Singapore

This course introduces students to the intricacies of the end-of-life journey, fostering empathy, cultural sensitivity, and practical knowledge to navigate this inevitable part of the human experience with wisdom and compassion. Students explore the historical, philosophical, and cultural aspects surrounding death and dying and gain a deeper understanding of the diverse beliefs, rituals and attitudes that have emerged across different civilizations and time periods in Southeast Asia. This comprehensive exploration encourages critical thinking and fosters an appreciation of the significance of death in shaping human societies and its profound impact on shaping the human psyche and world cultures.

This course examines how the sky has shaped cultures from across the world and in different times. Students explore how sky watching has provided answers to fundamental questions, such as the origins of life and the world, how society should be organized, and how lives should be led. Topics include perspectives from Indigenous, European and Asian cosmologies, practices of prediction including astrology and meteorology, and implications of technology that is now reshaping the sky. 

This course critically examines the ways the past is established, experienced and represented in the present. The objective is to foster an appreciation of history as a dynamic undertaking in which not only academics, but societies as a whole participate. The course is comprised of theoretical core and changing case studies that touch on media representations, museology and conservation, historiography and the philosophy of history. CA projects afford students the opportunity to experience first-hand how history, far from being confined to libraries and archives, is part of daily life. While the course targets primarily History majors, its cultivation of critical skills in the analysis of written and visual texts is relevant to students from all faculties.

This course highlights the key food security considerations and research trends relating to sustainable urban food production. It covers the scientific and technological innovations in agriculture and aquaculture, with topics including genetics, nutrition and health involved in the production of fish and plants, and scientific considerations for a robust food safety system such as Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP)-based risk assessment and testing of different food safety hazards relating to different food innovations. The course develops an appreciation of the emerging risks in urban food production against the current backdrop of accelerating food production innovations and climate change. The course requires students to take prerequisites in General Biology and Chemistry.

This course deals with various aspects of Chinese characters. The historical portion of the course covers the origin of the Chinese characters, the principles of character formation, the evolution of styles over time, analyses of correlations between shapes and meanings, traces of pronunciations of Old Chinese as revealed in phonogram graphs, etc. The contemporary study covers an appraisal of the Simplified Characters, an evaluation of the Chinese characters in terms of frequency studies and neurolinguistic studies. The course requires students to take several prerequisites.

This course provides the theory and practice for students to understand ecodesign and sustainability and its affects on design practice. Students examine the design methods related to ecodesign and sustainable design and its applications. Project work is conducted to provide the bridge to integrate such theoretical knowledge into practice.

This upper division course introduces students to the basic concepts, theories, and applications in aerodynamics. Major topics are: Characteristics and parameters for airfoil and wing aerodynamics; Incompressible flow past thin airfoils and finite-span wings; Aerodynamic design considerations; Compressible subsonic, transonic and supersonic flows past airfoils and supersonic flow past thin wings. The course is for students who are interested in aerodynamics, especially those who intend to work in the aviation industry or those who intend to conduct R & D work in the aerodynamics area. The course requires students to take prerequisites.

This interdisciplinary course introduces the field of public health, highlighting its distinct role from clinical medicine and its collaborative approach to complex health issues. Students explore topics such as health promotion, disease prevention, and global health through an interdisciplinary lens, incorporating insights from social sciences, natural sciences, mathematics, economics and political sciences. Real-world case studies demonstrate the interplay between biological, environmental, social, and economic factors affecting health outcomes. The course emphasizes applying public health frameworks to understand the design, implementation, and evaluation of health interventions. Students learn how theories and methods from various disciplines converge to address public health challenges and improve population health. Group projects simulate real-world public health scenarios and encourage students to integrate diverse perspectives, develop innovative solutions, and communicate effectively within interdisciplinary teams. Students gain a thorough understanding of how interdisciplinary approaches are vital for addressing complex public health issues and are prepared to apply these methods in future practice.

This course provides students with an introductory overview of health systems and policies that can shape an individual’s and the population’s wellbeing. The course uses Singapore’s healthcare system as a case study to explain the organization of health systems and the policy responses to public health challenges.