COURSE OVERVIEW

Art has inspired and fascinated people all over the world since the beginning of time. Since the early cave art produced more than thirty thousand years ago, every civilization has captured its exploits, concerns and everyday life in vases, murals, sculptures, paintings, and monuments. Art has always been an enduring product of human creativity, symbolic communication, and emotional expression that exists in an intriguing intersection between past and present historical contexts. 

This course introduces students to major developments in art history in the Western world, which has and continues to form an essential reference system in today’s art world. This course focuses on critical periods and movements affecting art production until the 18th century, particularly Ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt, Greece, Rome, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the Baroque. Emphasis is placed on the relationships between art and its historical, religious and socio-political contexts, and the effects on the definitions, styles, practices and communities of art. 

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course, students should be able to:

• Attain a general overview of the history of western art, its major periods, movements, concepts, and artists.
• Understand the formal qualities and functions of a work of art, and situate it in a variety of historical, social, cultural, religious, economic, and political contexts.
• Understand the significance of these contexts in informing the interpretation of a work of art.
• Develop an understanding and appreciation of Western art’s iconography, styles, and techniques as expressed in painting, sculpture, architecture, and other art forms.
• Cultivate, through exposure to a range of artistic objects and cultural traditions, a greater understanding and appreciation of today’s world.
• Appreciate the relevance of arts and culture to society, politics and humanity.

COURSE OVERVIEW

This course surveys the complex cultural and political relationships that exist between Asia and World Literature, exploring how canonical works of prose, poetry and drama have been used (and continue to be used) to advance divergent imperialist, nationalist and intercultural goals. We begin by tracing the formation of ‘Orientalist’ stereotypes about Asia in World Literature, illuminating the role these texts played in the Western colonial project. Next, we interrogate how Asian nationalists and creative practitioners sought to move beyond these Orientalist tropes by adapting Shakespeare’s plays to create bold, new intercultural performances. We then dive into a range of canonical Asian texts and their contemporary adaptations. We ask what these texts can tell us about the connected political, cultural and technological histories of Asia and Europe; probe how these texts play shape our perceptions of racial, religious, national and gender differences; and ponder the place Singapore writers have in world literature today.

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course, students should be able to:

Disciplinary and Multidisciplinary Knowledge

• Gain an introduction to the tools of literary and historical analysis, broadening their awareness of the inter-disciplinary connections between literature, history, politics and communication technologies.

Intellectual and Creative Skills

• Strengthen their critical thinking skills as they analyze the diverse ways texts and cultures intersect.

Interpersonal Skills

• Hone their written and verbal communication skills as they practice formulating and delivering their independent interpretations of the texts; students will also enhance their collaborative skills through group analyses of the texts.

Global Citizenship

• Gain greater inter-cultural understanding and sensitivity, particularly towards cultural developments in Asia and Europe.

COURSE OVERVIEW

Background Information on Malay language such as a brief description of the Malay language: its historical development and present status-quo as well as the special features of the language. The content progresses from the easier aspects of the language to the more difficult ones. The content covers aspects of linguistics such as phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics. The content takes into consideration lexicogrammar which will enable students to learn through identifying patterns and characteristics. The content of this course is also designed to introduce some aspects of Malay social, cultural and religious practices through the use of texts and exercises in the course materials.

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course, students should be able to:

Disciplinary and Multidisciplinary Knowledge

• Become familiar with the culture and language of Malay speaking countries for greater adaptability to a globalised world.

Intellectual and Creative Skills

• Express themselves in basic Malay using simple structures, write short essays and dialogs in basic Malay, understand and know vocabulary used in daily life forming the foundation to learn the language at higher levels later on

Interpersonal Skills

• Communicate in formal Malay and formal Indonesian through having competence in the four language skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing by understanding the workings of the language as follows:
  o The spelling system of the Malay language.
  o Greetings and basic phrases in interactions.
  o Basic vocabulary such as numbers, days, months, time, colours, occupations, parts of the body, family members and addresses.
  o Morphological and syntactical aspects of lexicogrammar of Malay language. 

Global Citizenship

• Develop intercultural understanding and sensitivity of communities and countries of the Malay/Indonesian speaking world. This understanding could be the catalyst in enhancing their ethics and social responsibilities.

COURSE OVERVIEW

A constitution is a country’s most important text: it creates State institutions, allocates powers and recognizes rights and responsibilities for those within its territory. More than that, constitutions express a state’s identity and provide the framework for all other laws and policies. This course will expose students to the challenges attendant on making constitutions work in real life to address present-day societal problems and challenges. At the same time, it will sensitize them to the extent to which the wider social, political and economic context and a country’s underlying culture affect the implementation of constitutional rules and values. 

Instead of exploring models and constitutional solutions in the abstract, the course invites students to explore the practical impact and outcomes particular constitutional models and ideas produce in daily life. To that end, we will amongst others compare the responses that different countries provide to contemporary challenges such as how to ensure effective public participation in governance without encouraging populism; the pervasiveness of migration for our understanding of citizenship and its entitlements; ensuring that everyone is treated equally while respecting individual autonomy and personal life choices; the role of technology in public life and the implications for privacy and free speech; and the role of a constitution in fostering economic development. 

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course, students should be able to:

• Have a sound understanding of the manner in which a country’s social, economic, political and cultural context affect the daily operation of the constitution.
• Develop a critical awareness of contemporary challenges faced by constitutions.
• Identify possible responses that State organs, agencies and others may take in ensuring the effective protection of constitutional rules and rights.
• Be comfortable in tackling the previous objectives from a comparative perspective.

COURSE OVERVIEW

In this course we will engage in a study of contemporary India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bhutan. Planned topics of study include urbanization and economic development; literature, music and film; caste and religion; language and ethnicity; gender; and peace and conflict. We will draw on a wide variety of sources including academic writing, fiction journalism, poetry, novels, documentaries, films and music. This course is cross-listed for both the Sociology and Global Asia majors, and it counts towards the SMU core curriculum requirement for Asian Studies (as well as Global and Regional Studies in the earlier curriculum).

