The Faculty of Humanities is dedicated to creating synergies among language, communication, history, culture, and technology in education and research, highlighting both the discovery and the transfer of knowledge. It is a leading tertiary education provider in Greater China and Asia in the fields of language science, language technology, Chinese-English bilingual studies and translation, intercultural communication, and cultural and historical studies of China. It is also exceling in areas such as speech therapy, language neuroscience, AI-driven analytics and modelling, and healthcare communication. It consists of three academic departments, namely the Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, the Department of Chinese History and Culture and the Department of English and Communication. Please visit the website at https://www.polyu.edu.hk/fh for more information about the Faculty.
PolyU’s Arts and Humanities is ranked among top 10 in Asia1. In the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025, we are ranked 51st globally in the subject of Linguistics and 83rd in the broad subject area of Arts and Humanities. Our research not only contributes to knowledge discovery, but also knowledge transfer to impact our community and the society at large. For example, we examine the relationship among language, ageing and cognitive decline, with the aim of detecting early signs of neurodegeneration so as to design methods of effective intervention; we investigate how large language models can perform like the human brain so as to provide insights to both brain sciences and AI developments; we develop child-robot interaction systems to promote language and communication skills in children who are at risk for autism; we investigate approaches to reduce communication hurdles between patients and doctors; we examine the impact of cognitive and language problems on employment, social relationships, family role and leisure activities in people with Long COVID; we conduct research into the health and other professional contexts in Hong Kong and across the Asia-Pacific region; we look into how Chinese traditional thoughts influence Hong Kong society nowadays, and we also explore urban history and culture in Hong Kong and Mainland China.
Recently, the Faculty has established the Yuen Ren Chao Prize in Language Sciences (Chao Prize). The Prize further reinforce our commitment to upholding the PolyU motto, “To learn and to apply, for the benefit of mankind”, contributing to knowledge discovery, knowledge transfer, and societal impact.
For information about the research areas of the Faculty, please visit the Faculty’s website or contact Prof. Ping Li at ping2.li@polyu.edu.hk.
1 Ranked 5th in the US News and World Report’s 2024-25 Best Global Universities for Arts and Humanities.
