Program Overview

Introduction to the Bachelor of Arts & Bachelor of Laws Programme

The Bachelor of Arts & Bachelor of Laws programme at The University of Hong Kong offers students an exciting and empowered future. The programme is designed to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of law and literary studies.

Programme Structure

The programme includes a range of courses, including:

• Introduction to Law and Literary Studies
• Law and Literature
• Law, Meaning and Interpretation
• Language and the Law
• Law and Film
• Legal Fictions: United States Citizenship and the Right to Write in America
• Advanced Legal Theory
• Sovereignty in Law, Theory and Culture
• Language Rights and Linguistic Justice
• The Beginnings of English Law and Literature

Course Objectives

The objectives of the programme include:

• Developing an appreciation of the texture, structures, and functioning of legal language
• Acquiring an understanding of state-of-the-art approaches to a wide range of critical issues that cut across legal and linguistic studies
• Approaching intellectual problems from multidisciplinary approaches and reflecting on how these approaches can complement each other
• Gaining transferrable knowledge that can be usefully applied to other scholarly discourses both in law and humanities

Programme Faculty

The programme is led by a team of experienced faculty members, including:

• Dr. Anya Adair (Director – Arts)
• Professor Christopher Hutton
• Professor Kendall Johnson
• Dr. Nick Luke (Deputy Director – Arts)
• Dr. Michael Ng
• Professor Scott Veitch
• Professor Marco Wan (Director – Law)
• Dr. John Wong

Language and the Law Course

The Language and the Law course plays an essential role in creating law and governing its implementation. The course addresses a wide range of topics, including:

• The different registers and genres that give us our idea of what legal language is
• The varieties of language and communicative strategies used in the courtroom
• How language is deployed and understood in technical ways in legal drafting and interpretation
• The use of language data as a specialized kind of evidence submitted in court cases
• Challenges presented to our notions of law and regulation by new forms of online communication
• Linguistic and legal issues that arise in bilingual and multilingual jurisdictions

Student Experience

The programme offers students a range of opportunities to engage with the academic community, including internships, capstone projects, and social gatherings. Students have the opportunity to work with experienced faculty members and to develop their skills and knowledge in a supportive and stimulating environment.