Alison SO

Lecturer

Director of Gender Studies

Dr Alison So is the Director and Lecturer of the Gender Studies Programme in the School of Humanities, and the convenor of the AI+ Teaching Series at the Arts Tech Lab. She’s an interdisciplinary Gender Studies scholar working in the fields of cultural studies, history, and sociology.

soyamwah@hku.hk

Room 10.49, Run Run Shaw Tower

EDUCATION

BA, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
MPhil, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
PhD, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Colonial Body History
Youth and Childhood Studies
Sociology of Health and Body
Girl power and Post-feminism
Biopolitics and Neoliberalism
Science, Technology and Society (STS)

Books

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BOOK AWARDS

COURSES TAUGHT

CCAI9026, Programmed to Love: Reimagining Gender, Sexuality and Intimacy in the Age of AI
CCCH9061, Herstory in Motion: Chinese Womanhood through the Lens
CCGL9077, Education as Solution?: Debating Education round the Globe
CCHU9002, Battles for Bodies: The Birth of Surveillance Society
GEND1001, Introduction to Gender Studies
GEND3901, Gender Studies research (capstone experience)
GEND2018, Women in Hong Kong History: Private Lives and Public Voices
HIST4035, History Applied: Internship in Historical Studies
HIST7014, Gender and Sexuality in Hong Kong (MA)
HIST7017, Education in Hong Kong History (MA)
HIST7998, Capstone Experience: Public History Project (MA)

FELLOWSHIPS & GRANTS

Advance HE Fellowship
Common Core Teaching Development Grant for CCGL9077 (2024-2025)

EXTERNAL AFFILIATIONS

Programme Director, Exploring Global Cultures and Societies Programme, HKU Summer Institute

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Selected Conference Paper and Presentation
‘Any Missing Bodies?: Challenges in Teaching Gender and Sexuality in Hong Kong History’. Transformation and Development in Teaching and Research: Disciplinary and Interdisciplinary Perspective. HKU SPACE. 7 June. (Invited Panel Speaker)
‘(Un)Promising Figures?: The Making of Weighty Children’s Bodies in Post-war Hong Kong’. Physical Cultures of the Body Conference. The H.J. Lutcher Stark Center for Physical Culture and Sports, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, USA. 11-12 January.
‘“And the Victim Goes to…?”: The Cyber Witch-hunting in Hong Kong #Metoo’. International Conference on Gender, Sexuality and Justice: Resilience in Uncertain Times, Gender Research Centre & Gender Studies Programme, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. 7 – 8 Dec.
2024. ‘Sketching Out the Normal Child: The Biopolitics of Chinese Students’ Bodies in Pre-war Colonial Hong Kong’. Frontiers in the History of Science 2024 Series. Peking University, Mainland China. 6 June, 2024. (Invited Public Lecture).
‘Made to Measure: Quantifying Chinese Students’ Bodies in Twentieth-century Hong Kong’. Association for Asian Studies 2024. Seattle, USA. 14-17 March.
2018. ‘“Honey, We ‘ve Blown Up Hong Kong’s Kids”: Discursive Transformation of Weighty Children’s Bodies in Post-war Hong Kong’. The Value of Children in Asia: Economy, Family and Public Policies, Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore. 8 – 9 Nov.
‘Lucky 7 for All? The Failing Promise of Normalizing Health in the School Medical Service (1964-1994)’. Mobility & Normalcy. Society for Hong Kong Studies. The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. 4-5 July.
‘“Weighing” for the Future: The Discursive Construction of Scientific Motherhood in Hong Kong Children’s Health Contest (1960-1970)’. Corpus Historicus: The Body In/Of History Conference, University of Silesia, Sosnowiec, Poland. 30 Jun.
‘The Problem of Consumption: The Nutrition Research Committee and the Anti-Tuberculosis Campaign in Interwar Hong Kong (1936 – 1941)’. Mixed Medicine: Plural Healing Cultures. University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 28-29 May.
“‘To Inculcate Certain Truths”: Taming the Chinese Learners’ Bodies with Western Hygiene Knowledge, 1903 – 1933’. Hong Kong Convergence. University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 7-8 June.