Lingnan University hosts the Second Annual Presidents' Forum of the Alliance of Asian Liberal Arts Universities Asia's renowned educational leaders gathered on Lingnan campus

The Second Annual Presidents’ Forum of the Alliance of Asian Liberal Arts Universities (AALAU) commenced on 23 October 2019 at Lingnan University. The two-day Forum drew about 50 educational leaders and scholars from seven countries and regions to exchange views and explore areas for collaboration. To further meet the ever-rising challenges faced by the higher education sector in the 21^st century, a new session entitled ‘In the midst of Aging Population and AI Revolution: The Changing Roles of Liberal Arts Universities in Asia’ was presented by renowned scholars this year, aiming at strengthening members’ professional roles in dealing with challenges in this era. In addition, there were also sessions on research collaboration, programme development, civic engagement, and entrepreneurship & innovation, at which members could deepen collaboration in these areas and learn from each other’s practices.

In his welcoming address, Prof Leonard K Cheng, President of Lingnan University announced that 25 member institutions in Asia from Hong Kong, Mainland China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, India and Thailand have already joined the Alliance. He also gave his great pleasure to welcome Northeast Normal University from Mainland China, Kyushu University from Japan, and Mahidol University International College from Thailand as new members of the Alliance. In addition, Kyoto University, Akita International University and Hiroshima University from Japan and National Taiwan University from Taiwan participated in the Forum as potential members. “We should all be proud of these developments for an alliance that is barely two years old. The steady expansion of the Alliance in terms of its membership, recognition, and collaboration is the result of the dedicated support of all of our member institutions,” he said.

Prof Leonard K Cheng also highlighted that there have been several achievements made by the Alliance over the past year, including the arrangement of 22 students and four faculty members from the Alliance’s institutions enrolled in the Lingnan University Jockey Club Liberal Arts Summer Institute 2019 and taught at the Summer Institute respectively. In addition, the Dean of School of International Liberal Studies of Waseda University visited Lingnan University in May 2019 and delivered a seminar to our faculties and students; four Lingnan faculty members participated in symposiums and conducted seminars at Peking University, Northeast Normal University and National Chengchi University. “Lingnan University is honored to have served as the secretariat of the Alliance for the past two years. Today, I am pleased to announce that the East China Normal University (ECNU), located in the beautiful city of Shanghai, will take over the secretariat in the coming year. While we are happy to pass the torch to ECNU, we will continue to provide support and assistance to ECNU to ensure a smooth transition,” he said.

The Forum was supported by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust as lead sponsor and the Lingnan Foundation as key partner and sponsor.