PANOPT Issue 04: 19 Nov 2013
Meeting the Shepards (7 Nov 2013)
Chief Editor: Indrani Kaliyaperumal Editors: Joyan Tan and Spandana Bhattacharya
Vice-Rector’s Corner Believe it or not, it’s the last week of classes! It’s been an exciting journey, full of personal discoveries and memorable events. As YaleNUS takes shape (literally and metaphorically) it is clear how you are also shaping its culture and reason for being. A good example of this vitality is the large number of student groups currently being formed. In my conversations with many of you, it is remarkable how well you’ve managed to strike a balance between your academic life and all your extracurricular interests. Learning to manage your time well and to prioritize among many competing tasks is an invaluable skill and not easy to master. So kudos to all of you for your achievements so far. As we finalize the timetable for next semester, keep in mind the rhythms of the semester and get ready for another amazing semester ahead. In my case, I am certainly looking forward to the “winter” break to catch my breath, finally clear my inbox, prepare my Spanish course, and head to India for a few days to reconnect with one side of the extended family (Sebastian and Paloma are brushing up on their Malayalam). It’ll be nice to slow down a bit and reflect upon the work done so far. This semester has been a huge challenge as you can’t really train to be a Vice-Rector; you become one day by day, working with all of you to understand the kind of support you need to thrive and succeed. It's been incredibly rewarding to work with all of you to understand the kind of support you need to thrive and succeed. As with any good teaching experience, I've ended up learning way more than I had anticipated. And now, here is the latest issue of PANOPT brought to you by its intrepid editors. Enjoy and as always, send in any feedback you have.
Rohan Naidu, on behalf of The G-Spot
I’m keeping this as honest as I can. No literary pyrotechnics. The focus is on what I thought and what struck me. Whatever I took away from their talk is what two weeks down the line stays with me.
Dennis hugged every single person who stayed back after the presentation. It is one thing to hear 'embrace difference' and another to watch lesbian, gay, straight, trans, queer swept together in one all encompassing hug.
Tolerate isn't enough. Hate the sin and not the sinner they say. Can love ever be a sin? Can you hate love? Accept.
I've never seen the conjunction 'and' come to life the way it does with Dennis and Judy'. Be it the playful 'but' she adds to his hanging sentences or the way his hand rises to her elbow when there's a quiver in her voice. It is only fitting that a couple so in love travels country to country as messengers of `love not hate'.
I invited international human rights activists to our Rector's Tea but heard the voice of my parents. “Cherish every moment you have with your child. I cannot tell my son all that I want to. You can.” The first thing I did after the talk was videocall home--no texting, facebooking or a parcelled virtual voice. It took me five minutes to make my mother's day.
You can be a part of the 'love not hate' cause by making simple little changes to your vocabulary. 'Gay' is not an adjective to be thrown in front of 'shoes'. He is not 'a gay' --it is one of the many things he is. Photo credits: From The G-Spot
Upcoming Events 20 Nov (Wed) 2PM Once Upon a Time: Storytelling Salon @ L1 Common Lounge 6PM Conversation with Singapore’s entry to Miss World, Maria-Anna Weiling Zenieris @ L1 Common Lounge 22 Nov (Fri), 6.30PM Holiday Dinner and Dance @ RC4-CAPT Dining Hall 1
START FRESH! 9 November 2013: Yale-NUS Class of 2017/2018 convened in the MultiPurpose Hall to officially begin the starting up of student organizations, clubs, and societies. Despite only being a semester old, group after group went up on stage to present their ideas and sell their organization to the rest of the school, inviting others to join in. Booths were set up around the MPH with more information and with sign-up sheets for students to register interests. It was not uncommon to see students stopping by every single booth to write their names on the sign-up sheets. In total, over 30 groups were proposed, including a Humanist Society, Acappella, The Fifth Wall (Drama), Improvisation Comedy, Japanese Society, and too many more to list here.
