Course Offerings and Timetables in 2025-26

First Upload Date: June 5, 2025
Last Updated Date: June 17, 2025

HKU Calendar for the Academic Year 2025-26 (For Undergraduate and Taught Postgraduate Students)

Timetables (AVAILABLE IN DUE COURSE)

semester 1

Timetable
Class commencement details

semester 2

Timetable
Class commencement details

First Semester Course Offerings

Introductory Courses

Prerequisite:
A minimum Level 5 in English Language HKDSE exam, or an equivalent score in another recognized English proficiency test. For details please refer to our English Proficiency Pre-requisite for ENGL Courses webpage.

For students who did not sit the HKDSE examination, please submit a copy of your equivalent qualification(s), such as the IB Diploma, GCE-A Levels, SAT, IELTS, TOEFL, etc., to the School Office (via this form: https://hku.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_aYpc9YyvM2uqBaC) for consideration at least two weeks before the course selection period.

List A: Historical and theoretical foundations

Course Code	Course Name	stream
ENGL1022	Introduction to poetry (Professor Tara Lee)	Lit.
ENGL1031	English grammar(s) (For students admitted in 2021-22 or before, this course will be counted as an introductory course from List B after completion. Please refer to your syllabus at https://english.hku.hk/Undergraduate/Curriculum/English_Studies.)	L&C
ENGL1059	Introduction to pragmatics	L&C

Course Code

Course Name

stream

ENGL1022

Introduction to poetry
(Professor Tara Lee)

Lit.

ENGL1031

English grammar(s)

(For students admitted in 2021-22 or before, this course will be counted as an introductory course from List B after completion. Please refer to your syllabus at https://english.hku.hk/Undergraduate/Curriculum/English_Studies.)

L&C

ENGL1059

Introduction to pragmatics

L&C

List B: Critical reading, analysis and writing

Course Code	Course Name	stream
ENGL1024	Introduction to world literature	Lit.
ENGL1035	Language crimes	L&C
ENGL1036	Meaning and metaphor	Lit.
ENGL1041	Introduction to modernity and literary modernism	Lit.
ENGL1043	Introduction to 20th-century poetry (Dr. Peter Kennedy)	Lit.
ENGL1049	Early modern sonnets	Lit.
ENGL1064	Language, communication and media	L&C

Advanced Courses

Prerequisite:
Passed 3 introductory courses (with at least one from both List A and List B).
*For students in BA&LLB, successful completion of LALS2001 Introduction to law and literary studies will also fulfill 6 credits of introductory ENGL course (List B) for admission to advanced ENGL courses for English non-majors.

Additional prerequisite for a capstone course:
Final-year students normally should have completed 30 credits of introductory courses and 24 credits of advanced courses in the major (including transferred credits).

Course Code	Course Name	stream
ENGL2002	Language in society (Professor Daniel Weston)	L&C
ENGL2012	Advanced literary theory	Lit.
ENGL2039	Gender, sexuality and discourse	L&C
ENGL2079	Shakespeare	Lit.
ENGL2085	Creative writing	Lit.
ENGL2103	Language and social media	L&C
ENGL2127/ LALS3003/ LLAW3190	Language and the law	L&C
ENGL2141	Doing discourse analysis (Professor Olga Zayts)	L&C
ENGL2142	Milton	Lit.
ENGL2156	18th-century literature	Lit.
ENGL2159	21st-century English poetry (Dr. Peter Kennedy)	Lit.
ENGL2165	Legal fictions: United States citizenship and the right to write in America	Lit.
ENGL2185	Health communication, ‘healthy’ communication (Professor Olga Zayts)	L&C
ENGL2194	Language and advertising	L&C
ENGL3040	Internship in English studies (capstone experience)	L&C or Lit., depending on internship nature
ENGL3041	Senior colloquium in English studies: People Who Aren't Really There (capstone experience)	L&C

Common Core Courses

Course Code		Course Name
CCHU9053		Contested words, disputed symbols (Dr. Sinead Kwok)
CCHU9092		Disabling society (Professor Don Kulick)

Second Semester Course Offerings

Introductory Courses

Prerequisite:
A minimum Level 5 in English Language HKDSE exam, or an equivalent score in another recognized English proficiency test.

