PANOPT Issue 02: 22 Oct 2013 Chief Editor: Indrani Kaliyaperumal Editors: Joyan Tan and Spandana Bhattacharya
Vice-Rector’s Corner This is only the second issue and the amount of feedback PANOPT has generated is nothing short of amazing. Students are talking about it, faculty are reading it, RC residents are commenting on the various articles, and Joyan and Spandana have been busy getting contributions for future issues. As a student-driven newsletter focusing on academic issues, I find it very exciting to read about the various activities, programs and events happening at YaleNUS, especially as it represents a range of voices and opinions on these shared experiences. One issue that I would like to emphasize is the open nature of this publication. Although it comes out under the aegis of the Vice-Rector’s Office, this is truly an endeavor by students, for students. With PANOPT, Joyan and Spandana are giving us one example of the great potential within the Class of 2017. As they work on improving PANOPT, I have no doubt that there will soon be other publications at Yale-NUS. If there is one defining feature among all our students, it is creativity. So don’t sit on the sidelines: Share your views, contribute your ideas, or start something new. Finally, I want to highlight a very important event happening at the end of this month. By now, you all know that there is a range of options for your “fourth course” next semester. To help you decide which module to take, we are organizing a “Fourth Course Tea” on October 30th, from 3.30 to 5.00pm in the MPH. This will be a chance to meet the faculty teaching the various electives, talk about language study options, and learn more about Integrated Science. We’ll have some light snacks! I will be sending you more information via my weekly updates, but for now… sit back, relax, and enjoy this issue. See you around RC4 Vice-Rector Lage-Otero
Upcoming Events 22 Oct (Tues), 8PM Movie Night @ Common Lounge Level 1 23 Oct (Wed), 6PM Rector’s Tea with Alex Au @ SR 1&2 29 Oct (Tues) 4.30PM Research Talk – Jed Kaplan @ SR 1&2 8PM Movie Night @ Common Lounge Level 1 30 Oct (Wed) 11AM Time Management Workshop @ SR1&2 3.30PM Electives Fair @ MPH 1 6.30PM Daniel Markovits Talk @ SR1&2
FROM THE EDITORS Thank you everyone for the warm and enthusiastic reception PANOPT received for its first publication! We are very appreciative for all the generous comments coming in, and also for your suggestions on how to improve and what you liked about the previous issue. In the past weeks, the most frequent question we heard was: So, what does PANOPT mean? We did not, and do not, want to offer you our interpretation of it because we want PANOPT to be a newsletter made by this college and for everyone within this college. As such, we would be, in fact, quite happy to allow you to continue speculating on the explanation and interpretation behind this term (some people claimed it’s an acronym involved Potatoes… while others worried about PANOPT turning us into agents of selfsurveillance). Nonetheless, because we promised a competition (and also a prize), we are happy to announce that we have a winner for the interpretation of PANOPT!
[Issue] :: [Title]
The winner is… Rohan Naidu! His interpretation is as stated below; and he wins a $10 Starbucks card to be claimed from the editors! The 'pan' in Panopt is Greek for 'everything' like in panorama, panacea and pandemic. 'Opt' has the same root as 'optic',of or related to sight. Panopt could thus be translated to "that which sees everything". We hope you enjoy this issue and please continue to send in your suggestions and questions at yncpanopt@gmail.com! Enjoy!
Being Inspired by Fashion Designer Tereneh Mosley Shanice Nicole Stanislaus (7 Oct 2013) You know you are in for a treat when you are privileged with the opportunity to meet someone who is so passionate about her work. Tereneh Mosley, fashion designer and founder of Idia’Dega fashion line inspired the Yale-NUS community by sharing her love for fashion design. Most importantly, she advocated one message: fashion with a purpose. Inspired by living in Kenya for a period of her life, she was amazed by indigenous designs Excitedly meeting Tereneh and the beauty that was transcendent even Mosley! across cultures. Hoping to preserve and capture that beauty, she is currently designing Credits: Photo from Shanice clothes inspired by indigenous design and collaborating with indigenous cultures in Kenya. She painted a picture of the children living in slums in Kenya and how these children are not even able to choose what they want to wear. She then beautifully added, ‘I want to get these children to know that their beauty is valued and their culture is important’. Her willingness to pursue her love for fashion design and transform it into a good cause, to share and give back to the global community by reminding us of our heritage and culture, is truly inspirational. Hopefully, with designers like Tereneh Mosley who are working hard to bring about an altruistic shift in the fashion industry, homogeneity in modern fashion will slowly discontinue despite the rapid globalization of fashion. Tereneh Mosley echoed the importance of pursuing your passion with a purpose, the beauty in making your work more meaningful and the inspiration you shower young college kids like me, when you share that purpose with everyone.
o How well d 1.
you…
KNOW YOUR PROFESSOR!
