National University of Singapore

This course offers a work and labor-based perspective on the contemporary global economy, which is still predominantly studied from the viewpoint of firms and states in the social sciences. It profiles the vast range of work types and conditions that constitute the economy, and their wider societal implications. Moreover, it develops an explicitly geographical perspective, using the lenses of place, space and scale to reveal the inherent spatialities of worlds of work.

This course provides a study of psycholinguistics and the complex psychological processes underlying the use of language. It investigates the processes that take place in our minds when we use language as well as how these processes develop in children. Language impairment, for example in patients who have sustained brain damage, or in children with atypical language development, is also discussed. 

This course explores the nexus between media, culture and society in the digital age. It examines the developments in digital transformation and its implications on everyday life, with emphasis on media/cultural industries, connective media, new media art and design, civil society and public cultures. It provides an understanding of how digital media and culture are being transformed by networks, convergence and algorithms, and the training to approach and make use of digital media critically, creatively and productively.

This course focuses on theories of family and social change, by examining perspectives on families, drawing on literature from history, anthropology, sociology, and demography. The course seeks to answer the following questions: What is a family? What is the relationship between family and household structure and economic, political, and cultural change both historically and in contemporary time? How do couples allocate their time and money in relationships? How do families vary by social class and race/ethnicity? How have attitudes, expectations, and behaviors surrounding childbearing and childrearing changed? Theoretical perspectives on the family are supplemented with case studies of change and variation in families and households.

In this course, students use design principles to develop their creative potential and practice design thinking using a people-centered approach to solve problems and create new possibilities. Through practical activities, students discover tools and mindsets that guide them in navigating ambiguity in a creative process, observing and learning from others in unfamiliar contexts, and generating and experimenting with ideas quickly. 

This course is offered through the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program in Science (UROPS). The intent of UROPS is to formally involve undergraduate students in research activities under the supervision of faculty members in their respective fields of study. UROPS aims to enhance undergraduate students’ knowledge of, and acquire the skills required for, the intellectual process of inquiry. 

This course introduces financial economics. It develops a theoretical foundation for choice under uncertainty, portfolio analysis, and equilibrium asset pricing models. A considerable portion of the course is devoted to fixed-income and derivative securities. 

This course introduces Science and Technology Studies (STS), a field that examines the work of scientists and engineers as sociocultural processes, informed by and informing society. The course analyzes ethnographic and historical accounts of scientific laboratories, medical clinics, everyday infrastructures, and computerized simulations, among others to answer questions including: How does an observation get accepted as a scientific fact? How do science and technology factor into our understanding of our bodies and our kin? Who counts as an expert and how does the meaning of expertise change over time? How do technologies get incorporated into the meaning of being human? 

This course builds upon the basis of Japanese 1 and aims to develop basic linguistic and socio-cultural skills and expand the repertoire of the daily topics and situations with simple structures. While more emphasis is placed on the development of oral communication skills, students also learn how to read short passages and write short compositions. Approximately 100 new kanji characters are introduced.