National University of Singapore

This course provides a historical introduction to Islam’s core beliefs, practices, and institutions as they have developed in diverse cultural and political contexts. The course considers a range of topics all approached historically, among them: Islam’s foundational texts, religious expressions, institutions and cultural forms, as well as the challenges posed by changing economic and social conditions for Muslim societies in the modern period. The objective is to provide an informed appreciation of the historical development, cultural diversity, and contemporary issues facing Muslim communities across the world.

This course looks at constructions of gender in modern Japanese literature by both female and male authors. Readings cover some of the major authors, genres, and literary movements of modern Japanese literature, as well as secondary readings in gender theory.

This course prepares students to be effective public speakers and critically attuned listeners. It introduces students to theories of oral communication and public speaking, as well as practical strategies for analyzing and connecting with audiences, gathering and structuring relevant information, employing effective rhetorical devices, incorporating visual aids, and delivering purposefully engaging speeches. Students practice their speaking skills and learn how to give and receive critical constructive feedback. Through experiential and reflective learning, students gain confidence in speaking in academic, professional and public settings.

This course provides a study of how housing markets work and the roles of policy in housing production, consumption, investment and governance. The course introduces basic housing economic concepts that can help to understand housing markets, cycles, and housing finance. It examines the roles of housing policies in delivering and governing a housing provision system, for example, the policies to promote homeownership and the roles of town councils in housing estate management. Cases and examples are drawn from the housing markets in both Singapore and other countries.

This course explores the changing roles of cities in an age of globalization. The first part examines cities as part of urban networks at the national, regional and international levels, and focuses on the implications arising from the rise of mega-cities and global cities. The second half investigates the challenges facing cities on the ground, including issues of the revitalization and re-imaging of city cores, changing retail landscapes, and the impact of telecommunications on the location of urban activities and peoples' mobility.

This course provides the necessary mathematical skills for other physics courses. Topics include: complex numbers and hyperbolic functions; single-variable calculus; Taylor series; first order and second order ordinary differential equations; vectors and matrices; eigenvalues and eigenvectors; partial differentiation; multiple integrals; and physical applications. The course requires students to take prerequisites.

The course provides an overview of geology, the science of the earth. An understanding of geology is important to many disciplines, providing information about the physical and chemical processes that determine the distribution of resources, location of hazards, operation of surface processes and the interaction between engineering structures and earth surface materials. The four components of the course begin with consideration of the earth’s structure and the role of plate tectonics, before considering the nature of earth surface materials and the functioning of earth surface systems.