PI: Steven Pincus, Department of History
Partner Organizations: University of Hong Kong, Boston University, American Philosophical Society
We are requesting support to hold a major international conference in Hong Kong, in conjunction with the University of Hong Kong, and the David Center for the History of the American Revolution at the American Philosophical Society, investigating the global imperial crisis of the later eighteenth century. This conference, which we anticipate will result in at least one and perhaps two publications, will provide a balance to the many events organized primarily in the United States commemorating the American Revolution. While those conferences investigate the American Revolution as a landmark in American national history, or in some cases as an event in the Atlantic World, we ask whether the events in North America form part of a global crisis in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. By hosting the conference in Asia we aim to bring Asian (and Antipodean) perspectives on the period into conversation with those of Americanists and Europeanists.
PI: Mark Philip Bradley, Department of History
Partner Organizations: National University Singapore
What does it mean to do public history in Asia? This project brings together scholars and practitioners from the region to discuss opportunities and challenges for the study and practice of Asian public history. In recent years there has been an Asian turn in Asian Studies in which Asianists highlight the import of the region, regional knowledge, regional referencing, and regional sensitivity in producing studies of Asia. The project conference seeks to encourage a similar set of pioneering conversations and reflections on the nature of Asian public history: how it is undertaken in the region, why, and for whom in such realms as oral history, media technology, heritage, and museum curation. The project and its conference also aim to support and advance on-going initiatives to build institutional capacity within the region that deepen how public history is taught and used in the Asian public sphere and to establish an Asian public history network in the region.
PI: Hsiao-Wen Chen, Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics
Partner Organizations: Chinese University of Hong Kong
AMASE, the Affordable Multiple Aperture Spectroscopy Explorer, is an ambitious all-sky survey led by researchers at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). The project aims to efficiently map diffuse cosmic matter at a fraction of the cost of other astronomical mega-projects. This international collaboration includes astrophysicists from East Asia, the United States, Europe, and South Africa. Since July 2024, researchers from the University of Chicago, supported in part by the Provost's Global Faculty Initiative, have been working with the CUHK instrument team to refine science requirements and develop a data reduction pipeline in preparation for the prototype survey, AMASE-P, anticipated to start in early 2026. The proposed science workshop will convene experts in diffuse gas research to establish key science cases for AMASE and finalize its instrument requirements. With participation from leading international scholars, the workshop will foster broader community engagement and enhance the project's visibility within the global astronomical community.
PI: Phillip Bohlman, Department of Music
Partner Organizations: Chinese University of Hong Kong, Harvey Mudd College
“Sonic Border Passages in the Making of Chinese Modernity” brings together scholars, musicians, and filmmakers from throughout the world for three days of intensive discussion and performance at the University of Chicago Francis and Rose Yuen Campus in Hong Kong. The symposium themes of borderlands and the passage across them is particularly timely at the present moment in history. The modern borderland is both cosmopolitan and precarious, a site of both mobility and encumbrance. Few global cities bear witness to the complexities of the borderland as fully as Hong Kong, making it an ideal location for the exploration of the sonic encounter lying at the heart of the five-year Balzan Prize Project at the University of Chicago. The border passages that symposium participants chart at the UChicago Center in Hong Kong spread across the diverse soundscapes of Chinese history, from folk music repertories in remote regions to the classical genres of Chinese opera to the model works in the cinema of the Cultural Revolution to the experimental rock music of today. Critical for our gathering in Hong Kong is that these many forms of sonic encounter are sounded to converge as new historical narratives for passage through Chinese modernity.
PI: Chien-Min Kao, Department of Radiology
Partner Organizations: University of Macau, University of Hong Kong, Yale University
Radiotheranostics -- an outgrowth of molecular imaging (MI) for achieving precision therapy (MI&T) -- is an exploding field due to its demonstrated potential for cancer. In 2016-2019, we held annual “Molecular Imaging Instrumentation” Conference in Hong Kong that had established a network of MI researchers and clinicians from UChicago and several USA and East Asia Institutions. With the UChicago’s push to increase the presence of radiotheranostics in both clinics and research, we look to expand this network of experts for MI&T. In FY25, we were awarded to start this initiative in which we examined a broad range of topics including instrumentation, radiochemistry, image analysis, data science, dosimetry, and clinical practice for acquiring a holistic view for this emerging technology for future planning. This proposed project is to further grow and deepen the collaboration to focus on patient-specific dosimetry, which the project leaders have identified as a critical issue facing radiotheranostics. If funded, the Working Committee will meet virtually to discuss specific agenda for FY26 and explore additional funding. Collaborators will also exploit opportunities for in-person meetings. We will establish two or three specific research projects and report initial research results, exchange information, and plan future collaborations at “the 2026 Radiotheranostics Conference”.
