Year: 2016

CALL FOR RESEARCH PARTICIPATION

fasswebmaster Research

Study Title: Implementing and evaluating the impact of a new science communication syllabus

Researchers: Dr Sirinut Sawatdeenarunat & Mr Jonathan Tang, Centre for English Language Communication (CELC), National University of Singapore.

Purpose: This research aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a new science communication syllabus which focuses on making science writing comprehensible and interesting to non-scientists.

Benefits for participants: You will be reimbursed $40 for your time spent in participating in one reading session (up to 4 hours).

Participants: Any National University of Singapore (NUS) undergraduate who has not taken a science module in the university.

Reading session (up to 4 hours)

  • Participants will read 5 science news articles (approximately 800-1,000 words) which aim to inform and interest non-scientists of a new development in science.
  • Participants will rate the article using a 5-point scale regarding its comprehensibility and newsworthy value.
  • Participants will also answer 5 questions by selecting whether the given statement is True or False based on the content of the article.

Sessions will be held in January – March 2017 at CELC (10 Architecture Drive). You can select from 4 to 6 sessions to suit your availability.

If you are interested to participate, please contact Marion Tan via email at e0042031@u.nus.edu stating your name, major and contact number by Friday 20 January 2017.

Also, if you have any friends who have not taken a science module in the university and might be interested to participate, please help to pass this message on to them as well.

Thank you!

 

Kids with tuition fare worse (Opinion, Page A31)

fasswebmaster FASS in the News

Thursday, 8 December 2016

The Straits Times

In today’s edition of The Straits Times, there was an article contribution by Dr Kelvin Seah Kah Cheng from the Department of Economics at the NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, in which he discussed the prevalence of tuition in Singapore, and the reasons behind the rise. Dr Seah also analysed the data from the 2012 Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa), a large-scale international survey involving 15-year-old students, and examined the relationship between tuition and performance of students.

Click here to read the full article.

Marriage education in the Malay community (Page 23)

fasswebmaster FASS in the News

Monday, 5 December 2016

Lianhe Zaobao

This was an article contribution by Associate Professor Maznah Mohamad and Dr Suriana Suratnam from the Department of Malay Studies at the NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, in which they discussed the social and religious aspects of Malay marriages. The authors noted that for the Malay community, marriage to a large extent is a social contract as well as an obligation and duty to be fulfilled by the couple to their children and close relatives.

Gift from Wan Boo Sow’s family to set up research centre for Chinese culture at NUS (Page 6)

fasswebmaster FASS in the News

Saturday, 3 December 2016

Lianhe Zaobao

The Wan Boo Sow Research Centre for Chinese Culture was officially opened at NUS on 2 December 2016 by Mr Sam Tan, Minister of State, Prime Minister’s Office and Ministry of Manpower. Set up with a gift from the family of the late pharmacist Mr Wan Boo Sow, the Centre under the Department of Chinese Studies at NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences aims to establish itself as a leading institution in research for Chinese culture in Asia and beyond. The Centre led by its Director, Associate Professor Lee Cheuk Yin, will strengthen the Department’s six research groups on Chinese Linguistics and Translation, Ming-Qing Studies, Print and Popular Culture, Southeast Asian Chinese and Modern China, Chinese Religions, and Classical Literature and Thought. It will also collaborate with universities in organising and promoting Chinese cultural events, as well as establish visiting fellowships to attract renowned scholars to Singapore to conduct interdisciplinary research.

Department of Chinese Studies Sets Up New Wan Boo Sow Research Centre for Chinese Culture

fasswebmaster Announcements, Faculty Events
openingceremony
Prof Wang Gungwu, Mr Sam Tan, Prof Kenneth Dean, and A/P Lee Cheuk Yin

On 2 December 2016, the Department of Chinese Studies, FASS, NUS, celebrated the opening of the Wan Boo Sow Centre for Chinese Culture. The Centre was set up to actively promote in-depth cultural research by both local and overseas scholars, and to raise research efforts and output in Chinese culture to a higher level in order for NUS to establish itself as a leading institution in the field in Asia and beyond. Through visiting fellowships, it seeks to attract renowned scholars to Singapore to conduct interdisciplinary research with academics both in and outside the Department of Chinese Studies.

