(HKPFS Awardee)
Pursuing my PhD in Gender Studies at CUHK with support from the Hong Kong PhD Fellowships Scheme (HKPFS) has been an incredibly rewarding experience thus far. I originally chose to pursue doctoral research at CUHK, due to the compatibility between my research interests in gender and sexual diversity in East Asia and the research agenda of CUHK’s Gender Studies Programme. As gender and sexuality research output from non-Western institutions is lagging compared to that from their Western counterparts, the Gender Studies Programme at CUHK is distinct with its history of commitment to meaningful interdisciplinary research, teaching and activism relevant to gender and sexuality.
The Programme is also notably one of the few established academic divisions in Asia which specializes in gender and sexuality research. This unique, advantageous reputation of the Programme is highly fitting with my aspirations to build a research career in Asia focused on gender and sexuality, providing me with not only solid training in my niche research specialization, but also a network of connections to other institutions and faculty in Asia and abroad.
Whilst I have only completed my first year of studies, I have already been provided with several research opportunities to collaborate with leading gender and sexuality scholars based in Amsterdam, Canada, China, Hong Kong and the United States. Such opportunities have been invaluable, offering me direct experience with research, manuscript writing and publishing processes in the social sciences, and various co-authoring roles in peer-reviewed journal publications.
Furthermore, I found my first year of PhD courses to be of high-quality, as they were well-designed and taught by faculty members who possess great research expertise and strong dedication to improving communities and individual lives through gender/sexuality-related praxis. Altogether, this diversity of research and learning opportunities, alongside the dynamic experience of living in Hong Kong, one of the most socio-politically and culturally interesting world cities, have given me a very positive start to my PhD journey.