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course, students should be able to:

• Trace the history of caste and class in South Asia.
• Explore the faith traditions of South Asia.
• Examine the politics of ethnicity and nationalism.
• Write a short paper presenting a clear argument with supporting evidence.

COURSE OVERVIEW

The Cold War is probably one of the most significant periods in contemporary world history that permeated almost all aspects of life from the global to the local level. The Cold War - the tension, fears, and anxieties - manifested not only in great power competition, geopolitics, arms race, and the rise of military industries but also in the realm of culture. In the 1950s onwards, we have seen the emergence of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy in literature, James Bond’s futuristic gizmos have invaded cinematic-scapes, and Bob Dylan sang songs about the war and the need for peace. Fashion, architecture, family life, sports, education, and even religion were all impacted by the Cold War.

This course explores the Cold War through an in-depth and interdisciplinary analysis of the cultural materials, transformations, and modalities in Asia. First, we will explore the origins and historical background of the Cold War in Asia and examine key departures and convergences with the broader global narratives. Second, we will examine various aspects of culture - films, music, art, sports, fashion, race, gender, among others and probe into how the Cold War manifested in or can be analyzed through these cultural references and also to investigate how the cultural transformations, in turn, shape the nature of Cold War. Finally, we will evaluate contemporary Asian culture and identify the lasting legacies of the Cold War that still persist up until today.

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course, students should be able to:

• Explain the cultural dynamics and transformations in Asia during the Cold War.
• Evaluate how culture reflected, interrogated, or shaped Cold War in Asia.
• Assess the wide-array of legacies that the Cold War left manifesting in contemporary Asian societies.

COURSE OVERVIEW

Cultural history brings to life past epochs and places. In this pursuit, it analyses beliefs and ideas, products of artistic nature, as well as the objects and experiences of everyday life, such as clothing or cuisine. Culture also encompasses attitudes, values, assumptions and prejudices, and the rituals and practices that express them. In this regard, our current thoughts and acts have ancestry that cultural history can illuminate and critically examine.

This course explores pivotal moments in the history of Europe: from the foundations in Greece and Rome, through the alliances, conflicts and revolutions that transformed it, and key periods such as the Enlightenment and Modernism, that significantly shaped it. They all help understand today’s Europe’s complexities, from the challenges in cultural integration to Brexit. Through lectures, key readings, analyses of case studies and research projects, this course broadens understanding of Europe. By establishing linkages between history, socio-political and economic contexts, religion, and art forms, it reveals crucial intersections to comprehend the landmarks of the cultural history of Europe. 

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course, students should be able to:

• Recognize historical processes and their relationship to human experience, activity, behavior, and motivation.
• Understand the relevance of specific events and periods from its origins to the present day, and how they helped to form and shape Europe.
• Analyze key socio-political, economic, religious and cultural events, and assess their impact on the evolution of the notion of Europe.
• Cultivate, through exposure to a range of in-depth case studies, a greater understanding of the complexities that have affected and continue to affect Europe today.
• Reflect on a broad range of questions and debates in cultural history, which are crucial to understanding contemporary Europe.

COURSE OVERVIEW

Nations have long sought to evoke loyalty and personal attachment, while in turn providing those living within it with a collective experience and common destiny. The potent force of the nation as a cognitive idea is at the heart of this course, which conceives of the making of a nation as an ongoing work in progress in which everyone has a stake. The central question that we will investigate concerns the reciprocal influences between the nation, its institutional manifestations and ‘the people’. How do ‘the people’ shape institutions and fashion a nation on a daily basis and vice versa?

To explore these relationships, the course is structured around three themes: prerequisites, process and practice. The first theme provides the general conceptual framework through a series of brief discussions of what a nation is, how it relates to a state and to a ‘people’. The second theme is devoted to what is often seen as the quintessential nation-building moment: the formal drafting of a constitution. We will consider the choice of language in that text to harness the people’s fidelity to the budding nation as well as the respective roles played by the elites and ordinary citizens during the constitution-process. For the third theme, we will probe the lived reality of how the nation constitutes itself every day through its people, from the elites who claim to speak on behalf of the nation in formal rule-making to the personification of the nation in image, song and icon to the architectural design of state institutions and public spaces and the wearing of folk costumes or traditional outfits that seek to give expression to the identity of the nation.

Our explorations will feature the experiences of a diverse range of nations located within and outside Asia. These will provide the backdrop against which the Singapore story will be considered, thereby allowing students to interrogate the familiar domestic narrative of nation-building from a comparative angle. The approach taken will be practically grounded and interdisciplinary, drawing on insights from law, political theory, history, linguistics, architecture and the arts. To do so effectively, the course will be team-taught by two instructors with complementary disciplinary backgrounds.

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course, students should be able to:

• Have a sound understanding of the linkages between the state, the nation and the people interact in theory and in daily life.
• Appreciate that rational, objective and deliberate efforts at fashioning a nation co-exist alongside mythification, symbolism and the emotional sentiments of people.
• Evaluate efforts at nation-building in Singapore as well as further afield using insights from law, political theory, history, linguistics, architecture and the arts.
• Be comfortable in critically reflecting on their positions as participants in such exercises.

COURSE OVERVIEW

Films are more than just entertainment products. As cultural materials, they provide insights to the historical narratives, politics, economy, and ideological complexities of societies. This course is designed to provide an interdisciplinary and visual approach to understanding Southeast Asia using films produced by Southeast Asians themselves. First, we will briefly explore the history of film in the region and discuss various methods of reading films as texts. Second, we will critically examine what Southeast Asian films reveal about colonialism, decolonization and nation building, Cold War, and globalization in the region. Next, we will explore contemporary topics and issues in Southeast Asia such as religion and violence, gender, race, class, development, and globalization. Finally, we will assess the contemporary role and significance of films against the rapid technological disruptions taking place within Southeast Asian and beyond.

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course, students should be able to:

• Explain how the films discussed in class reflect the history, politics, and society in Southeast Asia.
• Describe and interrogate the power and significance of films within the historical, political, social, and economic context of Southeast Asia.
• Apply the lessons learned in this class to other fields such as business, public policy, social history, and economics.

