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Shaping Global Storytellers: The

Journey of the Global Communication

Undergraduate Programme

Oliver Chan (Programme Coordinator and Assistant Professor)

Let me start with a question I often get at admission
talks—and, honestly, one I keep asking myself:
What is “global” about our Global Communication
(GCOM) undergraduate programme? These
days, the term “global” can feel like just another
buzzword, especially with news headlines filled with
talk about deglobalization and countries prioritizing
their own interests first. But that is precisely The launch of the BSSc Global Communication programme
what makes this programme so interesting: it
encourages students to unpack the social, political, It was not long before COVID-19 hit the global
economic, and infrastructural forces that shape the “pause” button, disrupting international travel and
global flow of media and communication and to academic exchanges. And, our programme was no
critically question who gets to control it. Having exception. The year-long overseas exchange was
had the opportunity to work more closely with the trimmed down to a single semester, making it more
programme since 2022 alongside Sam Chan (the accessible and flexible. Looking back, does the shift
Programme Coordinator at the time), I have seen to a shorter exchange make our programme less
firsthand how GCOM continues to evolve to keep up global? Probably not. Indeed, as we recover from
with a rapidly changing world. COVID-19, we have also widened the map: students
can now go on exchange at institutions across Asia
A Ground-breaking Programme in Hong Kong (e.g., Japan and Thailand), Europe (e.g., Spain
When the GCOM programme was launched in 2017, and the UK), and North America (e.g., the United
it was the first of its kind undergraduate programme States). We are also lining up new partnerships
in Hong Kong, combining communication studies with other UK institutions.
with a guaranteed overseas academic exchange.
Partnering with the School of Media, Film and In fact, the question of what “global” truly means
Music at the University of Sussex in the UK, the keeps getting refreshed in our classrooms, where
programme set out to equip students with a global international and local students now sit in almost
mindset, intercultural knowledge, and practical one-to-one balance. Over the past two years, we
skills to navigate an increasingly interconnected have welcomed students from Thailand, Mexico,
media world. Under the original design, students Vietnam, Brazil, South Korea, and beyond. In last
from both universities would spend two of their four year’s Introduction to Global Communication class,
years studying shoulder-to-shoulder—one year at the student-voted “most popular song” was the
CUHK and one year at Sussex. Students also had Vietnamese hit “See Tình,” and our Vietnamese
the opportunity to join study tours and visit media students cheerfully decoded the lyrics for me
organizations in cities like London and Taipei. and their peers. Moments like this remind us that
“global” comes alive only when voices travel
across cultures—not just to be heard, but to be
understood.
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