How well d
o you…
KNOW YOUR PROFESSOR!
Q1. What is the guiding philosophy behind the design of the Philosophy and Political Thought Course? It’s a collaborative project between the Professors and also with the students, so for example, this semester we made changes in light of feedback from the students. In terms of principles we are looking for a breadth of traditions- looking at debate and disagreement within traditions and also connections that we can make between traditions. As much as you might expect a Great Works type course to include a variety of traditions, not so many do! We were also interested in a variety of styles; so some texts are essays, some are more poetic, and Professor Nicholas Silins Professor Silins received his BA, there is a variety of philosophical styles as well. Q2. Do you have a favorite text in the current PPT course? Well so far, the Zhuangzi. I thought it was fun; it’s completely new to me. It had some argumentative moments, some poetic moments, and a lot of humor as well. Q3. Do you have a favorite philosopher? No, actually. I think it is important that people do philosophy rather than study philosophy. So I try to do philosophy too, rather than following a particular philosopher’s ideas.
magna cum laude, in Comparative Literature at Princeton University in 1999. He then did his graduate work in philosophy at Oxford University, where he received his PhD in 2004 and his BPhil in 2001. Professor Silins’s research interest is in epistemology and the philosophy of mind, with a focus on the role of perception. He previously taught in Cornell and convened speaker series and department workshops. He has also served as the faculty advisor to Cornell’s Skateboarding Club.
Credits: Photos from Professor Silins What do you mean by ‘do philosophy’? I mean, be philosophers. Ask philosophical questions; participate in the debates rather than just being a spectator at the debates. Don’t just learn what the big names said, think about what they said and why they said it and come up with your own opinions about it. I encourage students to do that and I am trying to do that myself. So, there isn’t one philosopher that I am following or even that I hold above all other philosophers.
Q4. Many students have been wondering about your interest in skateboarding. What got you interested in skateboarding and how long have you pursued it? I started when I was 10 years old. In the 80’s everybody was doing it but I never stopped. So I had the dyed blond hair, and in the 90’s I had the crazy baggy pants. Skateboarding is very fun; it’s a great way to explore. You bring a skateboard and you can get around very easily and see a lot more new things that way - streets and places that are not tourist destinations. Also through seeing skateboard videos, you can explore the world. Many people make their own videos, in Arizona or Japan or Singapore. So you can see all these different parts of the world through the videos people are making. It’s a great way of exploring.
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Advice from the Writing Guy 1. Read your paper aloud to a friend and return the favor. Do an informal workshop and be honest in your critique. What interests you about your friend’s paper? What seems undeveloped? What seems unsupportable? 2. If your prof has asked you to revise, you should understand that revision often involves more than a little tinkering here and there. Try as much as possible to re-envision your paper. The best way to revise is often to open a new file and retype the entire paper rather than simply inserting changes here and there. With the former, you’re forced to reengage in a meaningful way, unlike the latter case. Sometimes you might even want to start over from scratch. As daunting as that might sound, the best results can often be obtained by not even referring to your original paper and rewriting it from memory. 3. Visit the Writers’ Centre. But please don’t visit simply to fix a paper. Tutors are there to help you improve your writing on an on-going basis, not to be mechanics to whom you drop off your paper to be fixed. Visit when you first receive an assignment, and come with ideas of your own or a rough draft. Try not to wait until the last minute to visit.
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Picture credits: Drawn by Parag
Yale-NUS Debate Society
The Yale-NUS Debate Society is for students interested in the sport of formal debate. It serves to create an atmosphere of competitive debating and a training space for student debaters and adjudicators to hone their public speaking, analytical and critical thinking skills. In this first semester, it has been sending teams to countries in Asia. The team has consistently been breaking to the Quarterfinals, exhibiting strong performance for a freshman start-up. The society also looks forward to setting up Singapore's first ever chamber debating culture. If interested, do not hesitate to contact Joan Danielle Ongchoco at joan.ongchoco@gmail.com.