COURSE OVERVIEW

The contemporary world is usually described as ‘globalized.’ Although some claim that this ‘global village’ can be our home and that human life is improved by globalization, others complain that the local sense of groundedness that they argue is essential to human flourishing is becoming harder to attain. In this course, we explore the big question of whether these two concepts – the global and the local – are really opposites and whether it is possible to find a home in a world that is global. These explorations will transpire through analysis and discussion of readings drawn from business, scientific, legal, philosophical, and aesthetic sources illuminating the intersections of the global and local. By the end of the course, students will be expected to able to articulate their responses to whether they can find home in a globalized world by integrating the course material with their own personal experiences. This course should be of special interest to students embarking on endeavours that will take them far from home, as one objective will be for them to articulate what ‘home’ is.

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course, students should be able to:

Disciplinary and Multidisciplinary Knowledge

• Become conversant with the various disciplinary discussions and debates about the globalized world.

Intellectual and Creative Skills

• Move fluidly across these perspectives, synthesizing and drawing comparisons/contrasts between them as they construct and refine their own critical perspectives about the intersections between global and local.

Global Citizenship

• Gain understanding and appreciation of a variety of cultural, disciplinary, and historical points of view about the merits and demerits of the local, in comparison with the merits and demerits of the global. In this way, students’ capacities as local and global citizens will be enhanced, and their sense of responsibility in each of these spheres – and in their intersections – will be strengthened.

COURSE OVERVIEW

This course conceptualizes food and food consumption as a deeply spatial, political, economic and socio-cultural phenomena. Through interdisciplinary perspectives from anthropology, geography, political economy, sociology and cultural studies, we will explore diverse case studies, problems, politics and perspectives about food. Students will interrogate the centrality, complexity, creativity and conflicts surrounding food over societies, time and space. The examination of food, with particular attention to Singapore, will encompass discussions on issues including the ethics of food production/consumption, patterns of diet and dieting, the politics of sustainable food production, and hybrid food cultures. Students will also examine contemporary global responses to the global food shortage and pay special attention to food cultures in Singapore as the metropolitan kitchen in which we are active participants. Through readings, focused questions, discussions and assignments, students are also invited to reflect on their own patterns of food consumption.

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course, students should be able to:

• Have a firm understanding of the basic concepts and theories that inform the study of food and consumption.
• Provide insights into the patterns of food production, distribution and consumption, and the processes and politics through which food cultures and their associated spatial patterns have evolved over time.
• Be knowledgeable of food cultures across different socio-economic-political contexts, with a particular emphasis on Singapore.

COURSE OVERVIEW

This course introduces the fundamental elements of the French language within a cultural context. Emphasis is on the development of basic listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. Upon completion, students should be able to comprehend and respond with grammatical accuracy to spoken and written French as well as demonstrate cultural awareness.

Students will be involved in a variety of reading, writing, listening and speaking activities. The development of oral communication skills provides the foundation for students to read and write effectively. Students will have opportunities both to listen and to speak French. Speaking and listening ability is developed through oral exercises, individual reports, class discussions, songs and videos.

This course will also explore the cultural hurdles to understanding the French and sketch the context that forms “Frenchness”. Through the introduction to traditions, customs and daily life of the French, students will be given the opportunity to understand French behaviour and culture.

The lessons will be conducted both in French and in English.

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course, students should be able to:

Disciplinary and Multidisciplinary Knowledge

• Become familiar with the culture and language of French speaking countries for greater adaptability to a globalised world. They will be encouraged to reflect on their own personal culture for greater self-awareness.

Intellectual and Creative Skills

• Express themselves in basic French using simple structures, write short essays and dialogs in basic French, understand and know vocabulary used in daily life having the minimum skills to survive in a French speaking environment.

Interpersonal Skills

• Communicate with French speaking people in many countries of the world and thus make their global exposure more attainable and meaningful.

Global Citizenship

• Understand and appreciate the culture and the mentality of the French people, and they will be encouraged to learn more about cultural diversity in the world.

COURSE OVERVIEW

Globalization is the increasing interconnectedness of social, economic, and political activities between countries around the world. In this course, we will examine the sociology of globalization from these and other various perspectives, paying attention to specific topics that have become prominent in global debates. We will cover major theoretical perspectives that social scientists of different disciplines have used to guide their study of globalization. Although globalization often seems like a set of chaotic events, these theoretical perspectives shed light on the systematic and institutionalized nature of global processes. We will discuss issues in global politics, society, and culture where we will examine the role of the nation-state, global human rights, social movements, and questions of national culture and identity. We will also explore issues in the global economy and questions of global economic governance, where will examine the consequences of global institutions and economic globalization. Throughout the course, we emphasize the core question of global governance.

This course prepares students for informed citizenship in a rapidly globalizing world. Many students will go on to find employment in organizations in which decisions made can have profound global consequences. As such, students will be equipped with the necessary conceptual and empirical knowledge to evaluate debates on globalization and to critique the roles that state and non-state actors play in global processes. Students will be trained to discern the positive and negative impacts of key actors that are involved in global governance. Students will also acquire familiarity with key sociology, political science, and economics approaches to globalization.

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course, students should be able to:

• Analyze global processes from economic, institutional, and power perspectives.
• Evaluate the positive and negative consequences of economic globalization.
• Explain the key functions of international organizations and institutions.
• Discuss the role of state and non-state actors in global processes.
• Evaluate the domestic and nationalist responses to globalization.

COURSE OVERVIEW

With the rise of China as an economic superpower, foreign businesses have been rushing to do business in or with China. However, many businesses encounter various problems in China. This is mostly due to their limited knowledge and understanding of China, even if they can speak Chinese. This course aims to address this problem by enhancing the students’ understating of the unique history, culture, economy, politics and law in China. To help the students understand the nuances of doing business in/with China, interesting cases and events will be used to illustrate how things work in China in real life. With the knowledge acquired in the course, the students will gain a better understanding of how business is conducted in China; the interaction between business on the one hand, and culture, politics and law on the other hand; as well as how foreign firms may survive and prosper in China.

