beexamined and learned in the areas of leadership and emotionalintelligence, and to apply them to real life situations.GDAR 1866 Music, Science, and the Sublime (3,2,1) (E)The first half of the course will be devoted to an historicaloverview of the topic and establishing a commonality of keyconcepts and vocabulary for student of differing backgrounds.The second half of the course will comprise a series of more indepthlectures, demonstrations and field trips on topics takenpredominantly from the last 20 years, as well as topics germane tostudent’s interest and backgrounds, and the availability of guestlecturers on those topics. All students will have the opportunityof creating their own, scientifically inspired aesthetic objects ofmusic, visual arts, poetry, graphics, and/or other art forms.GDAR 1876 Psychology of Positive Living (3,3,0)The course is intended to introduce students’ basic concepts andknowledge of psychology of positive living. It is concerned withthe scientific study of different aspect of human functioningincluding behaviors, thoughts, emotions, learning and personalityas well as factors that enable individuals to flourish andachieve positive living, with an aim to promoting students’ selfunderstanding,knowledge and potentials in positive emotions,resilience, creativity and character strengths. The course iscomposed of two parts: (1) introduction of basic conceptsand knowledge of psychological study on human functioning;and (2) introduction of the key concepts and knowledge ofpositive psychology, with the joint expertise of the Social WorkDepartment and Counseling and Development Section, Office ofStudent Affairs.GDBU 1005 Accounting for Business Decisions (3,3,0) (E)This course aims to provide an understanding of what accountingis, what it does, and where it fits into everyday experiencesas students, consumers, investors or managers. This courseintroduces accounting from a user perspective, that is, considersaccounting information from the view point of the people whowill use the information when making decisions. Users may be,for example, individuals who want to know about the future cashflow implications of buying a home versus renting one; investorswho need to assess the overall performance of a company fromits financial statements, perhaps to decide whether to buy or sellshares; or managers who need a more detailed understandingof the costs and profits of the form’s products or activities. Thebasic accounting concepts will be introduced and the decisionorientedapplications of accounting will be emphasized. Studentsfrom this course will have the ability to understand both financialand managerial accounting information and use them effectivelyto make better decisions in various business and non-businesssettings.GDBU 1006 Financial Accounting: Information (3,3,0) (E)Generation and UsesAccounting has been known as the language of business. Intoday’s world, we all need to, to varying degrees, deal withaccounting information in a wide range of business settings. Forexample, a potential investor needs accounting information toevaluate firm performance and select a stock for investment. Abank loan officer relies on accounting information to assessborrower’s financial condition and credit risk in making alending decision. Employees of a business also need accountinginformation to assess whether the business will survive in the longrun and continue to provide employment and pension benefits.As students, you may use accounting information to manage yourcash, to evaluate a job opportunity, and to decide whether you canafford a new computer. Success in any business comes down to athorough understanding of the language of business.This course is designed to help students understand the basics offinancial accounting through exploring three questions: What isaccounting information? How is it generated? How is it used?By focusing on both the generation of accounting informationand the meaning behind these numbers, this course helps studentsunderstand the information of financial reports, become aninformed user of accounting information and equips them withcrucial decision-making skills in various business environment.GDBU 1007 Law for Hong Kong Business (3,3,0) (E)Besides the introduction of the legal systems and relevant lawsin Hong Kong, this course offers a new and interesting way oflearning about Hong Kong laws by emphasizing on discussionon Hong Kong cases selected and presented by the students ontheir research on the web and library. Therefore each session willbe unique with different topics and content to be introduced anddiscussed by the students. After attending this course, the studentswill gain a general understanding of laws in Hong Kong and beable to do basic legal research on business laws in Hong Kong.GDBU 1015 Management Accounting: A Tool (3,3,0)for Planning and ControlManagement accounting is to help allocating money and otherresources within an organization. Management accountinginformation is typically used by company executives for decisionsabout investments, plant closures, pricing, budgeting, and costcontrols, etc. It is however equally useful for individuals inplanning home purchases, household expenditure and holidays;and for the public administrators in their public resourcesallocation and control. The course aims to provide students withan overview of what management accounting information is about361Course Descriptions