Yi Samuel CHEN
Associate Professor of Practice (Urban Heritage and Sustainability)
Additional Role
My research deals with urbanisms and their history. It starts from early West Asia which gave rise to some of the earliest and most prominent, enduring, and influential urban civilisations in history. Earlier, I researched on the origins and evolution of ancient West Asian traditions concerning the rise, collapse, and restoration of early urban civilisations and the constructions of time and history and their social and cultural functions in urban societies from various parts of the ancient world. My recent research, which covers regions and periods beyond ancient West Asia, devotes more attention to spatial aspects of urban development. In particular, I focus on planning as a critical part of decision-making and governance systems and processes in the social production and construction of space, for its comparative value and its relevance to the modern and contemporary world. I aspire to contribute to our understanding of urban resilience and sustainability, pivotal for the UNSDGs, from the perspectives of the longue durée and medium- and short-term planning and development. In teaching, I cover urban and planning history broadly, with a selection of urbanisms, including ancient and historical West Asia/Middle East, imperial China, ancient Greece and Rome, medieval Europe, early modern Europe, the industrialised and capitalist West, and contemporary megacities and megaregions.
I received my BA in Philosophy and Religion from Hillsdale College, Michigan, USA and my Master of Arts from Harvard University and my Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Oxford in West Asian Languages and Civilisations. Prior to joining the University of Hong Kong, I researched and taught at various branches of the University of Oxford, including the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, the School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography, Worcester College, and Wolfson College.
Apart from my academic career, I have served as a consultant in urban and rural heritage conservation and sustainable (urban) development for research universities, business and industry organisations, and government institutions in Hong Kong SAR, Mainland China, and the United Kingdom. I am also an Affiliate of the Hong Kong Institute of Planners.
RESEARCH OVERVIEW
My involvement in multidisciplinary modern urban studies projects at the University of Oxford and Peking University during 2016 and 2021 has led to an interdisciplinary and integrated approach to historical urbanisms. I seek to investigate pertinent data from a variety of sources (e.g., archaeological, survey, epigraphic/textual/philological, visual) and apply relevant methodologies, theories, and insights from diverse fields for the study of historical urban establishments, to test our previous understanding of urban evolution and unravel different aspects of historical urban development and their interlocking systems and complex whole.
Whilst interested in the cultural, (geo-)political, socio-economic, technological, and spatial factors, processes, and dynamics involved in the emergence, growth, decline, transformation, and sustainability of historical urban establishments in general, I am drawn to planning theory, practice, studies, history, and historiography. I am particularly interested in planning history and historiography in West Asia and China, whose planning concepts and practices, discourses, and other forms of representations have the longest attested history with empirical evidence from archaeological and textual remains and thus present invaluable sources for our critical assessment of and grounded imageries for sustainability and adaptation. For my main historical research project, I currently focus on urban and regional planning and development in the Neo-Assyrian state in the first millennium BC, arguably the most ambitious city-building and city-empowered empire of its time.
Focusing on early West Asian urban civilisations which started with the rise of urban settlements and clusters in Southern and Northern Iraq since the fifth millennium BC, I also engage with scholars working on paralleled urban developments in other cultures for comparative studies. This covers the broader region that links West Asia/Middle East, Northeast Africa, and Southern Europe, around the Mediterranean World (e.g., Egypt, the Levant, Anatolia, Greece, and Rome). The comparative scope is also extended to urban developments in other regions, such as South Asia (e.g., India) and East Asia (e.g., China). A combination of synchronic, diachronic, and comparative studies will help examine similar and distinct features of historical cities, explore diverse forms of urbanism with different historical trajectories, and assess the resilience and fragility of various urban establishments.
