Month: March 2011

Lawrence Santiago – Reason and Passion: How NUS Philosophy Shaped my Thinking About the World

victoria Alumni, Student Achievements

The following is a letter from Lawrence Santiago, who received his MA in Philosophy from NUS in 2007.

Exactly two years ago, I was interviewed in Montreal, Quebec, Canada for the Trudeau Scholarship. The Trudeau Scholarship is Canada’s most highly coveted doctoral scholarship in the humanities and the social sciences. The scholarship competition is open for Canadian students studying in universities in Canada and abroad as well for non-Canadians studying in Canada. Some claim that it is Canada’s answer to the Rhodes or Fulbright Scholarships. To get the scholarship, one has to be nominated by the candidate’s research supervisor, then by her Department, and finally by her University. By a stroke of luck and hard work, I was sent by my home university, the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and was eventually chosen by external and selection committees of the Trudeau Foundation to be among the final 25 for an interview. I was finally chosen to be part of the final 15, the only non-Canadian in my cohort as well as the first to come from a Singaporean institution of higher education in the history of the scholarship.

In the morning of my interview, I put aside all my nerves and decided to leave the interview process to fate…(for the rest of the letter click here: http://blog.nus.edu.sg/philo/2011/03/24/lawrence-santiago-reason-and-passion-how-nus-philosophy-shaped-my-thinking-about-the-world/ )

Getting Ahead with an IT Career – Speed Mentoring with your Alumni

fasswebmaster Announcements, Undergraduate

Dear Graduating Students,

The School of Computing, in collaboration with NUS Career Centre and Office of Alumni Relations, is organizing a networking session for you before your graduation.  

Regardless of whether you have had a job offer, this session enables you to learn from some of the successful SoC alumni about working life and tips for paving your career path.

The e-DM is appended below. Alongside this event is a name card making contest that gives you a chance to win an iPad.

Registration for the event is on First-come-first-serve basis. So, please register early for this exciting event, and get ready for transiting to a successful IT career. 

 

IT

SoC Student Registration: https://share.nus.edu.sg/soc/Lists/Registration%20for%20Graduation%20Ceremony%20on%208th%20April/overview.aspx

Non-SoC Student Registration: https://register.comp.nus.edu.sg/UGOffice2/

Participating Alumni Profiles: http://www.nus.edu.sg/osa/career/downloads/students/AlumniMentorProfiles.pdf

Facebook Group: http://www.facebook.com/#!/home.php?sk=group_100376490044573

Survey on Writing and Communication Hub

fasswebmaster Announcements

Dear Students,

You may have already received our announcement of the opening of the Writing and Communication Hub on March 14, 2011. Located on Level 6 of the Central Library, the Hub provides free one-to-one tutoring service to all NUS students who need help with their writing and oral presentation assignments.

To gauge the level of interest among NUS students in using the Hub service so that we can help you better, we would appreciate your response to this short survey http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/writing_and_communication_hub. The first 300 respondents can get a small souvenir, which can be collected from the Hub itself.

Writing and Communication Hub Committee

Centre for English Language Communication

ARTSay!: Feedback Unit for FASS students

ignatius Announcements, Wellness

One big component of lifting your life in the NUS is to alter bits of it. ARTSay! is bent on tackling your concerns and providing a convenient channel for creating change.

ARTSay! believes in

Calling out your problems
Having some potential solutions
Asking other actors for assistance
Not accepting “no go” without asking “why?”
Giving you information that will help you foster change
Enhancing your voice

Recently, upon learning that NUSSU wishes to garner students’ views about CORS, ARTSay! invited FASS students to comment on a Facebook page about CORS. One student lamented that CORS does not record students’ results for major exams that were attained before they enrolled in the NUS. Hence, to take modules that have pre-requisites, some students must apply for exemption although they qualify for the modules. CORS thus may inconvenience such students. To widen ARTSay!’s reach, it consulted students’ opinions through other means like the SMS. It subsequently reported relevant remarks accrued from the various sources to NUSSU. This input can inform any discussion between the Administration and NUSSU regarding CORS.    

