Course Description

Instructor: Peter Campos

This course topic is very personal to me, and I’m delighted to share it with you: My Portuguese ancestors were from Macao, and I was born in the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong. Join me as we visit these last bastions of European colonialism in the Far East. Macao was tactically founded 400 years ago by Portugal as a foothold for trade; Hong Kong was strategically acquired by Britain as a spoil of the Opium Wars. We will examine how these European nations come to wield such absolute power over these tiny ports off China; how each colony was governed differently; how geography, religion, and a world war shaped their establishment, development, and future; and why one city grew to become an international business center while the other languished as an almost forgotten gambling enclave. Meet the diverse peoples that make up these unique places, their blended cultures, languages, and cuisines. Lastly, we will consider why the Peoples Republic of China took them over, and the status of these Administrative Regions today.

Bio: I was trained as a Clinical Psychologist, and I owned a consulting company to help community organizations get Federal grants and address agency evaluation needs. I was formerly on faculty at Emory Medical School’s Psychiatry Department and SUNY-Binghamton’s Psychology Department and taught undergraduate and graduate level courses for over 35 years. I now enjoy retirement spending my time reading history, enjoying Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, writing, learning languages, and traveling.