Room 9.08, 9/F, Faculty of Arts, Run Run Shaw Tower, the Centennial Campus
The University of Hong Kong
EDUCATION
BA, Hillsdale College
AM/MA, Harvard University
DPhil/PhD, University of Oxford
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Planning Studies and History
Urban Studies and History
Urban Heritage and Historical Urban Landscapes
Urban and Rural Sustainability
Books
Oxford University Press
2012
The Routledge Handbook of Urban Evolution in Ancient Western Asia and North Africa: The Lives of Cities
Routledge
2027
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BOOK AWARDS
COURSES TAUGHT
Regular Taught Courses
2024: "Urban Heritage and Sustainability in line with the UNESCO Framework" (Cultural Heritage Masters Programme), Faculty of Arts, University of Hong Kong (Course Designer)
2023–2024: "Urban Evolution and Human Flourishing" ("Evolution of Modern Society" Module), Institute for China Business Summer School, University of Hong Kong (Course Designer and Lecturer)
2023–Present: CCGL9070 Global Issues (a Communication-Intensive Course): "The Making of Cities and Societies," Common Core Curriculum, University of Hong Kong (Course Designer and Lecturer)
2023: "Between the Two Rivers: Ancient Mesopotamia: The Rise of the First Civilisations," Department of History, University of Hong Kong (Course Designer)
2022: (Common Core, HKU): CCHU9065 Arts and Humanities: "A Life Worth Living," Common Core Curriculum, University of Hong Kong (Tutor)
2019: "Doctoral Research Seminar," Sichuan University, China (Seminar Designer and Lecturer)
2013: "Global History / History of Civilisation," Summer Course, Examination Schools, University of Oxford (Course Designer and Lecturer)
2013–2017: Historical and Historiographical Research Tutorials, Wolfson College, University of Oxford (Tutorial Designer and Tutor)
2011: Mesopotamian (Sumerian and Babylonian) and Biblical Literature Undergraduate Tutorial, Balliol College, University of Oxford (Designer and Tutor)
2010: MPhil Sumerian Literature Reading Class, Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Oxford (Class Designer and Lecturer)
2005–2012: Classical Hebrew and Literature Tutorials, Worcester College & Wolfson College, University of Oxford (Tutorial Designer and Tutor)
Research & Development Project-based Courses (Founder & Director)
2021: University of Oxford Network for the Future of Cities R & D Courses "Global Challenges for the Future of Humanity" & "Cultural Leadership: Tradition & Innovation" (Online)
2019: University of Oxford Network for the Future of Cities R & D Course "Global Leadership for the Future of Cities: Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CAV) and Drones" (Christ Church College) & Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford’s Oxford Study Programme. Collaborating institutions and organisations: different branches of the University of Oxford, UCL, Warwick University, Transport for London, Foster + Partners, and the local councils in Oxford. 13 Policy reports produced for Oxfordshire County Council and Oxford City Council.
2018: University of Oxford Network for the Future of Cities R & D Course "Global Leadership for the Future of Cities (Zero Emission Zone)" (Christ Church College, University of Oxford) & Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford’s Oxford Study Programme. Collaborating institutions: different branches of the University of Oxford, Imperial College London, Warwick University, Transport for London, EDF Energy, Atkins, Arup, Foster + Partners, and the local councils in Oxford. 7 Policy reports produced for Oxfordshire County Council and Oxford City Council.
2017: University of Oxford Network for the Future of Cities R & D Course "Future of Cities: Cultural Leadership" (Christ Church College, University of Oxford) and Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford’s Oxford Study Programme. Collaborating institutions or organisations: the University of Oxford Gardens, Libraries, and Museums; Oxford Internet Institute; and Computing Services. A public engagement app produced for the four University of Oxford Museums: the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, the Natural History Museum, the Pitt Rivers Museum, and the History of Science Museum.