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course, students should be able to:

• Gain a better understanding of how business is conducted in China; the interaction between business on the one hand, and culture, politics and law on the other hand; as well as how foreign firms may survive and prosper in China.

COURSE OVERVIEW

Italian is an elementary language course designed for beginners that focuses on intensive oral communication practice, and aims at developing basic oral expression, listening, comprehension and elementary reading and writing skills. The course will also focus on important aspects of the Italian culture. Classes are based on oral-aural communicative activities: there will be an extensive use of role-plays, class debates, individual and group quizzes and songs listening and singing.

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course, students should be able to:

Disciplinary and Multidisciplinary Knowledge

• Speak basic Italian and familiarize with the Italian Culture: music, fashion, food, inventions, history, sports and famous Italians like Da Vinci, Machiavelli, Michelangelo, Cristofori, Fibonacci, Montessori, Galileo and …Berrettini!

Intellectual and Creative Skills

• Express themselves and converse in basic Italian. They will be challenged to speak and say something in Italian every week without a script. They will be able to write short essays and text messages in Italian. They will show their creative skills and creative thinking in the project and group activities. This course is equivalent of CEFR Level A1 (Common European Framework for Languages). Students will have then the foundation to learn the language at higher levels later on.

Interpersonal Skills

• Show their team-work skills, collaborating in group project and activities. They will also help their classmates if they miss a class. Students are welcome to communicate in Italian and made practice here in Singapore: for example speaking with exchange students coming to SMU, or ordering in Italian in one of the many Italian restaurants.

Global Citizenship

• Learn aspects of the Italian Culture that are fundamental for an intercultural understanding and sensitivity of the communities speaking Italian. At the same time we will compare some aspects of the daily life and costume according to the nationality of the students. Exchange students will learn aspects of the Asian and Singaporean Culture as well so to enjoy their experience and make it more meaningful. The understanding of each other cultural identity will enhance both ethics and social responsibilities.

COURSE OVERVIEW

This course is designed for students with no previous background in Japanese. It provides a foundation for the practical knowledge and ability to communicate effectively in both spoken and written Japanese. Lessons will evolve along topics such as self-introduction, family and home, neighborhood, daily activities, shopping, holiday activities, and Japanese culture will be incorporated in each lesson. This course is the equivalent of CEFR A1 level. Japanese scripts (Hiragana and Katakana) is used throughout the course, and basic Kanji readings would also be introduced. 

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course, students should be able to:

Disciplinary and Multidisciplinary Knowledge

• Understand the culture and language of Japanese speaking societies using the foundation of vocabulary and grammar of the Japanese language. 

Intellectual and Creative Skills

• Develop the intellectual and creative skills required to acquire the Japanese language.

Interpersonal Skills

• Know more about themselves, express themselves effectively, and learn how to listen and understand others in a more comprehensive way.

Global Citizenship

• Know how to appreciate other cultures in this diverse global world.

COURSE OVERVIEW

Law and legal systems are ubiquitous in modern societies. As Kant noted, law takes away man’s “savage (lawless) freedom” to return to him a more limited freedom under the law. But what exactly is law? How is law related to justice? Is law merely a power phenomenon? Is law merely politics? Is the monopolization of coercive force by the state justified?

This course provides students with the opportunity to think about law’s nature and its role in society. We will examine these questions through accounts of law offered by legal positivists and natural law theorists, and challenges posed by alternative critical accounts of American legal realism and critical legal studies. How do modern and critical accounts of law shape our thinking about the nature and purpose of law? Are the accounts rooted in particular historical contexts or cultures, or are they as relevant today or within our society? How does adopting a particular account of law impact the present practice of law? Do the accounts have something to say about how we, as lawyers or citizenry, can harness law’s potential as a tool for transforming society?

Through this course, students will have a unique opportunity to engage their hearts and minds in relation to the concepts of law and justice. Students will also be encouraged to relate the theories studied to current contexts. The course's focus is on critique of ideas and not mere description of doctrine. The methods of assessment will be intentionally geared towards facilitating critical thought. This course encourages students to formulate their own theses about law and justice, and meaningfully understand the role they can play – as lawyers and as citizens – in the legal process.

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course, students should be able to:

• Have a unique opportunity to engage their hearts and minds in relation to the concepts of law and justice. 
• Relate the theories studied to current contexts and critique ideas and not mere description of doctrine.
• Formulate their own theses about law and justice, and meaningfully understand the role they can play - as lawyers and as citizens - in the legal process.

COURSE OVERVIEW

This course provides students with basic Korean speaking, listening, reading and writing skills necessary to communicate in a Korean-speaking environment. In particular students will be able to understand and carry out basic Korean conversation such as greetings, making and answering basic queries, exchanging information on everyday life and discussing topics of general interest. Students will also have the opportunity to experience Korean culture first hand. 

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course, students should be able to:

Disciplinary and Multidisciplinary Knowledge

• Become conversant with the culture and language of Korean, for greater adaptability to a fast moving, globalised world.

Intellectual and Creative Skills

• Express themselves in basic Korean using simple structures, write short essays and dialogs in basic Korean, understand and know vocabulary used in daily life. They will then be equipped with the foundation to learn and master the language at higher levels later on.

Interpersonal Skills

• Communicate with Korean speaking people and understand the nuances in verbal and non-verbal interactions in this unique culture, thus enhancing their ability to engage and connect with people from Korea and other north Asian cultures.

Global Citizenship

• Understand and appreciate the culture of Korea, and the history, geo-political and economic background that has contributed to the current spread of the Korean cultural phenomenon.

