Module collaborations

Collaborative projects with faculty are a key feature of our major programmes and regularly impact the curriculum of participating partners. NUS’ faculties are the richest creative resource within the University, and access to academic experts sets the work of CFA’s Arts Excellence Groups and NUS Museum apart.

These relationships are developed as true interdisciplinary partnerships. Students and artists thrive though engagement with content that is outside their chosen discipline, while the presentation of faculty ideas in alternative formats can expose new insights and avenues for further research.

Past Highlight

Remember when… (2018)

In this story of how identities change with geography, Dr Kamalini Ramdas (NUS Department of Geography) shared her specialist knowledge in the geographies of familyhood and community which were paired with Artistic Director Zaini Tahir’s childhood experiences growing up in the pre-redeveloped Kampong Glam. Student dancers conducted site visits and researched the area to further develop the production.

Faculty partners are encouraged to incorporate aspects of the production into their teaching and offer opportunities for students to analyse the production as part of their studies. Quantum theory, social geography, mathematics and more have all been the subject of creative exploration in recent years.

Drawing upon the layers of knowledge present in each exhibition, NUS Museum also works with educators to infuse the Museum into the academic curriculum and transform it into a classroom. The collections and exhibitions are available to faculty and educators to use as resources to transmit content in new ways, stretch students’ critical thinking abilities, and introduce the students to art.

Past Highlight

MOVE | Writing Movement, Writing Art (2018)

This four-part workshop, linked to the NUS Museum exhibition Crossings by Wei Leng Tay, sought to explore movement in writing, film and performance. Student participants were encouraged to explore the poetics and politics of migration, sifting through ideas and projections to craft their final work. Led by Lawrence Ypil this workshop was collaboration between the Yale-NUS Writers’ Centre and NUS Museum.

More than 30 module collaborations are now held per semester, covering disciplines such as history, English literature, physics, architecture, fine arts, marketing and new media.

“NUS Museum makes it possible for me to add a whole new dimension to my teaching.

No other institution in Singapore provides such an art historical perspective on Singapore and the region…”

Professor John Miksic
NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences,
Department of Southeast Asian Studies

At NUS Baba House, module collaborations often involve hands-on conservation and restoration work. Architecture students have been involved in the ongoing investigation into the use of lime plaster in the maintenance of the house walls since 2016.

Past Highlight

Material Matters: Use of Lime in Historic Buildings (2018)

In this lecture-workshop series, Dr Nikhil Joshi of the Department of Architecture brought architects, students of architecture, surveyors, planners, conservators, and practising craftsmen in various fields through the NUS Baba House to explain the different forms of lime plaster and their uses. The 4-day workshop that followed gave participants’ the opportunity to enjoy a practical hands-on session, while awarding them accreditation points at the end of it where relevant.

An additional benefit of creative collaboration is that the ideas developed are presented to new audiences that are outside of the microcosm of their source academic disciplines. When speaking to the various collaborative projects developed between CFA and the Centre for Quantum Technologies, Professor Artur Ekert (Director) has said “collaboration with the arts is an effective way to spark interest” in a subject.

Past Highlight

Sambhavna 2.0 (2017)

Choreographed by NUS Indian Dance Artistic Director, Mrs Santha Bhaskar, this production employed the delicate movements of classical Indian Bharatanatyam to interpret the fundamental concepts of quantum entanglement in such a way that an understanding of quantum theory that could previously only be visualised in one’s imagination could be experienced through the various senses.

Mrs Bhaskar was appointed as a Centre for Quantum Technologies (CQT) Outreach Fellow for the two-year development of this project and CQT have also supported productions in music and theatre since.

Beyond the artist/faculty relationship, there is also the opportunity to build connections across the University and start conversations which could lead to other projects.

Past Highlight

The Golden Record (2017) and The Golden Record 2.0 (2018)

Inspired by the launch of Voyager I and II which carried two ‘Golden Records’ documenting life on earth deep into space. Part one of The Golden Record opened this ‘cultural Noah’s Ark‘ from 40 years prior and examined its interstellar contents in the new light of the 21st century.

18 months later, The Golden Record 2.0 asked sought unique perspectives from across the campus (and the wider community) to determine what message Singaporeans would choose to communicate with the universe.

The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, Faculty of Science, School of Design and Environment, Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, Faculty of Engineering, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Centre for Quantum Technologies, Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, Yale-NUS College, Tembusu College, represent an illustrious list of past faculty collaborators. However, partnerships are also regularly formed with external industry experts, international artists and other groups, adding further layers and perspectives to the discourse on campus.

This approach has been reinforced over generations of student artists, making them voracious seekers of inspiration, both from within the University and the wider community.