2016: University of Oxford Network for the Future of Cities R & D Course "Future of Cities: Best Sustainable Practice" (Christ Church College, University of Oxford)
FELLOWSHIPS & GRANTS
2026: Principal Investigator of the Teaching Development Grant in support of a pedagogical innovation project "Students as Researchers via Authentic Assessment and AI-Enhanced Knowledge Creation Databases" in collaboration with Dr Jack Tsao (Senior Lecturer & Deputy Director, Common Core Office), Professor Zhichun Lukas Liu (Assistant Professor, Academic Unit of Mathematics, Science, and Technology, Faculty of Education), and Dr Michelle Reyes Raquel (Senior Lecturer, Centre for Applied English Studies; Project Leader, Communication-Intensive Courses Initiative), University of Hong Kong (294,576 HKD)
2023: Co-recipient (with Professor Ji Li) of the Louis Cha Fund for Chinese Studies (for running the "Cities in Crisis" International Symposium in September 2024), School of Modern Languages and Cultures, HKU (120,000 HKD)
2022: Recipient of a Common Core Teaching Development Grant, University of Hong Kong (78,729 HKD)
2017–2022: Co-recipient of a major research grant from the Global Challenges Research Fund, UK Research and Innovation for running the University of Oxford-led research & development programme PEAK-Urban related to sustainable urban development in the UK, China, India, South Africa, and Colombia (8,000,000 GBP)
2017–2018: Co-recipient of a grant from the Open Fund provided by Tsinghua University's Institute for China Sustainable Urbanisation for running the University of Oxford-led international research and consultancy project on comparative urban and regional development in China and the UK (Initiator and Project Manager) (300,000 RMB)
2012 & 2016: Recipient of a research grant from the Lorne Thyssen Fund, Ancient World Research Cluster, Wolfson College
2014: Recipient of grants from the following sources for running the research project on "Historical Consciousness and the Use of the Past in the Ancient World": the Faculty of Classics; the Craven Fund; The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities; the John Fell Fund; the Jowett Copyright Trust; the Lancelyn Green Fund, Merton College; the Lorne Thyssen Research Fund Scholarship for Ancient World Topics, Wolfson College; the Corpus Christi College Centre for the Study of Greek and Roman Antiquity, University of Oxford; the Maison Française d'Oxford & the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS); the Hellenic Society; and the Classical Association (Principal Investigator)
2005–2009: Recipient of a Langham Research Scholarship, UK
2004 & 2010: Recipient of a research scholarship from the Pusey and Ellerton Fund, Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Oxford
2004–2007: Recipient of a Harvey Fellowship, Mustard Seed Foundation
EXTERNAL AFFILIATIONS
Co-Founder and Co-Director, Flourishing Cities: Past, Present, and Future Project
Senior Resident Tutor, College Two, Jockey Club Students Village IV
Research Fellow, Urban Systems Institute, The University of Hong Kong
Affiliate Member, The Hong Kong Institute of Planners
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Premodern Studies
Monograph(s) and Edited Volumes
Thompson, Shane (North Carolina Wesleyan University), Yi Samuel Chen, and Laura Battini (CNRS-Paris Sciences et Lettres University), eds. 2027 (under contract). The Routledge Handbook of Urban Evolution in Ancient Western Asia and North Africa: The Lives of Cities. Routledge.
Baines, John (Oxford), Henriette van der Blom (Birmingham), Yi Samuel Chen, and Tim Rood (Oxford), eds. 2019. Historical Consciousness and the Use of the Past in the Ancient World. Sheffield: Equinox.
Chen, Y.S. 2013. The Primeval Flood Catastrophe: Origins and Early Development in Mesopotamian Traditions. Oxford Oriental Monographs. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (Paperback edition 2019).
Peer-reviewed Journal Articles, Book Chapters, and Book Reviews
Chen, Yi Samuel. In preparation (invited review). Review of World Cities in History: Urban Networks from Ancient Mesopotamia to the Dutch Empire, by Joshua K. Jeon (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2025). Journal of Urban Affairs.
Chen, Yi Samuel. 2027 (under contract). "Planning during the Neo-Assyrian Period: A Philological and Historiographical Study." In The Lives of Cities: A Handbook of Urban Evolution in Ancient Western Asia and North Africa, ed. Shane Thompson, Yi Samuel Chen, and Laura Battini. Routledge.
Chen, Yi Samuel. 2026. "Societal Conditions and Conditioning Associated with State Building Projects in Ancient Mesopotamia." Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 69: 284–372. DOI: 10.1163/15685209-12341673.
Chen, Yi Samuel. 2026. Review of First Cities: Planning Lessons for the 21st Century, by Saitta Dean (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020). Urban History. DOI: 10.1017/S0963926826100777.
Chen, Yi Samuel, and Shane Thompson. 2025. "Mobility and Sedentism in the Patriarchal Narratives." Biblica 106 (3): 321–343. DOI: 10.2143/BIB.106.3.3295076.
Chen, Yi Samuel. 2024. "Planning Historiography in the Neo-Assyrian Empire: A Preliminary Study." In Ian Morley and Hendrik Tieben, eds., International Planning History Society Proceedings, 20th IPHS Conference, "The (High Density) Metropolis and Region in Planning History," Hong Kong, 2–5 July 2024. TU Delft Open.
Chen, Yi Samuel. 2023. "Neo-Assyrian Urban and Regional Development and Governance on the Frontiers of the Empire." Orientalia 92: 71–129. DOI: 10.2143/ORI.92.1.3292968.