COURSE OVERVIEW

Humans have been making war and peace throughout their recorded history. We can be fairly certain this was the case well before civilization emerged. Conflicts always seem to erupt over scarce resources, contentious values and ideas, fissures in relationships, fault-lines in societies, the list goes on. And, intertwined with these conflicts are efforts to end violence, to heal wounds and reconcile, to share resources, to create or re-establish a semblance of harmony between peoples. Most of all will perceive these human activities as binary opposites, as mutually exclusive, leading us to invest particular meanings in each to distinguish them further from each other. Indeed, thanks to influences from culture, media, from our communities, families and leaders, we typically perceive war and peace as suffering versus happiness, action not stillness, a zone of masculine combat versus one of safety for women and children, and much more. These ingrained perceptions shape our decisions, actions and relationships in fundamental ways, determining our behavior and experiences in all spaces and times, whether we have construed them to be in the context of war, peace, and anything beyond or in-between. Since our views of war and peace are so fundamental to our life experience, this course asks us for a deeper engagement of our prior knowledge.

Through critical engagement with a variety of disciplines and empirical contexts, we will consider the intertwined phenomena of war and peace in theory and praxis. The course explores the value systems we attach to each, why, and with what consequences for ourselves and others? We investigate how our notions of war and peace contribute directly to the construction of our identity as well as ideas about belonging, power, justice, progress, and more. In so doing, we look into the ways people, their customs, laws and culture respond to their perceptions and experiences of war and peace; reflect on how they debate the purposes of war-making and peace-making; and discuss how they compete and cooperate for the spoils of both war and peace. Also, we will study how our knowledge of war and peace may continually change over time. By the end of the course, students will have an expansive understanding of how these two phenomena come together in ways that structure and define their everyday lives.

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course, students should be able to:

Disciplinary and Multidisciplinary Knowledge

• Become conversant with the various disciplinary discussions and debates concerning the many conceptions of war and peace.

Intellectual and Creative Skills

• Move fluidly and critically between perspectives, synthesizing and drawing comparisons/contrasts between them as they refine their perspectives about the intersections between war and peace.

Global Citizenship

• Problematize their value systems with regard to war-making and peace-making and, thereby, reformulate and defend their new worldviews.

COURSE OVERVIEW

This is a basic Mandarin Chinese course starting from the fundamental concepts of the language. The course will cover the phonetic system of Mandarin Chinese, namely, Hanyu Pinyin, including the phonetic symbols and tones. More importantly, the written Chinese characters, Hanzi, will be introduced with rationale contributing to the ways of writing, to equip the students with knowledge and skills on the form of the language. The students will learn various basic sentence patterns to obtain the skills for simple conversation. Meanwhile, they will gain some perspective of the Chinese culture through their exposure to the language.

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course, students should be able to:

Disciplinary and Multidisciplinary Knowledge

• Understand basic language items in Mandarin with correct pronunciation and tones.
• Recognize the single-component written characters representing the basic concepts of the language.

Intellectual and Creative Skills

• Grasp the concept of radicals (pianpang bushou) and analyze the rationale in the written Chinese characters.
• Learn basic sentence patterns in daily Chinese conversation.

Interpersonal Skills

• Communicate with Mandarin speaking people in Singapore, as well as those from different regions in the world. 

Global Citizenship

• Be equipped with some Chinese cultural perceptions, thus understanding and appreciating the Chinese customs and practices.

COURSE OVERVIEW

While often overshadowed by their neighbors to the north, the nations of Southeast Asia offer scholars a veritable smorgasbord of political topics to study. Variation both between and within countries provides the perfect opportunity for social scientists to learn about the role of institutions, individuals, and cultures in political interaction.

This course will provide a brief introduction to some of these issues. We’ll consider diverse topics such as the state’s role in economic development, national identity formation, the persistence of authoritarian regimes, transitions to democracy, and the role of Islam in politics. Each of these topics will be driven primarily by a recent articles or book excerpts on Southeast Asia countries. Most are written by political scientists, but a few come from the realm of political anthropology, history, or sociology. Some of these incorporate comparative case studies while others focus on a single country.

For each subject in the course, we will discuss the political science literature and theory regarding the topic before discussing the assigned readings. We will consider the author's methodology, research design, and whether or not her argument is persuasive in light of other possible approaches. While it is important to be analytic regarding the literature, I encourage you to avoid merely criticizing the approach. You should learn from it and gain ideas of how to ask your own research questions and about what types of evidence you might need to answer them.

One negative of this class is that, in learning about a region of eleven countries, there’s just too much to cover in one term. We will focus on Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Singapore.

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course, students should be able to:

• Develop a deeper understanding of politics in Southeast Asia.
• Understand the challenges facing the region.
• Apply political science theories to understand events in the region.
• Be able to critically evaluate the information presented in newspapers, academic literature, and policy pieces.
• Demonstrate their analytical skills by developing a research proposal.

COURSE OVERVIEW

In this course, we will explore spaces that might be marked as ‘publics’ and ‘privates’ in an area of the world popularly known as the ‘Pacific Rim.’ Plotted around the geological formation of the ‘ring of fire,’ the Pacific Rim is a geography of aspiration. The hope, for those who buy into this formation, is that integrating the markets of the Asia-Pacific in East and Southeast Asia and the west coast of the Americas would result in world peace wrought by multicultural harmony brokered through trade. In such a market-driven region, we will explore how the terms ‘publics’ and ‘privates’ might be used to mark out different kinds of places, with both historical and contemporary case studies. The purpose of this course is to understand the cultures around the terms ‘public’ and ‘private’ as an asset to comprehending how things might be done in this region.

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course, students should be able to:

• Discuss public and private spheres and spaces on the Pacific Rim from a variety of disciplinary perspectives.
• Pivot agilely across disciplinary perspectives; be able to synthesize, draw parallels and contrast these perspectives as they are deployed to critically engage practices that construct and contest publics and privates on the Pacific Rim.
• Draw connections across a wide variety of cultural and historical renditions of publics and privates on the Pacific. Students' own perspectives as socially-embodied subjects will be encouraged as a site of meaning production as well, especially in class discussions.
• Be mindful of how they themselves construct public and private spheres and spaces on the Pacific Rim as citizens and future professionals to influence the well-being of their societies more generally.

