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HOME / postgraduate / MPhil and PhD / Information for Current Research Postgraduate (RPG) Students
Information for Current Research Postgraduate (RPG) Students
Introduction

Welcome to the School of English and what we are sure will be an exciting and challenging phase of your education and personal development. This page provides a summary of necessary and useful information to help your transition to graduate studies.

 

Practical guide

Please click here for details.

 

Coursework requirements and descriptions
Students admitted in the academic year 2026-27 and thereafter

Part I: Graduate School;

Part II: School of English;

Part III: Certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education required by Teaching and Learning Innovation Centre (if applicable).

General rule on the completion of coursework:

By the end of the probationary period, all RPg students are required to complete the Graduate School Modules and at least 50% of the School courses as specified below. Moreover, all coursework must be completed before thesis submission.

 

Part I: Graduate School’s Coursework Requirements

For MPhil and 4-year PhD students:

To complete Modules 1, 4, 5, and 6 offered by the Graduate School.

For 3-year PhD students:

To complete Modules 4 and 5 offered by the Graduate School.

For the timetable of Graduate School courses, please click here. 

Graduate School

Module 1: GRSC6100 Doing Research @ HKU (2 hours)

Module 4: GRSC6101 Responsible Conduct of Research (3 hours)

Module 5: GRSC6102 Stream-based Responsible Conduct of Research (3 hours)

Module 6: Professional Development Training (PDT) (12 hours)

  • Module 6a: GRSC6108 Online Transferrable Skills Programme (12 hours), or
  • Module 6b: GRSC6138 Transferrable Skills Retreat (12 hours)

Notes on course exemption:

  1. For Modules 4 and 5: Students who have successfully completed and passed a required course(s) or equivalent(s), either from HKU or a comparable institution, may apply for course exemption, subject to the Graduate School’s approval on a case-by-case basis.
  2. For Module 6: Students who have successfully completed and passed a required course(s) or equivalent(s), either from HKU or a comparable institution; or possessed full-time work experience for at least 6 months, may apply for course exemption on a case-by-case basis.

 

Part II: School of English’s Coursework Requirements

To complete 3 to 4 ENGL courses:

 

Number of Courses Required

Compulsory course

Elective course

RPG courses (Please click here for Course Descriptions)

MPhil & 4-year PhD

3 Compulsory

1 Elective

ENGL6001 Research Seminar

ENGL6070 Introduction to Thesis Writing in English Studies

ENGL7011 Research Methods

ENGL6003 Guided Reading Course

ENGL6053 Special Topics in English Studies

3-year PhD

1 Compulsory

2 Elective

ENGL6001 Research Seminar

ENGL6003 Guided Reading Course

ENGL6053 Special Topics in English Studies

ENGL6070 Introduction to Thesis Writing in English Studies

ENGL7011 Research Methods

Note: MPhil and 4-year PhD students taking ENGL6070 and ENGL7011 are exempt from equivalent Graduate School modules in thesis writing (Module 3) and research methods (Module 2)

Courses available for ENGL6053 enrolment in 2026-27

*Abbreviations:
C – Compulsory
E – Elective

Course Code

Course Title

*C/E

Pre-requisites

Course offered in 2026-27

 

Semester 1

Semester 2

MAES courses (Please click here for Course Descriptions)

ENGL6056

Cultural Semiotics

E

Nil

Yes

 

ENGL6075

The Politics of English

E

Nil

Yes

 

ENGL6079

World Modernisms

E

Nil

  

Yes

ENGL6081

Global Fictions

E

Nil

Yes

 

ENGL6083

Post-Colonial Representations

E

Nil

 

Yes

ENGL7102

Global Englishes

E

Nil

 

Yes

ENGL7104

Global Shakespeare

E

Nil

  

Yes

ENGL7105

Intercultural Communication

E

Nil

 

Yes

ENGL7108

Imagining Asia

E

Nil

 

Yes

ENGL7110

Gender, Discourse and Society

E

Nil

  

Yes

ENGL7113

The Cosmopolitan Stage in the Eighteenth Century

E

Nil

Yes

 

ENGL7119

Corpora and English Discourse

E

Nil

Yes

 

ENGL7120

Pop Cultural Linguistics

E

Nil

Yes

 

ENGL7121

Modern Drama in Performance

E

Nil

Yes

 

UG courses (Please click here for Course Descriptions)

 

Part III: Certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education

All students, unless they have prior teaching experience, will also be required to take a mandatory course on teaching skills if they are to be deployed as teaching assistants. This course is taught by staff from the Teaching and Learning Innovation Centre (TALIC). Students may either take this course in the same semester when they are teaching concurrently, or before they take up teaching. For details, please visit https://www.cetl.hku.hk/certificate-courses/.

__________________________________________________________________

Students admitted in the academic years 2021-22 TO 2025-26

There are three parts of coursework requirements:

Part I: Graduate School;

Part II: School of English;

Part III: Certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education required by Teaching and Learning Innovation Centre (if applicable).

 

Part I: Graduate School’s Coursework Requirements

For MPhil and 4-year PhD students:

To complete 6 Modules offered by the Graduate School, with options to complete two ENGL equivalent replacement courses in lieu of Module 2 and/or Module 3.

The School of English strongly encourages MPhil and PhD students to take the School’s courses (ENGL6070 and ENGL7011) in lieu of the Graduate School’s Modules whenever possible, as ENGL courses are more relevant to research in English Studies.