mrsamtan
GOH, Mr Sam Tan, Minister of State, Prime Minister’s Office & Ministry of Manpower, is an alum of the Department of Chinese Studies

In his speech during the opening ceremony, Guest-of-Honour, Mr Sam Tan, Minister of State, Prime Minister’s Office & Ministry of Manpower, said he hopes that the setting up of this new research centre for Chinese culture will strengthen the bilateral cooperation between Singapore and other countries, in addition to encouraging exchanges between academics and non-academics. He added that NUS’ facilities, and bilingual and bicultural advantage will enable it to become an international centre for Chinese cultural studies.

The Centre is named in honour of the late Mr Wan Boo Sow (1918-1992), a pharmacist in the 20th century. Born and bred in Singapore, Mr Wan obtained a Diploma in Pharmacy from the then-King Edward VII College of Medicine, before starting his own pharmacy along High Street. Mr Wan recognised the importance of education and his children—upholding their late father’s view—contributed generously to the set-up of this Centre.

To mark its official opening, the Centre organised an inaugural conference on the 2 and 3 December 2016. The conference had six panels reflecting the current research focus of the six research clusters in the Department of Chinese Studies. Professor Benjamin Elman of Princeton University and Professor Ge Zhaoguang of Fudan University were the keynote speakers for the conference. More than 20 preeminent scholars from The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Peking University, Xiamen University, University of London, University of Manitoba etc., presented their research outcomes in the field of Chinese history, literature, culture and linguistics.

Department of Japanese Celebrates its 35th Anniversary!

fasswebmaster Alumni, Faculty Events ,

 

On 5 November 2016, the Department of Japanese Studies and the Japanese Studies Alumni Group organised a dinner party at the NUSS Suntec City Guild House to celebrate the Department’s 35th anniversary. More than 60 former and present staff, alumni members and guests attended the special event. Participants were treated to an awesome night of good food, exciting games, and attractive prizes.

For more photos, visit the Department’s Facebook page!

From ‘mid-stream’ to ‘down-stream’ (Page 17)

fasswebmaster FASS in the News

Monday, 28 November 2016

Lianhe Zaobao

This was an article contribution by Associate Professor Thang Leng Leng from the Department of Japanese Studies at the NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, in which she examined the Japanese word ‘karyuu’, which in Chinese characters refer to ‘low-class’. Assoc Prof Thang observed however that in Japan, the word does not have a negative implication and has been used to describe disadvantaged individuals in society.

The economic roots of Trump’s win over Clinton (Opinion, Page A48)

fasswebmaster FASS in the News

Saturday, 26 November 2016

The Straits Times

This was an article contribution by Associate Professor Shin Jang-Sup from the Department of Economics at NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, in which he analysed the major cause of the unexpected victory of Mr Donald Trump in the United States presidential election. Noting that the benefits and costs of the restructuring of the US economy have been distributed unequally, Assoc Prof Shin opined that it remains to be seen whether US President-elect Mr Trump is willing to close the gap between his rhetoric and the reality of the American economy.

Click here to read the article.

Nuggets of S’pore history, from inscriptions (Top of the News, Page A11)

fasswebmaster FASS in the News

Sunday, 20 November 2016

The Sunday Times

It was reported that Professor Kenneth Dean and Dr Hue Guan Thye, who are respectively Head and Senior Research Fellow at the Department of Chinese Studies at NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, have published two volumes called Chinese Epigraphy in Singapore, 1819–1911, which feature descriptions of Singapore’s temple iconography, art and cultural artefacts; explanations of rituals; and write-ups on their history. The books went on sale via NUS Press on 15 November 2016. It was mentioned that the researchers’ next aim is to produce other volumes on Singapore’s modern temples, and they are also building interactive maps and charting the historical and ongoing movements of Singapore’s over 1,000 temples, other religious institutions, clans, cemeteries and kampungs in a digitisation effort with the Department of Geography at NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.

Click here to read the article.