COURSE OVERVIEW

This course aims to equip young leaders with an understanding of the impact of an ageing population on society, and in particular the emerging cohort of Singaporeans in their Third Age. The notion of the third age was introduced by gerontologists as it became clear that the discourse on ageing covers a heterogeneous group of individuals who may be of the same age chronologically, but who in terms of personal characteristics and life experience are quite different. This third age of human existence is characterized by retirement from full-time work and a new way of spending time (Carr & Komp, 2011). Through class discussions and group projects, students will dive deeper into disciplines like gerontology, social sciences (intergenerational; social connectedness), public policy (successful ageing), economics (retirement) and technological developments in the ageing space. Students will explore case studies and challenges of a rapidly ageing society in Singapore and around the world such as Japan, China, USA, Australia, Netherlands etc.

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course, students should be able to:

• Have an understanding of the theoretical and empirical work on studies of older adults in the field of gerontology, and related studies eg. global ageing phenomenon, ageism, retirement, the notion of a Third Age, concept of social connectedness, active and successful ageing, social policies, economic of ageing, ethical issues in ageing.
• Be knowledgeable of life experiences and challenges of third agers in Singapore from the socio-economic-political perspectives.
• Make innovative recommendations that promote social connectedness, and engage third agers in Singapore.

COURSE OVERVIEW

The pursuit of wealth in its various forms has been prominent throughout recorded history. The desire to accumulate resources is found across civilizations. Yet, should wealth simply measured in economic and financial terms? Should poverty be only measured through the same lens? Many cultures promote the virtues of prudence and fortitude, peppered with ideals of justice and equality in its various guises. Wealth and poverty are often seen as diametric. Despite this, several traditions point to the need for thinking through forms of wealth (and poverty) beyond the conventional lens of economics, and to consider the pursuit of wealth of time, happiness, peace, relationships, and other elements that enrich the human experience. It is little wonder that in our contemporary age, several scholars have pointed towards the reprioritization of wealth accumulation towards one that places happiness, health and other non-monetary goals as the ideal. In this course, we will be exploring substantially several forms of wealth (beyond the conventional), and to consider carefully the causes and strategies to address the challenges related to wealth and poverty in our contemporary world.

Through critical engagement with a variety of disciplines and empirical contexts, we will consider the intertwined phenomena of wealth and poverty in theory and praxis. The course explores the value systems we attach to each, why, and with what consequences for ourselves and others. We investigate how our notions of wealth and poverty contribute directly to the construction of our identity as well as ideas about inequality, power, justice, progress, and more. In so doing, we look into the ways people, their customs, laws and culture respond to their perceptions and experiences of wealth and poverty; reflect on how they debate the purposes and outcomes of wealth and poverty; and discuss how they compete and cooperate for limited resources in our contemporary world. Also, we will study how our knowledge and conception of wealth and poverty may continually change over time.

By the end of the course, students will have an expansive understanding of how these two phenomena come together in ways that structure and define their everyday lives.

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course, students should be able to:

Disciplinary and Multidisciplinary Knowledge

• Become conversant with the various disciplinary discussions and debates concerning the many conceptions of wealth and poverty.

Intellectual and Creative Skills

• Move fluidly and critically between perspectives, synthesizing and drawing comparisons/contrasts between them as they refine their perspectives about the intersections between wealth and poverty.

Global Citizenship

• Problematize their value systems with regard to the accumulation of wealth and the disdain for poverty and, thereby, reformulate and defend their new worldviews.

COURSE OVERVIEW

Film is one of the most important cultural materials through which we learn about people, places, and ideas past and present. Film mirrors and co-produces our understanding of the world and our place in it. Through film, we encounter societies and cultures beyond our own; and the world sees images of who we are through filmic representations of ourselves. In this course, we explore the ways in which film has served as a space for the production, contestation, and meditation of representations and images of Asia in the United States through the lens of Hollywood films.

This course is designed to provide an interdisciplinary and visual approach to understanding Asia's representations and images on/in Hollywood films. First, we will briefly explore America’s perceptions and ideas about Asia in the late 19th century and discuss various methods of reading films as texts. Second, we will critically examine what Hollywood films reveal about America’s perceptions and ideas about Asia within the context of Asia’s entangled history with the United States from the late 19th century to 1990s - from the period of American imperial expansion, America’s orientalism, US occupation of Japan, the Cold War, and America’s involvement in Vietnam. Next, we will explore the recent trajectories in Hollywood that shaped/reconfigured Asia’s filmic representation - the commodification of Asia in Hollywood, the impact of 9/11 on Hollywood’s image of Asia, and the shifting aspects of Asian identities (gender and race) in contemporary Hollywood films. Finally, we will examine the rising influence of Asia (its film industries, states, and societies) in global/Hollywood filmmaking and discuss how these disruptions and changes will impact Asia, the United States, and the rest of the world.

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course, students should be able to:

Disciplinary and Multidisciplinary Knowledge

• Develop a broad historical understanding of the trends and transformations in the filmic representations of Asia in Hollywood films.

Intellectual and Creative Skills

• Move fluidly between perspectives and evaluate how film reflects, interrogates, and/or shapes the representations and images of Asia in American/Western societies.

Global Citizenship

• Reflect on how the discussions in class shaped their understanding of their identity, their place in the world, and their understanding of Asia’s entanglement with the Unites States in the past, present and future.

COURSE OVERVIEW

Films are more than just entertainment products. As cultural materials, they provide insights to the historical narratives, politics, economy, and ideological complexities of societies. This course is designed to provide an interdisciplinary and visual approach to understanding Asia using films about Asia produced by Asians themselves as well as those films about Asia produced by non-Asian filmmakers. First, we will briefly explore the history of film in the Asian region and discuss various methods of reading films as texts. Second, we will critically examine what films reveal about the history of Asia - the period of colonialism, decolonization and nation-building, the Cold War, and globalization in the Asian region. Next, we will explore contemporary topics and issues in Asia such as traditional and non-traditional security issues such as maritime issues, climate change, and migration, among others. Finally, we will explore the contemporary role and significance of films against the rapid technological disruptions taking place within Asia and beyond.

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course, students should be able to:

Disciplinary and Multidisciplinary Knowledge

• Explain how the films discussed in class reflect the history, politics, and society in Asia.

Intellectual and Creative Skills

• Apply the lessons learned in this class to other fields such as business, public policy, social history, and economics.