General rule on the completion of coursework:
By the end of the probationary period, all MPhil/ 4-year PhD students are required to complete all Graduate School Modules and at least 50% of the School courses required. Moreover, all coursework requirements must be completed before thesis submission.

For 3-year PhD students:

To complete Modules 4 and 5 offered by the Graduate School.

For the timetable of Graduate School courses, please click here.

Graduate School

School of English

Module 1: GRSC6100 Doing Research @ HKU (2 hours)

 

Module 2: Introduction to Qualitative/ Quantitative Research Methods (3 hours)

  • Module 2a: GRSC6106 Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods (Humanities), or
  • Module 2b: GRSC6104 Introduction to Quantitative Research Methods (Humanities)

Or take an equivalent replacement course in lieu of Module 2:

ENGL7011 Research Methods (6 credits)

Module 3: Introduction to Thesis Writing (3 hours)

  • Module 3a: GRSC6120 Introduction to Thesis Writing (Humanities), or
  • Module 3c: GRSC6140 Advanced Thesis Writing (Humanities)

Note: Some students are required to complete GRSC6027 Intensive English for Postgraduate Students as a prerequisite for enrolling in Module 3. Graduate School will inform those students individually.

Or take an equivalent replacement course in lieu of Module 3:

ENGL6070 Introduction to Thesis Writing in English Studies (6 credits)

Module 4: GRSC6101 Responsible Conduct of Research (3 hours)

 

Module 5: GRSC6102 Stream-based Responsible Conduct of Research (3 hours)

 

Module 6: Professional Development Training (PDT) (12 hours)

  • Module 6a: GRSC6108 Online Transferrable Skills Programme (12 hours), or
  • Module 6b: GRSC6138 Transferrable Skills Retreat (12 hours)

 

Notes on course exemption:

  1. For Modules 2 to 5: Students who have successfully completed and passed a required course(s) or equivalent(s), either from HKU or a comparable institution, may apply for course exemption, subject to the Graduate School’s approval on a case-by-case basis.
  2. For Module 6: Students who have successfully completed and passed a required course(s) or equivalent(s), either from HKU or a comparable institution; or possessed full-time work experience for at least 6 months, may apply for course exemption on a case-by-case basis.

 

Part II: School of English’s Coursework Requirements

To complete 2 to 4 ENGL courses as follows:

Required course(s):

  1. ENGL6001 Research Seminar (6 credits)
  2. ENGL6070 Introduction to Thesis Writing in English Studies (6 credits; for students who wish to use this as an equivalent course in lieu of Module 3 offered by the Graduate School);
  3. ENGL7011 Research Methods (6 credits; for students who wish to use this as an equivalent course in lieu of Module 2 offered by the Graduate School)

Note: The School of English strongly encourages MPhil and PhD students to take the School’s courses (ENGL6070 and ENGL7011) in lieu of the Graduate School’s Modules whenever possible, as ENGL courses are more relevant to research in English Studies.

Elective course:

  1. To complete any one elective (E) course from the list below:
    1. An RPG course (6 credits): ENGL6003 Guided Reading Course, or ENGL6053 Special Topics in English Studies, or ENGL7114 How To Write (ENGL7114 only admits RPG Year 2 students), or
    2. A TPG course (6 credits) from the Master of Arts in English Studies (MAES) programme.

 

*Abbreviations:
C – Compulsory
R – Replacement course in lieu of the Graduate School’s compulsory Module
E – Elective

Course Code

Course Title

*C / R/ E

RPG courses

ENGL6001

Research Seminar

C

ENGL6003

Guided Reading Course

E

ENGL6053

Special Topics in English Studies

E

ENGL6070

Introduction to Thesis Writing in English Studies

R

ENGL7011

Research Methods

R

ENGL7114

How To Write

E

MAES courses

ENGL6056

Cultural Semiotics

E

ENGL6073

Introduction to Literature and Cross-cultural Theory

E

ENGL6075

The Politics of English

E

ENGL6079

World Modernisms

E

ENGL6080

Travel Writing and Culture

E

ENGL6081

Global Fictions

E

ENGL6083

Post-Colonial Representations

E

ENGL7101

Introduction to Language and Communication

E

ENGL7102

Global Englishes

E

ENGL7103

New Media and Discourse

E

ENGL7104

Global Shakespeare

E

ENGL7105

Intercultural Communication

E

ENGL7106

The Global History of English

E

ENGL7107

Race in America: The Novels of William Faulkner and Toni Morrison

E

ENGL7108

Imagining Asia

E

ENGL7109

Language Variation across Society and Speakers

E

ENGL7110

Gender, Discourse and Society

E

ENGL7111

Worlds of Discourse: Metaphor, Metonymy, and Interpretation

E

ENGL7112

Global Medieval Literatures

E

ENGL7113

The Cosmopolitan Stage in the Eighteenth Century

E

ENGL7115

Analysing Speech

E

ENGL7116

Planetary Futures and Imaginaries

E

ENGL7117

Global Perspectives in (Auto)biographies

E

 

Part III: Certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education

All students, unless they have prior teaching experience, will also be required to take a mandatory course on teaching skills if they are to be deployed as teaching assistants. This course is taught by staff from the Teaching and Learning Innovation Centre (TALIC). Students may either take this course in the same semester when they are teaching concurrently, or before they take up teaching. For details, please visit HERE: https://www.cetl.hku.hk/certificate-courses/.

__________________________________________________________________

Faculty information on RPG

For more information about RPG, please visit the Faculty of Arts webpage: https://arts.hku.hk/current-students/research-postgraduate-programmes/.