National University of Singapore

This is a historical survey of three thousand years of Chinese visual arts with emphasis on painting. The course covers the historical transformation of Chinese art from the classical towards the modern and contemporary, as well as key aesthetic and philosophical conceptions underpinning the production of visual arts in the Chinese culture. In addition, the course provides some comparative studies of Chinese and Western visual arts. There will also be a component introducing the special linkages between the history of Singapore art and the Chinese context.

This course overviews the cultural traditions of China. It provides a deeper understanding of Chinese life in the traditional era and examines the "Great tradition" and the "Small tradition" of Chinese society and their relevance to the present. Topics include early Chinese world view, Chinese religiosity, Chinese symbolism, Chinese names, Chinese festivals, and folk customs. The course provides a better appreciation of the linkage between Chinese traditions in the past and modern society. 

This course introduces conceptual approaches for understanding the myriad relationships between human societies and their biophysical environments. It addresses three key questions. First, how are nature and society interconnected? Second, what theoretical and methodological approaches can be used to study nature-society relationships? Third, how can societal relationships with nature be improved in ways that are sustainable and just? These questions will be explored using different social theories, particularly from the interdisciplinary field of political ecology, which will be applied to contemporary environmental issues. Students will learn how to critically think, discuss, and write about complex nature-society interactions.

This course takes a comparative perspective and highlights the theoretical and practical problems related to this field of study. The course explores several themes: 1) concepts and conceptualization 2) state, modernity and secularism, 3) Gender equality and plurality in religion and 4) capitalism and commercialization in religion. More than just faith, personal beliefs and practice, religion is also a site for many of these dynamics involving the power of the modern nation-state, gender relations and economic systems. The course also examines case studies of diverse religious and spiritual traditions in Southeast Asia. 

This course traces the development of both Theravāda and Mahāyāna Buddhism in Southeast Asia. Major topics include the spread of Buddhism, the rise of Buddhist kingdoms, the development of popular traditions, the impact of European colonialism, the relationship between Buddhism and nationalism, the emergence of modern reformist movements, and Buddhist minorities in maritime Southeast Asia.