PI: Angie Heo, Department of Anthropology
Partner Institutions: Hokkaido University
This project examines the question: what is the transnational role of the Unification Church in shaping international relations between Japan, South Korea, and America? The co-PIs (Heo and Sakurai) will convene a two-day workshop at the University of Chicago Yuen Campus in Hong Kong with a target date in March 2026. Our workshop centers on two main research objectives: 1) examining the UC’s political orientation in Japan, South Korea, and the U.S., with special attention on its anti-communist lobbying strategy (1960s-1980s) and religious conservative platform (2000s-onward), and; 2) contextualizing the UC’s religious activities in the broader landscape of conservative politics, competing moral ideologies, and “culture wars” in the Cold War and post-Cold War era. These combined research aims promise much-needed insights on the ways religious organizations, like the UC, have served as unofficial agents for Japan, South Korea, and the U.S. in the Pacific Asian region under the East-West Cold War system. In our global political present, these insights are valuable for better understanding the political consolidation of moral and religious conservativism on a transnational scale. With a comparative view on secularism in Japan, South Korea, and the U.S., we will examine the historical emergence of political relation in relationship to larger developments between civil society and state activity.
PI: Wilma Bainbridge, Department of Psychology
Partner Institutions: Chinese University of Hong Kong
Regardless of individual differences, adults in the U.S. have been shown to consistently remember and forget the same visual stimuli (words, scenes, faces, etc.), a phenomenon dubbed the memorability effect. Yet, individual variations may exist in how well individuals memorize. Given visual processing differences, those with autism traits may remember differently from those without. Further, preliminary evidence has shown surprisingly opposite effects between US and Chinese populations in the properties that make certain items memorable. This study explores these issues among adults as well as children across US and Chinese cultures. This project collects visual memory data from a diverse sample in Hong Kong and examines how culture (Eastern vs. Western), age (children vs. adults), and pathological conditions (autism vs. healthy controls) affect consistent memory patterns across people. We will host a one-day culminating workshop at the University of Chicago Yuen Campus in Hong Kong, featuring the current projects and research from the PI’s and the collaborator’s labs, as well as the local Hong Kong research community, to trigger discussions on future collaborations between campuses.
PI: David Kim, Department of Medicine
Partner Institutions: Korea University
Since February 2024, junior doctors and medical students in South Korea have been on strike against the government's plan to increase medical school enrollment from 3,058 to 5,058. The policy addresses the country's low doctor-to-patient ratio and aging population. Over 90% of 13,000 junior doctors resigned, causing major healthcare disruptions, including postponed surgeries and canceled appointments. Despite ongoing negotiations between the government and medical associations, the strike persists as of January 2025, with no resolution yet reached. Policymakers lack a comprehensive understanding of the consequences of doctor's strikes on health care use and patient health outcomes. In collaboration with researchers in South Korea, this project aims to analyze the Korean National Health Insurance Service database to compare healthcare use patterns and mortality during the doctors’ strike (exposure group) with those outcomes during the non-strike period (control group). We hypothesize that mortality would be higher and healthcare use would be lower during the doctors’ strike. Our project will provide critical evidence for understanding these impacts that can help healthcare systems worldwide better prepare for and mitigate the effects of future labor disputes, ultimately improving patient care and safety.
PI: Boaz Keysar, Department of Psychology
Partner Institutions: City University of Hong Kong, Exeter University
Most health communication research uses English-speaking populations, raising questions about its relevance to multilingual settings such as Hong Kong. Approximately half of Hong Kong’s Chinese population is proficient in English, and health communications are often presented in both languages. This project will take advantage of Hong Kong’s language profile to investigate how aspects of language use influence the persuasiveness of health communication. We will focus on alcohol consumption, as it is a major public health concern, contributing to approximately 2.6 million deaths globally each year. In Hong Kong, alcohol consumption is increasing, driven by social drinking trends and persuasive marketing by the alcohol industry, despite its well-established links to severe health risks, including cancer. We will conduct an experiment that tests well-established methods, such as assigning agency to health hazards: When hazards are agentic (e.g., “The virus can catch you”) the message is more effective. We will also examine how using either English or Chinese impacts the persuasiveness of such messages. Awareness of alcohol-related harms varies across the population, indicating the urgent need for targeted strategies to improve effectiveness. The study will contribute to theories of communication, address rising alcohol consumption and could improve public health outcomes in Hong Kong.