List A: Historical and theoretical foundations

Course Code	Course Name	stream
ENGL1042	World Englishes (Professor Daniel Weston) (For students admitted in 2021-22 or before, this course will be counted as an introductory course from List B after completion. Please refer to your syllabus at https://english.hku.hk/Undergraduate/Curriculum/English_Studies.)	L&C
ENGL1056	Introduction to language and communication	L&C
ENGL1062	Reading and writing about literature	Lit.

Course Code

Course Name

stream

ENGL1042

World Englishes
(Professor Daniel Weston)

L&C

ENGL1056

Introduction to language and communication

L&C

ENGL1062

Reading and writing about literature

Lit.

List B: Critical reading, analysis and writing

Course Code	Course Name	stream
ENGL1013	Introduction to 20th-century literature (For students admitted in 2023-24 or before, this course will be counted as an introductory course from List A after completion. Please refer to your syllabus at https://english.hku.hk/Undergraduate/Curriculum/English_Studies.)	Lit.
ENGL1018	Language and gender (For students admitted in 2021-22 or before, this course will be counted as an introductory course from List A after completion. Please refer to your syllabus at https://english.hku.hk/Undergraduate/Curriculum/English_Studies.)	L&C
ENGL1050	Research methods in sociolinguistics	L&C
ENGL1055	Language myths and realities	L&C
ENGL1061	Psycholinguistics and language acquisition	L&C
ENGL1064	Language, communication and media	L&C
ENGL1066	Introduction to modern drama	Lit.

Advanced Courses

Course Code	Course Name	stream
ENGL2007	Literary linguistics	L&C or Lit.
ENGL2012	Advanced literary theory	Lit.
ENGL2030	New Englishes	L&C
ENGL2048	Language and jargon	L&C
ENGL2055	The Gothic (Professor Tara Lee)	Lit.
ENGL2097	Writing Hong Kong	Lit
ENGL2119	English in Hong Kong	L&C
ENGL2128	Modernism	Lit.
ENGL2164/ LALS3010/ LLAW3251	The beginnings of English Law and Literature	Lit.
ENGL2166	English phonetics	L&C
ENGL2174/ LALS3014/ LLAW3274	Shakespeare and the law	Lit.
ENGL2175	Bad identities	L&C
ENGL2181	Language and politeness	L&C
ENGL2187	Language and news media	L&C
ENGL2190	Special topics in 19th-century literature	Lit.
ENGL2195	Staging Asia	Lit.
ENGL3040	Internship in English studies (capstone experience)	L&C or Lit., depending on internship nature
ENGL3041	Senior colloquium in English studies: (capstone experience)	L&C

*Note: Students admitted in 2020-21 or before may choose the LCOM course codes. Students admitted in 2021-22 and thereafter may only choose the ENGL course codes.

Common Core Courses

Course Code		Course Name
CCHU9032		Language, institution and power (Dr. Vincent Pak)
CCHU9084		The law in everyday life (Professor Anya Adair)

Specialization streams

Applicable to UG English Studies major students admitted in 2021-22 and thereafter:

Major students who have successfully passed at least seven courses (three introductory courses and four advanced courses) with a literature OR language and communication focus, respectively, will be given a School of English certification, upon request, which attests to this specialization in the “Literature Stream” or “Language and Communication Stream.” If applicable, a dual recognition in both the “Literature Stream” and “Language and Communication Stream” is possible.

Please note that the declaration and certification of specialization stream(s) is optional and students can graduate with a major in English Studies without declaring any specialization stream(s).

You can only apply for a specialization certificate after you have completed your studies, for which please fill out our online form via the link below:
https://hku.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bpYV6msP8P4X5fU

Notes:

Courses affiliated to specialization streams are listed on the School’s website.
Neither the transcript nor the graduation certificate will show the specialization stream(s). If applicable, students may approach the School for certification of their specialization stream(s).

Specialization streams:

Stream: Literature (Lit.); or
Stream: Language and Communication (L&C); or
Stream: L&C or Lit.