About the speaker

Stephen Chan is a Professor of Cultural Studies at Lingnan University. He was the founding programme director of its BA Cultural Studies degree in 1999 and  was also the Programme Director of the Master of Cultural Studies degree in 2003-2008.

Chan is currently the Chair of  the international Association for Cultural Studies (ACS) .  He has served on the ACS  Board representing the Asia constituency since 2008.  He is also a member of the Steering Committee of the Consortium for Inter-Asia Cultural Studies Institutes formed in 2010.

Chan received his education at the University of Hong Kong (BA in Chinese and Comparative Literature 1978, MPhil in Comparative Literature 1981) and the University of California, San Diego (PhD in Literature 1986).  Before joining Lingnan in 1998, he had taught English, Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies at The Chinese University of Hong Kong.  

As the Deputy Coordinator of Lingnan’s Kwan Fong Cultural Research and Development Programme (2004- ), Chan leads and oversees projects in cultural research, education, and policy. Published internationally on Hong Kong culture, film, literature, education and cultural studies, Chan’s current scholarly interest is in applied cultural research and education, urban creativity, cultural and creative enterprise, audience development and cultural policy. He serves on the editorial board of a number of leading journals in the field such as Cultural Studies, Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, and Router: A Journal in Cultural Studies, Communication and Society. 

Chan is active in the civil society associated with the culture and education sectors. He is an advisor of the HKICC Lee Shau Kee School of Creativity and a member of The Professional Commons, an independent policy think-tank. He joined The Civic Party as a founding member in 2006, and has chaired its Community and Social Development Policy Branch. He served on the HKSAR Chief Executive Election Committee (2007-2010) representing the Higher Education sub-sector, and the Hong Kong Arts Development Council (2008-2010) representing the Criticism constituency. In 2011, he has been appointed as a part-time member of the Central Policy Unit of the HKSAR Government.