National University of Singapore

In this course, students are taught how to critically read, appreciate and analyze texts in classical Chinese in their specific historical, literary and philosophical contexts. Translating the original texts into modern Chinese is an integral part of the course. This is a compulsory course for students majoring in Chinese Studies. Readings include representative works of prose and rhyme-prose from the pre-Qin to the Qing period. The course requires students to take prerequisites.

This course takes an in-depth view of organic chemistry using structures and reactivities exhibited by important molecules in everyday life. Students learn, refresh and cement key concepts in organic chemistry, particularly reactions involving polar mechanisms, and acquire knowledge and hands-on experience in molecular and structural characterization, while at the same time appreciating the intrinsic relevance of organic chemistry in existence and daily lives. The course requires students to take prerequisites.

This course explores the lives of empresses and concubines in Qing China, some of whom wielded tremendous power during their lifetime and have inspired numerous literary and media renditions of their words and deeds in the present. By critically assessing and deploying the concepts of gender, power, and media representation, the course highlights the curious connections between the Qing harem and other cultures, polities, and societies. It establishes connections between Qing empresses and concubines and those elsewhere in the world, contextualizing their lives and activities in global history.

The course helps students from diverse backgrounds to understand modern China and its historical roots. Focusing on topical aspects of China's past and history, this course provides a bird's-eye view of China's modern transformations. Topics include political regimes, industrialization, economic structures, languages, urban development, rural society, family and population, environmental protection, and climate change. Through a variety of textual and visual learning materials, students acquire the basic conceptual and comparative tools to appreciate the rise of China within historical and global contexts.

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.