National University of Singapore

This course explores the ethical dimension of international relations. It takes as its point of departure the conviction that international relations, like all realms of human conduct, is intelligible in questions of obligation, right, good, and so forth. The course interrogates prominent ethical languages of international relations, including moral skepticism, sovereignty, war, international law, and human rights. It then considers how these languages arise and conflict in a range of contemporary international issues. Particular emphasis is placed on excavating the ground on which ethical choices are made, defended, and judged.

The course examines the diversity of major groups of living organisms, and the importance of maintaining diversity in natural ecosystems. Emphasis is on the need for conservation of biodiversity to maintain a balance of nature. The course highlights the biodiversity in the major habitats and vegetation types in and around Singapore. The course requires students to take the prerequisite of General Biology.

This course focuses on the changes in Singapore's urban landscape. It places these changes within a framework that considers Singapore's efforts to globalize and examines how policies are formulated with the idea of sustaining an economy that has integral links sub-regionally with Southeast Asia while developing new spatial linkages that will strengthen its position in the global network. Emphasis is also given to recent discussions about how diversity and difference in the perception and use of space pose a challenge to the utilitarian and functional definition adopted by the state.

This course is a continuation of the foundation on microeconomics course. It is designed to provide standard tools and techniques to analyze microeconomic issues. The course begins with a review of several foundation topics on consumer and producer theory. It then moves on to discuss the general equilibrium model, whereby consumers and producers are put together in a general equilibrium framework. After that, it covers choice over time, i.e. inter-temporal choice and choices over different states of the world, i.e. choices under uncertainty. It then continues with game theory. This topic is discussed extensively. Coverage includes various solution concepts for one-shot games and sequential move games. Applications of the theory on the issues of oligopolistic competition, entry and entry prevention, and network economics receive a great deal of attention. Finally, the course ends with the asymmetric information, i.e. moral hazard and adverse selection and its application on the internal organization of the firm. Throughout the course, empirical observations and real-life cases pertaining to the issues discussed are presented. 

This course introduces the theories and practice of time-based media and motion graphics communication. It enables students to express ideas and messages through kinetics, time, and sequence using various techniques of graphic design and illustration integrated with motion aesthetics, animation principles, sound, and editing. Major topics include narrative and story development, dynamic graphic visualization, motion aesthetics, audio editing, and typography, utilizing with Adobe After Effects, Photoshop, and Illustrator.

This course introduces the workings of politics from the perspective of citizenship. Topic questions include: What constitutes citizenship? What are the roles, duties and obligations of being a Singapore citizen? How do citizens interact and impact politics and decision making in Singapore? How have changes over the years, including perspective of Singapore's political history, imperatives shaping national politics, the political system, its key structures and approaches to nation building, affected national politics and in turn, led to the political elites responding to changing demands of citizens? The course also discusses the role of civic and civil society.

The course introduces the various ways of looking at and discussing works of art. The focus is chiefly on painting and sculpture; the emphasis is on analyzing the composition or design of art works and in constructing meanings for them. This course enables students to acquire critical skills for interpreting and connecting with works of art. Topics include Asian art traditions; Indian sculpture; Chinese landscape painting; Islamic calligraphy. The second part of the course surveys ideas and movements from the Renaissance in Italy to the end of the 20th century in Europe.

This course provides a comprehensive training of both experimental and data analytical skills in mechanics, electronics, magnetism, nuclear physics, semiconductors, optics and lasers. In particular, emphasis is placed on the basic measurement skills in physics experiments, familiarization of the commonly used experimental apparatus, as well as the collection, handling, and analysis of real world data. While this course is mainly for physics majors, it is also suitable for science and engineering students interested in a career in the industries of semiconductors, optical communications, and life sciences.