Why Yale-NUS?
In choosing to become a professor, I wanted to be at a place that focused primarily on undergraduate education, i.e., a liberal arts college. When Yale-NUS formed, I thought, wow! It’s a liberal arts college, and it’s in Singapore, which means I will have access to excellent food and I’ll be close to home after being in the US for around 20 years. It’s also very exciting to be able to start a new college and curriculum from scratch. Yale-NUS allows you to take the best design principles and improve on them. It is a very rare opportunity to experience and do something like that.
2.
Given students’ diverse science background, how do you think they should approach the SI course?
The incoming class actually has one of the strongest math and science background of any class I have ever taught. I know this because I went to admissions and asked them for the profiles. This is true even though many students are not interested in majoring in Science.
Professor Jeremy Kua Professor Kua grew up in Malaysia, and completed his undergraduate education in Reed College (1996) and his PhD from the California Institute of Technology (2001). He specializes in using computational methods to study chemical systems, and is currently interested in using multi-scale computational methods to understand how small molecules selfassemble into larger, more complex, chemical systems.
There is however, a perception problem, and many students think the way to do science is to learn a bunch of facts. But Scientific Inquiry is about learning how scientists think, comparing and contrasting the work of different scientists. Currently, Professor Kua is the Course One thing that surprises students, especially in coordinator for Scientific Inqiry. this part of the world, is that we don’t use a science textbook. But part of what we want to Credits: Photo from Professor Kua teach all of you is a set of skills that you can use no matter what you do in life. This is why the readings we give you are not the easiest ones out there. On the first day of section, I told my class that we want you to be at the edge of your comfort zone. If you’re sitting back and saying, “I know all this”, then we’re doing a lousy job at educating you.
3.
Many students have been wondering about your hat and the way you wear it, is there any special significance?
Advice from the Writing Guy 1. Many professors have different expectations for their writing assignments and even what constitutes good writing, so it is important for you to first figure out the nature of the assignment and what your professor expects. Read the assignment carefully and underline key phrases; try to distill the instructions to their basic points and go from there. If you’re still unsure, make an appointment with the professor and/or visit the Writers’ Centre! 2. Write to discover. We don’t always know what we want to say when we begin writing. Writing is a kind of inquiry and the best writing shows the way someone thinks on the page. If you don’t know exactly what to say or how you feel about a topic, write about it anyway. Try to engage yourself on the page and ask yourself questions. This won’t be the final draft of the paper, of course, but an important initial step. 3. Don’t try to sound overly academic. Cut out all your “howevers”, “thusly’s”, and “in conclusions”. This is so much throat clearing; these phrases are so overused and don’t make you sound any smarter.
There actually isn’t, but I can tell you the story of the hat. When I first went to the US, I went to Portland, Oregon, which is way north, and the sun is always hitting you in the eye. This can be really annoying when you are walking around campus. So I got a cap to shade my eyes, and then I realized that it has a second benefit- it keeps Picture credits: Drawn by Parag est! your head warm! Then I realized a third added benefit when I became a r s te professor- it helps people identify you because you don’t see college professors In oup Yale-NUS Acappella Society wearing a cap. It also provides moments of amusement for everyone. During Gr week 7, a student in Migrant Nation spotted me without my cap and immediately The Yale-NUS Acappella Society is called others to come look and they asked me about it! But it’s so hot in Singapore that an umbrella group that will I take my cap off more often. eventually comprise several Also, every once in a while, I take off my cap and use it as a pointer. This causes great amusement among the students in the class and agony among the students who missed class that day. 4. What do you like to do in your free time? I enjoy doing the New York Times crossword puzzle, so I do one every day. Reading is probably my favorite activity… I also really enjoy playing board games but I have less time to do it now after moving to Singapore. I have a reasonably good collection of about 200 board games. I like cooking and eating too. When I first studied in the US, I did not like the food at all! I had never experienced a salad bar before, and started asking others why all the vegetables were raw. They looked at me and told me, “No, they’re fresh.” So what I did for a while was that I took a bunch of vegetables, took them back and cooked them! Now I actually enjoy eating salad. 2
acappella groups. Currently, we are focusing on providing everyone with a chance to sing a wide range of songs. We hold workshops every week for acappella enthusiasts, regardless of prior experience. For more information, contact Sau at sauyee.tsoi@yale-nus.edu.sg!