Chen, Yi Samuel. 2013. "Major Literary Traditions Involved in the Making of Mesopotamian Flood Traditions." In Opening Heaven’s Floodgates: The Genesis Flood Narrative, Its Contexts, and Reception, ed. Jason M. Silverman, 159–208. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias.
Chen, Yi Samuel. 2012. "The Flood Motif as a Stylistic and Temporal Device in Sumerian Literary Traditions." Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions 12: 158–89. (The article won the runner-up award for the International Association for Assyriology’s 2014 publication competition). DOI: 10.1163/15692124-12341236.
Modern Studies
Edited Special Issues
Chen, Yi Samuel, Ji Li (University of Hong Kong), and Christian Hess (Sophia University, Japan), eds. In preparation. "Cities in Crisis: Perspectives and Discourses." Special Issue, Journal of Urban History.
Chen, Yi Samuel, and Orlando Woods (Singapore Management University), eds. In preparation. "Cities in Crisis: Between Continuity and Change." Special Issue.
Note: The above special issues are based on a selection of papers presented at the "Cities in Crisis: Planning and Design, Governance, and Daily Operations" International Symposium held at the Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Hong Kong organised by Yi Samuel Chen and Ji Li on 14 September 2024.
Peer-reviewed Journal Articles, Policy Reports, and Book Reviews
Connolly, Creighton (University of Hong Kong), Meher Bhagia (University of Hong Kong), Shizheng Liang (University of Hong Kong), and Yi Samuel Chen. Under review. "Smart, Green and Resilient? Hong Kong’s Northern Metropolis at the Nexus of Continuity and Change." City.
Kung, Alison Chi Yan (University of Hong Kong), Yi Samuel Chen, Creighton Connolly (University of Hong Kong), Boya Guo (Tongji University), Zishun Zhuo (University of Hong Kong), and Haotian Man (Chinese University of Hong Kong). Under review. "Conserving Central in Hong Kong: Heritage Conservation under Developmentalist Urban Governance." Planning Perspectives.
Kung, Alison Ching Yan (University of Hong Kong), Yi Samuel Chen, Zishun Zhuo (University of Hong Kong), and Haotian Man (Chinese University of Hong Kong). 2024 (2026). "Urban Resilience and Cultural Conservation in Hong Kong: Integrating Heritage into Urban Planning as a Means to Enhance Resilience and Sustainability." Planning and Development: Journal of the Hong Kong Institute of Planners 38: 36–48.
Note: The articles listed immediately above are based on revised research papers generated for CCGL9070 "The Making of Cities and Societies" designed and taught by Yi Samuel Chen at the University of Hong Kong during the 2024–2025 academic year.
Chen, Yi Samuel. 2025. Review of Building Colonial Hong Kong: Speculative Development and Segregation in the City, by Cecilia L. Chu (London and New York: Routledge, 2022). Pacific Historical Review (University of Southern California Press) 94, no. 2: 227–228. DOI: 10.1525/phr.2025.94.2.227.
Deng, Handuo (NYU, Shanghai & UCL), Hu Qi (NYU, Shanghai & UIBE, Beijing), Chenghe Guan (NYU, Shanghai), Yi Samuel Chen, and Monica Menendez (NYU, Abu Dhabi). 2024. "Building a Government-owned Open Data Platform for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles." Cities 149: 1–16. DOI: 10.1016/j.cities.2024.104918.
Liu, Huazhen (NYU, Shanghai & UNC, Chapel Hill), Miao Yang (NYU, Shanghai & Tongji), Chenghe Guan (NYU, Shanghai), Yi Samuel Chen, Michael Keith (Oxford), and Monica Menendez. 2023. "Urban Infrastructure Design Principles for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles: A Case Study of Oxford, UK." Computational Urban Science 3:34, 1–21. DOI: 10.1007/s43762-023-00110-0.
Note: The two articles listed immediately above are revised policy reports generated for Oxford City Council and Oxfordshire County Council from the research & development project-based courses Yi Samuel Chen designed and directed at the University of Oxford Network for the Future of Cities in summer 2019.
Chen, Yi Samuel, and Xiaoling Zhang (University of Hong Kong). 2023. "Three-Dimensional Ambition: The Domestic, Regional and National Challenges for Hong Kong’s Greater Bay Area Integration Strategy." AsiaGlobal Online. Asia Global Institute, University of Hong Kong.
COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH PROJECTS/INITIATIVES DESIGNED, DIRECTED, AND/OR PARTICIPATED
2024: Christianity in China Research Lab, Faith and Global Engagement, Faculty of Arts, University of Hong Kong (Co-Founder and Co-Lead with Dr Hongping Nie from the Faculty of Arts)
2023: The Flourishing Cities: Past, Present, and Future Project, Faculty of Arts, University of Hong Kong (Co-Founder and Co-Director with Professor Ji Li from the School of Modern Languages and Cultures and the Department of History)
2017–2022: PEAK-Urban Programme, an international research and development project funded by the Global Challenges Research Fund of the UK Research and Innovation, which involved the University of Oxford, Peking University, the Indian Institute for Human Settlements (India), University of Cape Town (South Africa), and the Universidad EAFIT (Colombia) (Research Fellow and China Projects Liaison)
2017–2018: "Spatial Planning and Policy—the Making of Urban Agglomerations in China: A Research Dialogue between the West and China," a collaborative research and consultancy project between the University of Oxford Network for the Future of Cities & Oxford University Innovation; and Tsinghua University's Institute for China Sustainable Urbanisation, funded by the Institute for China Sustainable Urbanisation, with a consultancy report "Urban Agglomeration in China Based on Western Urban Agglomeration Theory: Case Studies of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Coordinated Development and Xiong'an New District" produced for the Institute for China Sustainable Urbanisation (Initiator and Project Manager)
2014–2019: "Historical Consciousness and Historiography" international & interdisciplinary research project, in collaboration with the Classics Faculty, the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities and the John Fell Fund at the University of Oxford; and the Maison Française d'Oxford & the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) (Principal Investigator)
SELECTED CONFERENCE OR WORKSHOP PRESENTATIONS
Premodern Studies
Chen, Yi Samuel. 2026. "An Appraisal of Planning History Research on the Neo-Assyrian Empire." 21st Biennial Conference of the International Planning History Society, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, USA, Session 2.5 "Capitals, Cosmologies, and State Power" (online session). 17 July.
Chen, Yi Samuel. 2024. "Planning Historiography in the Neo-Assyrian Empire: A Preliminary Study." 20th Biennial Conference of the International Planning History Society, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Session 4.5 "Ancient Cities." 2–6 July.
Chen, Yi Samuel. 2024. "Societal Conditions and Conditioning Measures Associated with State Building Projects in Ancient Mesopotamia." Lecture Series: Early Encounters Between Europe and Asia. Jao Tsung-I Academy of Sinology. Hong Kong Baptist University. 5 January.
Chen, Yi Samuel. 2023. "Societal Conditions and Conditioning for State Building Projects in Ancient Mesopotamia" (Poster Presentation). The 68th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale "Inequality in the Ancient Near East," University of Leiden, Leiden, 17–20 July.
Chen, Yi Samuel. 2023. "The Making of Capital Cities through Imperial Expansion in the Neo-Assyrian Empire." World History Seminar Series. Chinese University of Hong Kong (an invited lecture by the Divinity School of Chung Chi College and the Department of History), 2 February.
Chen, Yi Samuel. 2022. "Nomadism and Urbanism in the Patriarchal Narratives of the Book of Genesis." "On the Move. Migration in Antiquity" Conference, 10–15 April, Monte Verità, Ascona, Switzerland, organised by Mirko Novák and Annick Payne, University of Bern, Switzerland.
Chen, Yi Samuel. 2012. "The Economic Nature of Wisdom in the Book of Proverbs." The "Wisdom in Israelite and Cognate Traditions" Section, Annual Society of Biblical Literature Meeting, Chicago, Illinois, USA, 17–20 November.
Chen, Yi Samuel. 2011. "The Flood: from a Symbol of Catastrophe to a Watershed in History." Research Seminar Series "Signs and Symbols," London Centre for the Ancient Near East, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, 12 December.
Chen, Yi Samuel. 2011. "Development of Understanding of Early World History in Ancient Mesopotamia." Research Seminar Series, Wolfson College, University of Oxford, UK, 1 March.
