Campus Digest

HKBU hosts 2025 Hong Kong Sociological Association Annual Conference

Friday, 2 January 2026

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The participants of the 2025 Hong Kong Sociological Association Annual Conference hosted by HKBU.
(From left) Professor Adam Cheung, Chair of the Department of Sociology, Academy of Geography, Sociology and International Studies at HKBU; Professor ChangHwan Kim; Professor James Raymo; and Professor Tong Yuying at the plenary roundtable session.

 

HKBU successfully hosted the 2025 Hong Kong Sociological Association (HKSA) Annual Conference on 6 December under the theme “Navigating a Changing World: Comparative Perspectives on Social Structures and Inequalities”.  The event provided a platform for vibrant intellectual exchanges among a diverse group of scholars.

This year’s conference featured 103 panel and oral presentations and 18 poster presentations, attracting more than 180 participants from 36 institutions across the Chinese Mainland, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Macau, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, the UK, and the US.

In his welcome address, Professor Daniel W L Lai, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at HKBU, emphasised: “The role of sociologists is more critical than ever. We are called to be more than observers. We must be the essential guides and critics of new identity.”  He underscored the importance of community compassion and supportive scholarship, leading attendees in a moment of silence to honor the victims of the fire tragedy in Tai Po.

Professor Anita Koo, this year’s HKSA President and Associate Dean (Teaching and Learning - Taught Postgraduate Studies) of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at HKBU, said, “We aim to sustain this dual mission, advancing academic dialogue while also contributing sociological perspectives to a wider community.”

The conference began with a compelling keynote address by Professor Kan Man-Yee, Professor of Sociology of the University of Oxford. Her talk, titled “Gender Differences in Leisure Time in East Asian and Western Societies”, explored the cultural factors affecting leisure time allocation and the implications for gender roles across various societies.

A plenary roundtable session titled “East Asian Families in Comparative Perspective” featured distinguished scholars, including Professor James Raymo, Professor of Sociology of Princeton University; Professor ChangHwan Kim, Professor of the Department of Sociology at the University of Kansas; and Professor Tong Yuying, Professor of the Department of Sociology at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. The speakers discussed and compared important demographic trends in East Asia and shared their insights on the effectiveness of current population policies.