Tag: Yale-NUS

Brave Yale-NUS Students Tired Of Not Having Their Voices Heard Hold Silent Sit-In Protest Against The College
Dissatisfied with certain school policies and unhappy with the way the school dealt with their opinions, some 29 students from Yale-NUS College conducted a silent sit-in on Friday, March 9.

According to Channel 8 News, Yale-NUS College has since reached out to the students through public dialogue.

The student who shared open letter publicly later privatised his account

Adam Goh, one of the students believed to have taken part in the sit-in, shared an open letter on his Instagram account directed at the college, as well as a picture of three students conducting the sit-in.

His Instagram account has since been set to private mode, according to the report.

The open letter also revealed that while the President of Yale-NUS, Professor Tan Tai Yong, made a response earlier, the students thought that it wasn’t sufficient, and called on all students and staff members to share their views.

The following are the students’ main demands:
- Reinstating monthly town halls for all students and the senior leadership, as well as an open and transparent communication process
- Making students involved in the deliberation of any policy that affects the students themselves
- Developing a college-wide honour code that applies to all stakeholders of the college
The students explained in the letter that they were tired of not having their voices heard, despite them speaking up and attempting to communicate with the Yale-NUS president.

As a result, they decided to make their demands known in a manner that’s hard to ignore — physically occupying an area in order to express their concern towards the “future” of the college.

They also gave an ultimatum, saying that until President Tan makes a written response, there’d be at least one student continuing the sit-in.

The students added that while they don’t represent the entire student body, they welcome other concerned students and staff to join them in their effort to make their voices heard.

A letter from the Yale-NUS Student Government has since been circulated on Reddit, saying that monthly town halls with “a cast of senior college leadership” will be organised.

Apparently, the announcement was made by President Tan in an email previously.

It is unknown if the sit-in is still being held.

In a townhall that was held in February last year, students raised their concerns to the school administration over some “troubling” decisions the administration made without involving the student body in the deliberative process.

Of the decisions that were made unilaterally, according to the students, were the suspension of the Yale-NUS International Relations and Political Association’s activities with no reasons given, as well as the setting up of a new Event Approval Committee to assess the “desirability and feasibility” of holding an event on campus.

Source: channel 8 news
March 12, 2018
Yale-NUS Courses ‘Do Not Match’ Students’ Academic Expectations

As the Republic’s first liberal arts college prepares for its third intake this August, some former Yale-NUS College students have decided to drop out because of a mismatch between the college’s offerings and their academic expectations.

Of the college’s 330 students, about 3 per cent have chosen to leave, some for other top universities and some to pursue specialised degree courses, said the school. Some students who left also told TODAY they felt the courses, in covering a broad range of subjects, did not go into their preferred level of depth.

The college welcomed its first intake in 2013. Ms Lichie Nazirah Nwaozuzu, 22, who enrolled in a double-degree programme in law and liberal arts, later chose to focus only on her law degree.

All first-year students are required to cover a range of Common Curriculum courses such as philosophy, English literature and scientific enquiry, but Ms Nwaozuzu, who was part of the inaugural cohort, said it felt too “touch-and-go” and dropped out after her first semester.

For instance, the course outline for her philosophy class required them to read a book by Plato but students were only assigned to read four chapters in the book that were discussed over two weeks, said Ms Nwaozuzu, now a second-year law student at National University of Singapore (NUS).

“In essence we covered a lot of material but we never really went in depth for each of them and I guess that’s the nature of liberal arts, so to speak. It wasn’t as meaningful for me as it was for a lot of the other students,” said Ms Nwaozuzu.

Responding to queries from TODAY, a Yale-NUS spokesperson said liberal arts education emphasises broad-based, multidisciplinary learning as well as depth of study. In the first two years of college, all students take Common Curriculum courses that provide an introduction to broadly-defined areas of inquiry rather than in-depth coverage.

“In their third year of studies, students can select one of the 14 majors we offer and explore the subject in-depth while adding the knowledge gleaned from the Common Curriculum to augment the learning experience,” the spokesperson said.

Ms Nwaozuzu also said while it might have been the intention of the college to provide broader insights to a subject, for instance, by getting historians or sociologists to teach literature, this approach did not provide the academic expertise and rigour she was looking for.

Similarly, Mr Rocco Hu, 23, who left Yale-NUS after his third semester, said the discussions-based, seminar-style classes did not provide the deep academic expertise he was hoping for. The college’s spokesperson said classes are conducted in the style of an “intimate seminar” to emphasise discussion and debate.

The teething issues typical of new colleges, such as limited staffing and course offerings, were Mr Hu’s other reasons for switching school. For instance, he felt that the professors for his philosophy classes — a compulsory module for all first-years — appeared to be stretched thin.

“On top of that, a lot of them are junior faculty who are on tenure track but have not gotten tenure yet. So, they also need to publish research … go on sabbaticals … go on research leave — it creates a lot of pressure against adequate course offerings for upper-year undergraduates in the first batch,” said Mr Hu, who is starting his first semester at Oxford University in October reading philosophy, politics and economics.

“I can see this issue ironing itself out in subsequent years when everything stabilises, but I didn’t see it happening in the time span I was in the college … I just didn’t feel secure that my academic needs would be met.”

A Yale-NUS spokesperson said the college remains on track in its plans for a full team of 100 faculty members. There are now 70 faculty members although another 20 will be joining next month, she added.

They include key appointments such as Professor Steven L Bernasek, a renowned experimental chemist formerly from Princeton University, who will helm the college’s Division of Science, as well as distinguished anthropologists Prof Joseph S Alter and Prof Nicole Constable who will be joining the Social Sciences division.

The spokesperson also said its faculty-to-student ratio “remains healthy at 1:4”.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

June 8, 2015
MDA Allows Local Tertiary Institutions To Show Film on Exiled Chinese Communists

SINGAPORE & JOHOR BARU – The Media Development Authority is giving leeway to institutions of higher learning to show films that are restricted or not allowed, including To Singapore With Love.

It also said it has accepted a request from the Yale-NUS College to screen the film on Singapore’s political exiles, for classroom teaching and discussion only.

The 70-minute documentary, by local film-maker Tan Pin Pin, 44, received a “Not Allowed for All Ratings (NAR)” classification from the MDA last Thursday.

That was because the film’s contents “undermine national security” and distort the legitimate actions of security agencies as acts that victimise innocent individuals, the MDA had said.

Films classified as NAR are not allowed for public exhibition or distribution.

In its most recent statement on Friday, MDA said it “recognises that lecturers and students of media or related courses at tertiary institutions may require access to a wider variety of films, including films that are classified R21 or NAR.

“Some leeway is provided to these institutions to screen films for educational purposes, on condition that these films have either been previously classified by the MDA, or prior approval has been sought from the MDA before the films are acquired.”

Also on Friday, more than 350 Singaporeans crossed the Causeway to Johor Baru to catch Tan’s film, which was showing as part of an annual Freedom Film Festival.

The film has already been shown in Petaling Jaya and will go to Kuantan and Penang next.

In total, more than 410 people attended, with at least 20 on the waitlist. This was almost triple the number of participants that organisers were anticipating.

Organisers had to book an extra, larger room to accommodate viewers.

The documentary film includes interviews with nine political exiles who fled Singapore and now live in Britain and Thailand. Most were members or supporters of the Communist Party of Malaya, according to the MDA.

It has been touring the international film circuit for about a year, and will make its way to the Philippines and London in the next few weeks.

Source: http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/more-singapore-stories/story/singaporeans-arrive-johor-baru-screening-documentary-sin#9

September 21, 2014