6 December 2007

New Cultural Studies programme that cuts across boundaries

GIFT FOR CULTURE: NUS Senior Deputy President Prof Tan Chorh Chuan (right) with renowned architect Prof William Lim.

NUS has launched another first, with a new PhD programme in Cultural Studies in Asia. Offered by the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS), the Programme, with course works and dissertation requirements that focus exclusively on Asian contexts and contents, will be taught exclusively in English. The Programme will enable students to access the global archives of Cultural Studies beyond their respective local discursive and practical intellectual resources.

Said Senior Deputy President Prof Tan Chorh Chuan: "The FASS is well placed to offer such a multi-disciplinary PhD programme, as it can draw on the intellectual resources of its more than 300 teaching academic staff in 13 departments and three programmes which cover all the humanities and social science disciplines and all the regions in Asia under area studies programmes."

The Programme received an endowed gift of $1 million from Prof William Lim, a renowned architect and analyst in Asian urban and cultural issues. To be matched dollar-for-dollar by the Singapore Government, the gift will fund the William Lim Siew Wai Fellowship in Cultural Studies in Asia for the appointment of one visiting professor, associate professor, or assistant professor each year to conduct classes for students, as well as do research work.

The Fellowship was inaugurated along with the launch of Prof Lim’s new book Asian Alterity at the Singapore Art Museum (5 Dec). He is the brother of renowned ophthalmologist and NUS alumnus Prof Arthur Lim who has also gave generously to his alma mater.

The Programme will kick off next year, taking in about six students each year. Prof Chua Beng Huat who leads the Cultural Studies in Asia Research Cluster at the NUS Asia Research Institute, is the Programme's convenor.