PhD Student and Humanities Expert - Geography tutor with Ka Pok

I am Andrew Ka Pok Tam's Ph.d supervisor at Glasgow University. He is a diligent and able student and I believe he is well-qualified to give tuition in Religious Studies and in his native Cantonese. He is highly competent in IT. He is a cheerful and approachable young man who would, I think, interact well with students. I recommend him warmly.

Reference for Andrew Ka Pok Tam

I have known Andrew since October 2013, as tutor during his MA at Durham on the Aesthetics module. He is an impressive student in many respects, who has analytic virtues of a high order.  His written work is sophisticated, his approach ambitious but scholarly.  He is highly articulate, and a good contributor to discussion. He reads and researches very widely.  Andrew is opinionated in the best sense, yet also broad-minded, tenacious in argument. He takes criticism well but is also independent-minded.

In his MA he gained the following marks:
Dissertation
66
Philosophical Research Methods
58
Dissertation Proposal
66
Gender Theory and Feminist Phil
70
Aesthetics
64
Mind and Action
58

His written English is very good; when I knew him at Durham, his spoken English was slightly less so, but is now considerably improved.

I believe that he is now revealing himself as a solidly first-class student, the level that he did not quite attain overall in his MA, despite some impressive individual pieces of work. His philosophical approach will form an admirable basis for work in a PhD. Andrew's projects show a refreshing originality, raising fundamental questions, and offering vital challenges to current positions in the subject. His Kierkegaard project indeed looks intriguing and original.

He organised a very impressive conference in Glasgow on Misunderstanding between East and West in October 2017. In Hong Kong he has been a liberal activist, at some personal risk, and is a passionate advocate of human rights. His philosophical thinking is informed by deep personal commitments therefore.

I believe he will be an excellent tutor, and I commend him without reservation.

Professor Andy Hamilton,
Philosophy Department, Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE
a.j.hamilton@dur.ac.uk
www.andyhamilton.org.uk
29.09.2018