Your opinions can contribute to CHANGE.

ARTSay!’s e-mail address is feedbackproject@fassclub.org. Say to us your concerns, ideas and questions now! 

Success of Donation Drive by Japanese Studies Students for the Earthquake and Tsunami Victims

fasswebmaster Announcements, Faculty Events

Dear NUS Students, Staff, Alumni and Friends,

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all of you who have most generously responded to the donation drive organized by the students of the Department of Japanese Studies to help the earthquake and tsunami victims. For details please see the below report by the organizing committee.

With best wishes,

Hendrik Meyer-Ohle
Head, Department of Japanese Studies, NUS
for Staff and Students of the Department of Japanese Studies

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Report by organizing committee on donation drive:

To all students and staff of the National University of Singapore,

The Send Love to Japan fundraising drive, held from 17-18 March 2011, raised an astounding total of S$62,797/- over two days.

The considerable amount was many times more than what we had originally expected to raise.

We would certainly not have been able to do it without everyone who helped and supported us in one way or other. Thank you, on behalf of our Japanese friends and the victims of the earthquake and tsunami.

We handed over the proceeds to The Japanese Association, Singapore on Saturday, 19 March 2011. Through the Association, the proceeds will then be given to the Singapore Red Cross Society, which is coordinating all relief efforts here. Rest assured that all proceeds will be used to directly help the victims of the Japanese disasters.

One donation box will be placed at the Department of Japanese Studies general office (AS4 Level 3) from 21-25 March 2011. Those who still wish to contribute may make their donations there during office hours from 9am-6pm. Alternatively, you can also donate directly to the Singapore Red Cross Society.

The 1000 paper cranes folded during our donation drive now hang in the lobby of The Japanese Association in Singapore. Many heartfelt messages were written by the students and staff on the cranes and we will spread these heartwarming messages to the people in Japan via various social networking tools. We hope that these sincere well-wishes and messages of encouragement will be a continuous source of strength for the nation’s emotional recovery.

Once again, we would like to thank everyone for their enthusiastic support for Japan and for the relief effort.

The Student Organizers
Department of Japanese Studies

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At The Japanese Association, Singapore  to hand over the donation proceeds and 1000 paper cranes on Saturday, 19 March 2011.

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The Send Love to Japan fundraising booth outside NUS Central Library
A notice-board providing visitors with the latest news of the situation in Japan was put up in front of the booth.

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Student volunteers went around campus from 17-18 March 2011 with their donations boxes.

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Students and staff of NUS folded paper cranes and wrote well-wishes and encouragements to the victims of the Japanese disasters on the paper cranes.

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Student organizers of the fundraising drive handed over the 1000 paper cranes to Secretary-General Sugino Kazuo ( 杉野一夫 ) of The Japanese Association, Singapore.

Joining FASS

fasswebmaster Graduate Studies

Kintu

By Kintu Annie Joseph

Joining FASS is proving to be an all round experience, from trying to meet the numerous deadlines, having professors who make you do better than your best, and  meeting new people who have become my best friends. The experience has been so enriching and satisfactory that I’ve loved every moment of being here. I’ve been here for more than 9 months and every day has a proven to be a handful!

My favourite module – State and Civil Society in the Information Age is a reason to look forward to my Mondays! My research is on mobile phone use among marginalised women from a particular community in the state of Kerala, India. The focus is on how these women have appropriated the mobile phone and the effects it has had on their lives.

When I joined CNM, many people that I met at the time asked me why I chose NUS. At the time, that I had decided to pursue my Masters; I had started looking at the Universities in the UK and elsewhere. That’s when my uncle suggested applying to NUS and naturally since I was from the Arts background there was no other place for me than FASS. I did visit Singapore before submitting my application and that time I also visited NUS and that’s when I thought to myself, it’s such a beautiful place and I would love to come back and study here. From that moment on, it was FASS all the way!