Chen, Yi Samuel. 2010. "Comparative Studies of Mesopotamian and Biblical Flood Stories and the Comparative Method." The "Bible, Myth, and Myth Theory" Section, Annual Society of Biblical Literature Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, 20–23 November.
Chen, Yi Samuel. 2010. "The Primeval Flood Catastrophe." The 56th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale "Time and History in the Ancient Near East," University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain, 26–30 July.
Modern Studies
Chen, Yi Samuel, Boya Guo (College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University), and Alison Ching Yan Kung. 2026. "The Curated Past: History, Heritage, and the Commercial Revitalization of Shanghai’s Zhang Yuan." "The City as Method: The Transnational Making of Hong Kong and Shanghai," co-organised by the School of Chinese & the Institute of Transnational History of China, University of Hong Kong, and the Department of History, Fudan University, 20–21 August 2026, the University of Hong Kong.
Guo, Boya (College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University), and Yi Samuel Chen. 2026. "The Curated Past: Heritage, Global Models, and the Commercial Revitalization of Shanghai’s Zhang Yuan." The International Association for the Study of Traditional Environments 2026 Conference "Translating Tradition." Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 27 June.
Guo, Boya (College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University), and Yi Samuel Chen. 2025. "Appropriating History and Heritage and Contemporary Redevelopment: The Case of Zhang Yuan in Shanghai." "Cultural Preservation and Planning in Urban and Rural China" Session, International Conference of Historical Geographers 2025, Fudan University, Shanghai, 14 July.
Zhang, Xi (Oxford), and Yi Samuel Chen. 2024. "Inter-City Governance of Hong Kong and Shenzhen within the Greater Bay Area of the Pearl River Delta from a Historical and Global Perspective." 10th Tsinghua University Frontier Theories and Methodologies in Political Science Symposium "Foundation of Political Science of Chinese-Style Modernisation," Beijing. 26–27 April.
Chen, Yi Samuel. 2023. "Introduction to Lewis Mumford’s The City in History: Its Origins, Its Transformations, and Its Prospects," the "Flourishing Cities: Past, Present, and Future" Reading Group and Research Workshop, Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Hong Kong. 29 September.
Chen, Yi Samuel. 2023. "Major Stages of Hong Kong’s Urban Development and the Northern Metropolis Development Today." "Urban Design: Hong Kong and the Commonwealth" Webinar Organised by the Commonwealth Chamber of Commerce, 22 May.
Chen, Yi Samuel. 2023. "Sustainability from the Perspective of Planetary and Urban History." New College, University of Hong Kong. 26 February.
Chen, Yi Samuel. 2021. "Future of Cities and Future Cities." The Guangzhou-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Management Forum & Future Cities Smart Management and Development Symposium, 16th Annual China Management Studies Conference, Shenzhen, China, 5 November.
Chen, Yi Samuel. 2020. "Museum Development and the Future of Cities." In Frontier of Cultural Development Symposium, Global Engagement Academy, Shandong University (Weihai Campus), 12 December.
SELECTED MEDIA PRESENTATIONS
2022: The "Lost Cities of the Bible" documentary film series, for Discovery Science via the Discovery Channel (first released in the US in April 2022), produced by Windfall Films Ltd, an award-winning filmmaker based in London, UK, March (Contributor and Consultant).
2014: Chen, Yi Samuel. "A Different Noah, but the Same God" (a commentary on the 2014 Film Noah). Oxford University Press Blog. Sunday 17 May.
