Committee on Gender Equity and Diversity, HKU

CGED Co-badged Event – Book Talk: The Armenian Woman, Minoritarian Agency, and the Making of Iranian Modernity, 1860-1979

Date: 23 June 2026
Time: 4-5pm
Location: Rm 4.16, The Jockey Club Tower, HKU
Speakers: Professor Houri Berberian and Professor Talinn Grigor

Join Professor Houri Berberian and Professor Talinn Grigor at this book talk, where they offer the first history of Armenian women in modern Iran. Foregrounding the work of Armenian women’s organizations, the authors trace minoritarian politics and the shifting relationships among doubly minoritized Armenian female subjects, Iran’s central nodes of power, and the Irano-Armenian patriarchal institutions of church and political parties.

Engaging broader considerations around modernization, nationalism, and feminism, this book makes a conceptually rich contribution to how we think about the history of women and minoritized peoples. Understanding minoritarian politics as formulated by women through their various forms of public and intellectual activisms, this book provides a groundbreaking intervention in Iran’s history of modernization, Armenian diasporic history, and Iranian and Armenian feminist historiography.

All are welcome, no registration required.

CGED supported: EDGE Film Festival – 6th May

The CGED proudly supported the EDGE Film Festival – a student led event honouring cinema that lives outside the mainstream – last week. Participating films explored ideas including but not limited to gender, sexuality, body autonomy, and q***r existence.

Winners of the evening

Best Made in HK Award: Li Ka Yi for "Quiet Memories in a Loud Era"
Best Women's Voice Award: Patty Qian for "Spring Yet to Come"
Best Editing: Valerie Kan for "The Taste of Home"
Best Animation: Yuqing Liu for "The Tale of the Peony"
Best Director: Vincent Varkin for "A Boring Confession"

The festival concluded with a discussion with esteemed Hong Kong Filmmaker, Fruit Chan, who shared his process and thoughts about HK thirty years ago and what has changed today.

Congratulations to all winners and a huge thank you to Fruit Chan for sharing his experience with students.

On April 28th, the CGED hosted an informal luncheon with Kirti Lad, where members discussed gender equity and inclusion in corporate spaces. The fruitful discussion explored the importance of teamwork and inspired ideas for creating inclusive work environments within the Faculty.

CGED Supports: EDGE Film Festival

Date: Wednesday May 6, 2026, 12-8 PM

Venue: CPD 3.28

Moderator: Dr. Crystal Kwok, Department of History, HKU

EDGE is a student run film festival hosted at the University of Hong Kong, dedicated to cinema that lives outside the mainstream. Join us on the 6th of May in celebrating the works of those who seek to be heard. Featuring student films covering themes of multicultural, q***r and displaced identities, the EDGE film festival seeks to platform voices on the fringes of society. On top of celebrating the works of talented visionaries, join us in a screening of Made in Hong Kong by director Fruit Chan, followed by a conversation delving into his insights and experiences in crafting a narrative for the silenced as well as independent filmmaking.

Upcoming event - Reinventing the Archive: Franki Raffles, Asia and Women’s Work

Date: 29 April 2026 (Wednesday)
Time: 6:30pm-8pm
Venue: CCG Library, Asia Art Archive
Speakers: Dr. Catherine Spencer and Dr. Vivian K. Sheng

We are happy to co-badge the Franki Raffles Photography Collection at the University of St. Andrews, in connection with an exhibition held at the University of Hong Kong (27 April-22 May).

Join us for an insightful discussion about the Franki Raffles Photography Collection at the CCG Library, Asia Art Archive next Wednesday! The talk will focus on Raffles’s 1984-85 trip to Eastern Europe and Asia. The year-long voyage catalysed Raffles’s interest in women and work which she would dedicate her career to.

CGED Co-badged Exhibition - Franki Raffles: Asia and Women’s Work

Date: 27 April to 22 May 2026

Location: G/F, Run Run Shaw Tower, HKU

Curated by Dr Vivian K. Sheng and Dr Catherine Spencer

This exhibition contextualises Raffles’s photooraphs from Hong Hong and mainland China within her wider journey through Eastern Europe and Asia and her overarching practice, to reflect on the possibilities and challenges of feminist solidarity, and on the changing relationships between women and labour across transnational and translocal contexts during this volatile decade. Drawing on images from Franki Raffles’s photographic archive and personal papers at the University of St Andrews, it marks the first time the photographer’s work has been shown in Asia since Raffles’s death in 1994

Lunch with Kirti Lad – Founder Meraki Executive Search & Consulting Limited & Co-Founder Women’s Directorship Programme

Join us for a thought-provoking conversation with Kirti Lad. Explore what true leadership looks like, how institutions can move beyond box-ticking, and why diversity at the top is a strategic imperative — not just a moral one.

Date: 28 April 2026
Time: 12:30 pm
Venue: TBD
Speaker: Kirti Lad, Founder, Meraki Executive Search & Consulting Limited

Kirti’s expertise is in leadership hiring and development of both Non-Executives and Executives. She is the pioneer behind WDP, a JV with HKU Business School, leads the Meraki Network, a senior executive network for women and male allies, is a regular speaker and contributor to conferences and media relating to gender diversity and is an active member of the Women in Business Committee at BritCham. Kirti was named as one of the Global Top 50 Diversity Professionals in Industry by the Economist Magazine over multiple years and is the winner of AmCham’s Women of Influence Award 2024 for Champion for Women.

On 3rd March 2026, the CGED and Encompass HK hosted a Managing Unconscious Bias workshop attended by 12 faculty and staff, primarily from the Faculty of Arts at the University of Hong Kong. The session examined how stereotypes operate within universities, using beer and chocolate as engaging metaphors to demonstrate how biases are formed and transmitted, concluding with an allyship bingo and a Points of You activity to support participants in developing a personalized allyship action plan.

We are committed to advancing meaningful inclusion on our HKU campus. The reflective discussion combined with sensory activities showed how bias shapes perception and everyday interactions, and highlighted practical strategies for dismantling bias and cultivating a more inclusive campus culture.

Thank you to Benita and Encompass HK for hosting the enriching and inspirational session and thank you to all who joined the workshop.

Hello, everyone! We are excited to announce that we are now also on Instagram! The CGED sponsors and co-sponsors many events throughout the year. Give us a follow there to see what we've been up to!

Alternatively, you can join our newsletter to stay up to date with what’s happening. https://www.cged.arts.hku.hk/newsletter-form

Stay tuned for more!

The Committee on Gender Equity and Diversity (CGED) is dedicated to fostering an environment of inclusivity in the Faculty of Arts. It promotes equity among all faculty members irrespective of gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, religion or ability.

The New CGED Website is Here!

Since 2016, the Committee on Gender Equity and Diversity (CGED) has been working to foster an environment of inclusivity in the Faculty of Arts at HKU. We invite you to explore our new website: https://cged.arts.hku.hk/

We also encourage you to sign up for our newsletter and receive updates about forthcoming CGED-sponsored events: https://www.cged.arts.hku.hk/newsletter-form

Committee for Gender Equity and Diversity - The University of Hong Kong | HKU | Hong Kong The Committee on Gender Equity and Diversity - The University of Hong Kong is dedicated to fostering an inclusive environment by reviewing matters of race, gender, sexuality, disability, and diversity across key areas like hiring, professional development, harassment prevention, and curriculum devel...