General Education is an integral component of the 1-year Diploma, Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) and Bachelor of Music (Honours) programmes at the Academy. It includes both Liberal Arts and Academy Elective Courses.
Liberal Arts Courses are core and required courses designed to equip students with fundamental cultural knowledge for performing artists.
Liberal Arts Courses in Diploma Programmes (3 credits):
• Approaching Performing Arts
Liberal Arts Courses in Bachelor’s Degree Programmes (8 credits in total):
• 21st Century Artists: Creative Contents & the Contemporary World
• 21st Century Artists: Context of Contemporary Art Worlds
• Major Cultural Issues I
• Major Cultural Issues II
Academy Elective Courses aim at developing students to become intellectual, articulate and reflective performing art practitioners. The courses focus on five major areas of knowledge:
Academy Elective Courses Categories
Category A: Arts, Literature and Humanities
Category B: Science, Technology and the Environment
Category C: Social, Economic and Cultural Issues
Category D: Portfolio Career
Category E: Discipline-based courses
Bachelor’s degree students select courses from these five categories of Academy Elective Courses to complete the 10-credit requirement.
Examples of Academy Elective Courses
• The Art of Storytelling (Category A)
• Appreciation of Chinese Literature (Category A)
• Forms and Ideas of Western Art (Category A)
• The Problems of Philosophy (Category A)
• Art and Digital Culture (Category B)
• Chinese Medicine and Artists’ Wellness (Category B)
• Elements of Science in Performing Arts (Category B)
• The Built Environment of Hong Kong (Category B)
• Contemporary Economics Issues (Category C)
• The Art of Love and Death (Category C)
• Freud, Jung and Modern Culture (Category C)
• Walking into Cultural Hong Kong (Category C)
• Developing Cultural Leadership (Category D)
• Psychology for Performing Artists (Category D)
• Regional Art Festivals of Japan (Category D)
• Entrepreneurship and Business Planning (Category D)
• Asian Theatre: Principles and Practices (Category E)
• Modern Western Theatre (Category E)
• Appreciation of Screen Sound and Music (Category E)
• Introduction to Jazz Dance (Category E)
Through these courses, students are able to recognize and analyse significant political, economic, social and cultural issues around the world, and understand the roles of performing artists in contemporary society . Students will also reach their potentials and develop essential skills to build their professional careers.