Academic Talk: Interdisciplinary Global Field Experiential Teaching and Learning: Ethnic Minority Health Project of CCOUC

Prof Emily Ying Yang Chan, CCOUC Centre Director was invited to deliver an academic talk entitled “Interdisciplinary Global Field Experiential Teaching and Learning: Ethnic Minority Health Project of CCOUC” to 176 participants as the guest of honour of CUHK CW Chu College High Table Dinner on 16 January 2020.

Prof Chan introduced the establishment and work of CCOUC, which has carried out research, training and community knowledge transfer in the area of disaster and medical humanitarian response in Greater China and the Asia-Pacific Region since 2011. The Centre offers curriculum supported by research, such as that on the relationship between climate change and health, and provides learning materials via mobile applications and online courses. Students participate in their Global Field Classroom, where they can transform theory into practice by localising humanitarian response plans in villages in Greater China and the Asia-Pacific Region. One of the flagship field-based programmes in China of the Centre is Ethnic Minority Health Project, which covers 14 natural hazard-prone villages inhabited by ethnic minorities in eight provinces.

Among the achievements of CCOUC, Prof Chan was most impressed by many of her students setting up their own NGOs and her colleagues initiating at other institutions programmes similar to those offered by CCOUC. She hoped that the work of CCOUC could equip the public with knowledge about disaster and medical humanitarian response and inspire more people to devote to the meaningful deeds.