The Anthropocene and Academia Reflection and New Approach

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Published: Sep 20, 2023
DOI: https://doi.org/10.22339/jbh.v6i2.6207

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Aidan W.H. Wong
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Hong Kong, China
Alexis K.H. Lau
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Hong Kong, China

Abstract

Many friends and colleagues asked why we were so motivated to introduce a new interdisciplinary framework like Big History to our core course on sustainability / climate change at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. The reason is a mixture of intuition, observation and teaching experience. Often, our students, as our future leaders, do not see themselves as agents of change and they feel great despair by the complexity of problems we face. So, we recognized the desperate need to introduce a new macroscopic perspective for our students to step back and see better opportunities and ways to approach the challenges.

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Issue
Vol. 6 No. 2 (2023): Journal of Big History Vol 6 No 2 2023
Section
Articles
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Author Biographies

Aidan W.H. Wong, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Hong Kong, China

Aidan W.H. Wong is a graduating PhD candidate at the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, with a research focus on interdisciplinary learning and sustainability. He works to incorporate Big History into sustainability education and has shared his teaching experiences at various international conferences. In addition to being a co-instructor at the university, he has partnered with the Hong Kong Academy for Gifted Education to teach Big History and Sustainability. Aidan has published journal papers and news articles, as well as two course handbooks for secondary students: Big History: A Scientific Origin Story (2019) and Introduction to Sustainability for the 21st Century (2020). Aidan is regarded as one of the pioneers in facilitating the development of Big History in East Asia. He may be contacted at <whwongaq@ust.hk>.

Alexis K.H. Lau, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Hong Kong, China

Alexis K. H. Lau received his PhD in Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences from Princeton University in New Jersey (USA) in 1991. He then went to work at the University of Washington (Seattle) and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (Boulder, Colorado). In 1994, he joined the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), where he currently serves as Head / Chair Professor at the Division of Environment & Sustainability and as Director of the Institute for the Environment, along with a joint appointment in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering. His research focuses on numerical weather prediction, air quality, health and exposure risks, climate, and environmental management. Alexis started teaching Big History at HKUST in a general education course on climate and sustainability in 2015. The course highlights the complex multiscale and multidisciplinary nature of sustainability challenges, the importance of evidence-based collective learning, and our past record of flexibility and adaptability in coming up with collaboration frameworks to meet challenges. He may be reached at <alau@ust.hk>.