Global Citizenship

• Describe and interrogate the power and significance of films within the historical, political, social, and the economic context of Asia.
• Critically examine Asian films as a site of historical-cultural discourse and social interpretation.

COURSE OVERVIEW

This course employs an inter-disciplinary approach to study the development of conceptions of cosmopolitanism in the Singapore context from the pre-colonial era through the contemporary period. It is concerned with the local, regional and global influences that have shaped the evolving meanings of cosmopolitanism for Singapore and its inhabitants. In particular, the course explores how these evolving meanings of cosmopolitanism emerge from negotiations and contests between Singapore’s leaders and peoples. Seminal events such as the founding of modern Singapore by agents of the British Empire, the Japanese occupation of Singapore during World War II, and the nationalist strivings of Singaporeans in the Cold War period, will feature prominently, as will debates over their significance and contribution to Singapore’s identity as a cosmopolitan city.

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course, students should be able to:

Disciplinary and Multidisciplinary Knowledge

• Explicate different versions of Singapore’s cosmopolitanism from a range of disciplinary perspectives.

Intellectual and Creative Skills

• Pivot agilely across disciplinary perspectives to critically assess Singapore’s evolving cosmopolitanism and its implications for the country’s identity in a transnational context.

COURSE OVERVIEW

Singapore is both a city and a country contained in a small geographical space located in Southeast Asia. It houses a diverse population in terms of race, language, religion, class and nationality. It possesses no natural resources, but has a highly educated labour force. Its economy has experienced significant growth rates, particularly in the late 70s and early 80s, coupled with low unemployment.

Like most other more developed economies, Singapore now confronts a range of socioeconomic issues (e.g. rapidly ageing population, declining fertility rates, widening income inequality, rising costs of living) amidst increasing global competition, technological advancements, and security threats. At the same time, Singaporeans have become more of a people with a stronger national identity, a greater propensity to participate in the decisions that affect the destiny of the country, and a wider range of views and voices on the future direction of Singapore, the challenges it confronts, and the strategies and means by which to achieve their preferred goal(s) for themselves, their children, and the country.

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course, students should be able to:

• Become well-informed individuals who are able to develop new frameworks and perspectives in understanding different facets of Singapore society and life in Singapore.
• Become critical and knowledgeable individuals with a good grasp of the issues and challenges confronting Singapore.
• Become thinking and active individuals who are able to harness the acquired knowledge and skills to develop strategies and policies that would be beneficial to all Singaporeans in the Singapore they envision for the future.

COURSE OVERVIEW

It is meant to introduce the students to the learning of the Spanish language and through this, to discover other culture and ways of communicating. The Spanish taught is that from Spain but students will also be familiarized with Spanish of Latin American countries.

After taking this course, the students will be able to acquire a basic knowledge of the Spanish language that will equip them to continue learning the language at higher levels later on. Learning a new language like Spanish will be very useful in your academic life if you decide to go for an exchange program with a Spanish speaking country as well as in your professional life (as Spanish is the third most spoken language in the world after English and Chinese). It will also allow you to be familiar with other cultures. 

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course, students should be able to:

Disciplinary and Multidisciplinary Knowledge

• Become conversant with the culture and language of Spanish speaking countries for greater adaptability to a globalised world.

Intellectual and Creative Skills

• Express themselves in basic Spanish using simple structures, write short essays and dialogs in basic Spanish, understand and know vocabulary used in daily life having then the foundation to learn the language at higher levels later on.

Interpersonal Skills

• Communicate with Spanish speaking people in many countries of the world and thus make their global exposure more attainable and meaningful.

Global Citizenship

• Understand and appreciate the culture of Hispanic countries.

COURSE OVERVIEW

What does a sustainable city mean and who makes them? What are the opportunities, constraints and challenges of making a truly ‘green’ sustainable city? Is becoming ‘green’ enough, or do cities also need to be socially and culturally empowering? This course deals with current concepts and concerns with sustainable cities, with a focus on how public policies shape and are shaped by places at intersecting scales. Taking an international perspective, we will examine how cities are responding to urban problems such as environmental degradation, climate change, congestion, over-population, social inequality, and shortage on resources such as land, water, food, and energy. Drawing on diverse theories and international case studies, students will learn the key analytical skills in sustainable urbanism, and be able to apply their critical thinking skills in the practical world.

In this course, we will examine a number of recent sustainable urban trends around the world and in Singaporean context. Throughout the course, we will go over various theories of sustainability in connection with innovative policies and interesting case studies, focusing on how theories are transferred or informed by various sustainable urban evidences around the world. In addition to the lectures and class discussion, group projects, fieldtrips, individual projects and the final exam will help familiarize students with the topics we cover and develop their interests in the field of urban sustainability.

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course, students should be able to:

• Understand some of the central concepts and debates around sustainable cities and sustainable urbanism.
• Locate the Singapore experience of sustainable cities within an international and theoretical context.
• Apply their understanding of sustainable cities and the urban processes to particular Singapore and international case studies.

COURSE OVERVIEW

The basic Thai language course aims to provide students with a good foundation of Thai pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary. This course will introduce students to Thai alphabet, vowels and tones, and teach students to construct sentences using basic vocabulary and expressions commonly used in daily communication situations. The students will develop the four language skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing. 

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course, students should be able to:

Intellectual and Creative Skills

• Use language skills — listening, speaking, reading and writing to communicate in Thai on topics regarding daily life.

Interpersonal Skills

• Express themselves to be understood by local Thai who may only possess basic level of proficiency in English (or Chinese) language; and gain insights through Thai language interaction.

Global Citizenship

• Understand and gain some knowledge and appreciation of Thai culture and customs which are related to other Indochinese countries such as Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar which are closely interlinked with Thailand economically, historically and socially.

Personal Mastery

• Achieve a good foundation in Thai pronunciation in speaking and be able to read and write simple Thai via recorded-video clips on Thai reading and writing (as a self-directed lesson required prior to lesson every week on E-learn).

