ERS (Ethics, Responsibility, and Sustainability) in Educational Programmes

  Driven by its motto, Education for Service, Lingnan has an in-depth understanding of its role as a “globally responsible citizen” and its inherent commitment to ethics and sustainability.  

Core courses in ERS (Ethics, Responsibility, and Sustainability). ꦺLingnan emphasises ethical and social understanding in the learning goals of all its degree programmes. To realise the learning goals, the course Business Ethics and Social Responsibility is now a foundational course for undergraduate students, while Business Ethics and Professional Standards is compulsory for Master's students. Besides stand-alone courses, many professors cover ethical topics in their courses, such as Financial Accounting, and Communication. Over the past few years, the College has developed a teaching team corporate social responsibility.

 

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Service learning. ܫLingnan strongly promotes service learning and creates projects for students in this area. The Service Learning programme was initiated in August 2013 and is held annually for all the 3rd-year undergraduate students with the aim to deepen their understanding of the contemporary rural life and the actual conditions of modern China, and to improve students’ ability in cognition and practice. Supported by the local government and sponsored by Sino Group, all third-year Lingnan undergraduates are required to go to the most deprived regions in Guangdong Province for a week to conduct in-depth research activities under the theme of social responsibility and sustainability, during which over 1800 questionnaires had been completed. All undergraduates participated in the project are fully supported by the College and the University from aspects of research methods, academic writing, health care and related professional training. With a large quantity of firsthand data, students are expected to explore the status of the financial resources, the situation of left-behind children, the rural medical care and health service, and the development of village self-governance. And their research finding and recommendations are contained in a final report entitled the Blue Book of Rural Financial Development in Guangdong Province, which may contribute to relevant policy making and adjustment.Students also delivered diverse services and activities to the local villagers, such as tutoring local children, painting walls and blackboard posters for local schools.

 

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Reserch projects. 🦄Students have opportunities to participate in ERS research programmes organised by the College and NGOs. For example, two annual programmes for undergraduate students, the Yale-Lingnan Symposium and Oxford-Lingnan Symposium, are aimed at raising students' social responsibility. Local companies and NGOs that are heavily engaged in social responsibility courses in Guangzhou and New Haven are invited to participate in.Students have the opportunity to broaden their horizons in the ethical engagement of different companies and NGOs, utilising what they learn to contribute to the social well-being of these companies and NGOs. In 2019, the research programme jointly organised with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) was a new but challenging opportunity for students. After several months of research, they presented their projects on various themes offered by the WCS. Via such projects, students’ research capabilities were greatly improved, and their understanding and sense of wildlife protection was deepened.