Professor,
Asian Studies Faculty,
Langara College and Kwantlen Polytechnic University
A Place Where East Meets West
If Dr. Todd Klaiman had one advice for incoming students to The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) it would be to take advantage of the University’s global connectedness. Aside from its physical location neighbouring countries such as mainland China, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia, he says that the strong links the University has to countries such as Australia and Britain have also made it a perfect learning hub where East meets West in academia.
“CUHK’s leading position in the global academic community provided us with countless opportunities,” he said. “From guest lectures given by world-class scholars to international conferences, I was able to cultivate every skill I needed to advance my career I was able to cultivate within that network.”
A Global Leader
For Dr. Klaiman, this was especially important. His academic journey began with an unexpected encounter. After completing an undergraduate degree in biology in Canada, he found himself teaching English in Taiwan for one year. And this is where he fell in love with the Chinese culture.
“I became interested in the language, the history and the culture and I actually moved into a Buddhist monastery,” he said. Staying on for four and a half years, he grew captivated by the local expression of Buddhism — a far cry from the more academic, Western-influenced perspectives that he had previously encountered.
“I wasn’t really ready for the local expression of Buddhism, the rituals and the cultural influences of Chinese culture, Taoism and Confucianism,” Dr. Klaiman recalls. “That just sparked my interest, because it was so different than what I had been reading.”
Inspired, he then did a master’s degree in translation studies in Chinese and started his PhD. However, while he enjoyed the experience of postgraduate work and research in Taiwan, he felt the local universities were isolated globally in the world of academia. So, he began to look beyond Taiwan.
“I knew I wanted to be in Asia, but I also wanted to be connected because I was starting to think that I had been in Asia for about 14–15 years at that point and I needed to consider what it’s going to be for me if I ever go back to North America and Europe,” he explained.
A Geographic Haven
His search soon took him to CUHK, which he says turned out to be the perfect place to pursue his academic passions.
“The geographic position of Hong Kong makes it perfect for my research. It positions me well within a global network while also allowing me to keep my ties with Asia,” he said.
Another thing that drew his attention was the supervisors that he would have the opportunity to work with. At the time, Professor Jan Kiely was the Acting Director at the Centre for China Studies and it was a phone conversation with him that would change Dr. Klaiman’s life.
“I spoke to him and he asked me some questions about my research,” he recalled. “Then he said to me: ‘My role as a supervisor here in the Centre for China Studies is to develop you into a world-class scholar and expert in your field’. The minute he said that I knew CUHK’s where I needed to be.”
Building a Strong Foundation
Dr. Klaiman has since never looked back. And he continued to get to work with other greats including Prof. John Lagerway and Prof. David Faure. Altogether, he credits his supervisors for building a strong foundation in his field research, as well as helping him hone the skills that were critical in understanding his field of work. Moreover, they mentored him and gave him the opportunities that would allow him to become a great teacher himself.
Today, Dr. Klaiman teaches in the Asian Studies Department at Langara College and Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Vancouver, Canada. And he adds that his international experiences at CUHK also helped bring him to where he is.
“My experience at CUHK with a diverse international student body, not just living in the dorms, but also going to class with people, and then being a Teacher Assistant lecturing in those diverse classrooms, that’s what really put me in a position to succeed in these two institutions in Canada,” he said.
Plentiful Opportunities
Of course, he says that the financial support and scholarship opportunities also played a huge part in his career. Financial freedom allowed him to focus on his PhD without that stress and burden.
“I took advantage of CUHK’s Global Scholarship Programme for Research Excellence while I was studying there in order to spend a semester at The University of British Columbia (UBC) in the Department of History,” he said. “It was a helpful, well-funded experience.”
So, to those considering CUHK for their PhD, Dr. Klaiman doesn’t hesitate but says: “Think about the connectedness of Hong Kong and how do you want to take advantage of that?”