COURSE OVERVIEW

Hailed as “the greatest book on democracy ever written,” Tocqueville’s Democracy in America offers a window into much more than the United States visited by Alexis de Tocqueville in the 1830s. Indeed, Tocqueville believed he “saw in America” an image of the future everywhere, for he believed that equality of conditions from which democratic society grew was the world’s inevitable future. Having reached its most developed form in the United States, equality of conditions modified and transformed all aspects of life, from politics to social relations, to personal relations, to intellectual life, to individual character and values. Given this radical transformation of the world, Tocqueville believed that “A new political science is needed for a world entirely new,” and Democracy in America articulates this new political science. Tocqueville’s masterpiece, then, looks beyond its US context, for Tocqueville hoped to teach his readers what they could hope and fear from democracy, as well as how democratic society might be “educated” to avoid some of the dangers to which it is prone.

This course takes its inspiration from Tocqueville’s ambition, by approaching Democracy in America thematically and using Tocqueville’s study as a basis for broader inquiry into features of contemporary democratic society. Each week of the course will focus on a key theme in Democracy in America, and each week will pair that theme with current scholarship applying and extending elements of the Tocquevillian perspective to contemporary contexts. By the end of the course, students will have gained familiarity with key elements of the Tocquevillian analysis of democratic society as well as critical perspectives on how these themes have continued to play out in current scholarship and debates.

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course, students should be able to:

Disciplinary and Multidisciplinary Knowledge

• Have a sound understanding of the key concepts in the Tocquevillian analysis of democratic society (i.e., point of departure, mores, equality, associative life, etc.). Students will be also be able to extend and apply Tocqueville’s analysis to a variety of contemporary global contexts.

Critical Thinking and Problem Solving

• Reflect critically upon democracy’s strengths and weaknesses, and the salience (or lack thereof) of Tocqueville’s analysis.

COURSE OVERVIEW

This course explores major events and developments in Southeast Asia’s encounter with empires in the twentieth century. Students will learn to critique the involvement of western and Asian colonial powers in the Southeast Asian region, paying particular attention to the responses of Southeast Asian peoples. More than simply a political and diplomatic history, or a study of international relations, this course focuses on how culture—race, religion and gender—shapes the region’s encounter with western and Asian powers. Seminal events that will feature in this course include the rise of communism in Europe and China, the ascension of the Japanese Empire, the outbreak of the Pacific War, the neo-colonial/ recolonization efforts of the European powers, the surge in Southeast Asian nationalism that intertwined with the Cold War, and major developments in the post-Vietnam War era.

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course, students should be able to:

Disciplinary and Multidisciplinary Knowledge

• Intertwine cultural approaches with the perspectives of political and diplomatic history, and international relations, to critique the experience of Southeast Asia and empires in the twentieth century.

Intellectual and Creative Skills

• Pivot agilely across disciplinary perspectives to critically assess Southeast Asia’s experience of empires in the past and consider potential pathways for the region and the big powers in the new century.

COURSE OVERVIEW

This course is about social changes in contemporary China. China’s rise as an economic power is the world transforming event of this new century, yet it remains fundamentally misunderstood in the English-language literature. Both the Western media and academic research have consistently and persistently predicted China’s economic and political collapse for two decades, and are still incapable of abandoning their ideological framework and reluctant to fully revise their misunderstanding, even in the face of overwhelming contradictory evidence.

This course tries to offer a different understanding of China’s experiences – one that looks at China’s experiences in her own terms, rather than from a pre-determined and simplistic ideological perspective of democracy (good) vs. authoritarianism (evil). This course situates China’s experiences in three broad and unique historical contexts – the history of a civilizational state formed over three millennia, the history of revolutions over the past century, and the history of reforms in the last three decades – and presents that China’s economic development and social change are best explained with actors, traditions, institutions, and conditions that were created or formed in these three historical processes. In contrast, the dogmatism in the prevailing Western perspective, which emphasizes political regime type, “universal values”, and liberal economic institutions, obscures – rather than illuminates – the real interesting lessons, questions and challenges that China’s experiences offer.

This course takes you beyond China’s economic growth record, which everybody can find in news headlines. It situates China’s economic growth in the transformation of the Chinese society—of which economic growth is part and parcel—to understand the broad social changes that are happening in China and how these changes are intricately connected with China’s economic growth. This course will primarily focus on China’s domestic issues, but also covers issues of international importance such as China’s impact on the global economy and China’s outward investment, especially the Belt and Road Initiative. Foreign relations, however, will not be covered in the course.

This course hopes to equip students with the analytical ability, basic knowledge, and intellectual curiosity that enables them to effectively deal with any specific issues on Chinese society that may come to their tasks. The course should be equally beneficial to students from China as to other students. All readings and class discussion will be in English.

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course, students should be able to:

• Have a sound understanding of the social changes that are transforming the Chinese society.
• Know the social impact of China’s economic growth and the implications for future development.
• Learn an analytical framework that helps them to understand the development experiences and challenges in any country.

COURSE OVERVIEW

This course conceptualizes cities as spatial, political, economic and socio-cultural phenomena. Through interdisciplinary perspectives from anthropology, geography, political economy, planning and cultural studies, we will explore diverse case studies, problems, politics and perspectives. Students will explore the possibilities and challenges of urban life over time and space – the centrality, complexity, creativity and conflicts that cities embody. The examination of cities, with particular attention to Singapore, will encompass spaces of social and cultural order/disorder, problems of social difference and the possibilities of creative responses, and the challenges and evolving meaning of individuality and collectively in dense population spaces. Students will also examine contemporary global alternatives and pay special attention in readings to the urban experience in Singapore as the metropolitan laboratory in which we are active participants in creating and shaping. Through readings, focused questions, discussions and assignments, students are also invited to reflect on the privileges and demands of urban citizenship itself.

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course, students should be able to:

• Have a firm grasp of the basic concepts and theories that inform the broad field of urban studies.
• Be able to provide insights into the nature of cities, and the processes and politics through which urban cultures/spatial patterns have evolved over time.
• Be knowledgeable of experiences of urban life and urbanity across different socioeconomic-political contexts, with particular emphasis on Singapore.