DIGITAL HUMANITIES PROJECTS LED, INVOLVED, AND/OR CONTRIBUTED TO
2026: "Students as Researchers via Authentic Assessment and AI-Enhanced Knowledge Creation Databases," a pedagogical innovation project (funded by a HKU Teaching Development Grant, see below), in collaboration with Dr Jack Tsao (Senior Lecturer & Deputy Director, Common Core Office), Professor Zhichun Lukas Liu (Assistant Professor, Academic Unit of Mathematics, Science, and Technology, Faculty of Education), and Dr Michelle Reyes Raquel (Senior Lecturer, Centre for Applied English Studies; Project Leader, Communication-Intensive Courses Initiative), University of Hong Kong (Principal Investigator)
2010–2011: The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology Cuneiform Collection Project, the Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (ETCSL) Project, and the Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI) Project, Faculty of Oriental Studies (now Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies), University of Oxford, UK (Researcher)
SELECTED INTERNATIONAL ACADEMIC CONFERENCES, SEMINARS, AND EXCHANGE PROJECTS DIRECTED/MANAGED
2025–Present: Research Seminar Series, Christianity in China Research Lab, Faith and Global Engagement, Faculty of Arts, University of Hong Kong (Co-organiser with Dr Hongping Nie)
2023–Present: Research Seminar Series, the Flourishing Cities: Past, Present, and Future Project, Faculty of Arts, University of Hong Kong (Co-organiser with Professor Ji Li)
2024 (14 September): International Symposium "Cities in Crisis: Planning and Design, Governance, and Daily Operations," the Flourishing Cities: Past, Present, and Future Project, University of Hong Kong (Co-organiser with Professor Ji Li)
2020 (Feb): The "New Technologies and New Economies" session during the 10th World Urban Forum, Abu Dhabi, UAE, 10 February (Co-initiator and Co-organiser, in collaboration with UN-Habitat, the UN Environment Programme, UK Research and Innovation, Oxfordshire County Council's Mobility Team and Innovation Hub, Tsinghua University's Academy of Arts and Design, ETH Zürich, Carnegie Mellon University's Learning Environments Lab, Peking University's Institute of New Structural Economics, Chengdu Municipal Government and its Institute of New Economic Development with a research and consultancy report produced) (Co-organiser)
2019 (18–28 April): The UK Higher Education Delegation from Oxford, Cambridge, and UCL to attend the First China-UK Higher Education Young Talent Alliance Summit held at Tsinghua University, Beijing, China (Principal Organiser)
2018 (11–12 July): The UK-China Future Cities and Contemporary Urban Studies Workshop hosted by the University of Oxford Network for the Future of Cities, the Urban Transformation Programme, and the Kaifeng Research Institute at Tsinghua University, Beijing, China (Principal Organiser)
2018 (21–26 March): The Oxford Delegation from the University of Oxford Future Cities Network (represented by Professor Michael Keith) and Oxfordshire County Council (represented by Cllr Ian Hudspeth and Community Strategic Development Director Bev Hindle) to attend the UK-China Future Cities Forum held in Baoding, Hebei Province (in collaboration with the British Embassy Beijing and Hebei Provincial Government) (Principal Organiser)
2014 (14 October): "Civilisations in Dialogue" conference, St John's College, University of Oxford in September in collaboration with Professor Weiming Tu at Harvard's Department of East Asian Studies and Peking University's Institute of Advanced Humanistic Studies, and the Faculty of Theology and Religion and the China Centre at the University of Oxford (Principal Organiser)
2014: "Historical Consciousness and Historiography" International Conference, in collaboration with the Classics Faculty, the Oriental Studies Faculty, The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities and the John Fell Fund at the University of Oxford; and the Maison Française d'Oxford & the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) (Principal Organiser)
2010: "Ancient Wisdom and Harmonious Societies" International Symposium, School of Foreign Languages, Peking University & Institute for Religion and Society in Asia, Oxford, UK (Principal Organiser)
2009 (17–18 September): "China's Development in the 20th Century" International Conference, the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. & the University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA (in collaboration with the Library of Congress and the University of Maryland) (Principal Organiser)
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL PEER-REVIEWING EXPERIENCE
2024: Reviewer for Planning Perspectives
ACADEMIC AND EDITORIAL ADVISORY EXPERIENCE
2025–Present: Guest Critic, MSc Conservation Thesis and Studio Final Review, Division of Landscape Architecture, Faculty of Architecture, University of Hong Kong
2024–2025: External Design Consultant for MArch Thesis Spring 2024—Workshop 2 (April 2024), Faculty of Architecture, University of Hong Kong.
2023–Present: Academic Advisor to Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia (published by Brill).
AWARDS
2026: "Best Student Work Award," The Common Core Curriculum Student Learning Festival (2025–2026), won by a student group project entitled "The Impact of E-Commerce on Street-Level Retail and Its Implications for Sustaining Economic Vitality in Retail-Dense Districts: A Comparative Study of Mong Kok, Hong Kong and Dongmen, Shenzhen" generated for the Common Core Course "The Making of Cities and Societies" (CCGL9070) designed and taught at the University of Hong Kong
2014: Runner-up, the International Association for Assyriology’s Best First Published Articles after PhD Competition (see above for the publication section)