TURN OVER FOR EXCITING COVERAGE OF THE AMAZING WEEK 7 PROJECTS!
WEEK 7 5 October 2013: After a week of diverse life-changing and mind-blowing experiences, students of Yale-NUS College once again congregated in the comfortable auditorium in the Education Resource Center. Every person had a unique story to tell, and fascinating adventures to share. The next hour or so saw a collection of experiences and learning ranging from seeing the ruins in EU Greece, watching wayang kulit overnight in Indonesia, interviewing migrant workers to hear about their lives, to examining the symmetry present in our everyday lives. Week 7 had ended, but the experiential learning through the week will live on in the students’ lives for a long time.
“If Week 7 was extended by another week, I would have liked to find as many species of butterflies in Singapore as I can. Like filling a pokedex. Fun!” - Ami, Butterfly Biodiversity
“Going to the beauty pageant changed my perspectives by 180 degrees about the issues of female oppression and degradation. I learned much more by being there in person than I would have by simply reading articles in class.” - Naz, Global Fashion
3
“One of the most memorable moments for me was swimming in the beach and realizing that the strong currents would be a million times worse in a tsunami.” - Marcus, Banda Aceh
“My favorite part of Week 7 was doing individual projects! Mine was beauty in music and I got to arrange a piece of music, something I have always wanted to do but never got the time to do.” - Sau, Beauty
“I have always been fond of Math; being able to apply this knowledge right away in Symmetry was very fulfilling… Only after a week and a half of Week 7 am I finally starting to ‘un-see’ symmetry and stop figuring out the patterns on wallpapers.” - Anya, Symmetry
“Biggest takeaway: the real world almost never gives plain vanilla problems. Most solutions require a number of approaches, which tend to ignore the convenient lines of university departments.” - Graham, Fossil Fuels
Photo Credits: Taken by Melody “Week 7 was all these irreplaceable essentials rolled into one big, bursting-out-of-its-seams popiah. It was learning to open a mind cluttered with simplistic preoccupations… the gorgeous food and complex movies Teng Kuan gave us, Matt’s multilingual birthday song in a Jewish synagogue… It was seeing Professor Johnson translate Thai for 3 hours, and just feeling spoilt by the intelligence, acceptance, and different expressions of love and community spirit all around me.” - Annette, Varieties of Religious Experiences
“Our sharing session during the symposium was an attempt to poke through the bubble of perception surrounding us. So often we assume we know something when we actually don’t. Week 7 really opened our eyes.” - Nanlan, Migrant Nation
“I don’t “want” to go back. I absolutely need to go back. Those silhouettes on the screen spoke to me, they’d barely said their fill and we had to leave. Like any good wayang story, my tryst with those dancing shadows shall have multiple acts. I’m only at Intermission-1. I’ll be back once and back again till the shadows meet dawn and the sun carries me away.” - Rohan, Ramayana Performed
“My biggest takeaway came in the form of a single comment: “I moved into Casa Clementi six months ago.” Suddenly, the “Singaporean pace” that I’ve heard about became physically real… the country I see today isn’t the country of 5 years ago, nor the country 5 years from now.” - Adrian, Placemaking “Food was amazing! We also got to see Greece from many aspects through our diverse experiences in different parts of the country… From the mountains we beheld a sight only available to the gods.” - Yixuan, EU Greece
4
“What I enjoyed most was the process of setting up this art gallery, having to run around to procure art supplies like ‘Project Runway’ contestants, skipping meals (like true starving artists) and sacrificing sleep to churn out our work. It was extremely satisfying to see our vision being realized on symposium day and we’re really grateful to Prof. Hanser, Prof. Taroutina, and Adri for all their support!” -Willie, Art, Identity and the Meaning of Things