Update 8 Jun 2015: Yale-NUS losing students due to lack of staff and academic depth
Students with Singapore’s first liberal arts college Yale-NUS College are lambasting the school and some are dropping out due to the lack of staff and academic depth. Started in 2013, the college today have 330 students and 3% of them have chosen to leave for other top universities.
A present student with the college, Lichie Nazirah Nwaozuzu, who is the first batch of Yale-NUS students enrolled, said in a media interview that she initially took up a double degree programme, but later chose to drop one degree programme because the school lack in-depth teaching. Lichie described the teaching manner as “touch and go” and it is meaningless for everyone.
Another ex-student with Yale-NUS, Rocco Hu, who left the college for Oxford, described the teachings as “seminar-style” and “discussion-based” instead of having taught deep academic expertise like any top university. Rocco also revealed that the professors were overworked and mostly temporary employees who did not get their full tenure. The teaching faculty members will have to publish research, go on sabbatical leave and research leave, leaving little time and focus for the students.
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On the Yale-NUS College
On 16 July, Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that Yale-NUS College (YNC) students “are going to be totally free to express their views but they won’t be allowed to organize political protests on campus”. It reported too that partisan politics and political parties will not be allowed on the campus grounds of the National University of Singapore (NUS).
This WSJ article has led to other online reports including those on Huffington Post, TIME, Washington Post and Yale Daily News.
After making some inquiries, I thought that it may be helpful to present some findings which may go some way towards clarifying misconceptions perpetuated by these articles.
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Yale under fire for new liberal arts campus in S’pore
Because of
the fundamental differences in value systems between the two countries,
there is consistently cross-talking, misunderstanding and recycling of
the same few arguments. Look, the two countries are different and the
same issues must be discussed in different ways. Given Singapore’s
multi-ethnic composition, socio-political circumstances and relatively
short but turbulent history, certain issues must be approached with
sensitivity. - See more at:
http://kentridgecommon.com/?p=16139#sthash.7V7jthVU.dA8Ap27b.dpuf
Yale-NUS College: Perils and Promises
On 16 July, Wall Street Journal
(WSJ) reported that Yale-NUS College (YNC) students “are going to be
totally free to express their views but they won’t be allowed to
organize political protests on campus”. It reported too that partisan
politics and political parties will not be allowed on the campus grounds
of the National University of Singapore (NUS).
This WSJ article has led to other online reports including those on Huffington Post, TIME, Washington Post and Yale Daily News.
After making some inquiries, I thought that it may be helpful to present some findings which may go some way towards clarifying misconceptions perpetuated by these articles.
- See more at: http://kentridgecommon.com/?p=16139#sthash.7V7jthVU.dpuf
This WSJ article has led to other online reports including those on Huffington Post, TIME, Washington Post and Yale Daily News.
After making some inquiries, I thought that it may be helpful to present some findings which may go some way towards clarifying misconceptions perpetuated by these articles.
- See more at: http://kentridgecommon.com/?p=16139#sthash.7V7jthVU.dpuf
On 16 July, Wall Street Journal
(WSJ) reported that Yale-NUS College (YNC) students “are going to be
totally free to express their views but they won’t be allowed to
organize political protests on campus”. It reported too that partisan
politics and political parties will not be allowed on the campus grounds
of the National University of Singapore (NUS). - See more at:
http://kentridgecommon.com/?p=16139#sthash.7V7jthVU.dpufYale under fire for new liberal arts campus in S’pore
Some Americans fear their brand-name university will risk losing its values, such as moulding independent thinkers, by setting up in Singapore, sparking debate that their fears about lack of academic freedom are overblown (Photo: Yale-NUS College Facebook page)
(NEW HAVEN) For more than 300 years, Yale University has prided itself on training top students to question and analyse, to challenge and critique.
Now, Yale is seeking to export those values by establishing the first foreign campus to bear its name, a liberal arts college in Singapore that is set to open August 2013.
The ambitious, multimillion-dollar project thrills many in the Yale community who say it will help the university maintain its prestige and build global influence.
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Almost 2,600 apply to join Yale-NUS
Almost 2,600 applications from students across 72 nationalities have been received by Yale-NUS College, the Republic's first liberal arts college.
Giving the update in a press release yesterday, Yale-NUS said that more than 60 students - among the 96 who were admitted in May after several weeks of deliberation - had accepted a place.
Another 65 students were offered a place this month, and they have until May 1 to reply with their decisions.
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Yale-NUS College starts third round of admissions for 2012
Yale-NUS College has opened its next round of admissions after receiving close to 2,600 applications from two earlier rounds this year.
Applications came from students across 72 nationalities.
The admissions committee admitted 96 students in May, of which more than 60 have accepted a place at the College, Yale-NUS College said in a statement on Monday.
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Opposition leaders slam Yale-NUS
Singaporean opposition leaders criticised the establishment of the new Yale-National University of Singapore (NUS) College last week, charging that the Ivy League school is being complicit in the repression of political and civil freedoms by the ruling People’s Action Party.
During a panel discussion at Yale in New Haven, Connecticut, last Friday , Singapore Democratic Party secretary-general Chee Soon Juan said that his worst fears were realised when Yale-NUS said that political campaigning and protest would not be allowed on campus. Students also cannot set up partisan groups.
“Teachers and students, if you will not accept anything less for yourselves here in New Haven, why do you deny it in Singapore?” said Dr Chee, according to a report from the campus publication Yale Daily News.
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Yale-NUS set-up comes under renewed fire in US
The controversy over the issue of academic freedom at the Yale-National University of Singapore (Yale-NUS) liberal arts college has flared up again in the United States.
The American Association University Professors (AAUP) has published a letter on its website expressing "growing concern about the character and impact" of the Yale-NUS College, while Singapore Opposition politicians aired their concerns at a panel discussion at Yale University's New Haven campus last week.
Among other things, the association has called for transparency in terms of releasing all documents and agreements relating to the establishment of the college, slated to open in August next year.
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In face of criticism, Yale-NUS College focuses on merits
(From left) Dr Ng Eng Hen, Prof Richard Levin, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, NUS Board of Trustees Chairman Mr Wong Ngit Liong, and Prof Tan Chorh Chuan at the launch of Yale-NUS on April 11 last year.
While the opening of Yale-NUS College is scheduled for next year, in August 2013, it is already creating controversy at Yale University.
The new campus, and also Singapore’s first liberal arts college, has been facing opposition from increasingly vocal members of the Yale faculty who are concerned about restrictions on academic and political freedom in Singapore.
Then there is the issue recently reported of members of Yale Corporation with ties linking them closely to the Singapore Government. According to The New York Times, three Yale trustees have held important positions at the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation and Temasek Holdings, raising concerns about their involvement in the collaboration
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Opposition, US professors weigh into Yale-NUS freedom debate
The debate about academic freedom at the new Yale-National University of Singapore (NUS) liberal arts college has continued unabated, with Singaporean opposition politicians and American university professors adding their voices to the barrage of criticism of the venture.
The Association of American University Professors (AAUP), which has some 47,000 members, this week expressed “growing concern about the character and impact” of the new Yale-NUS College on academic and personal freedoms.
In an open letter posted on Tuesday and addressed to the ‘Yale community’, AAUP called for all documents and agreements relating to the establishment of the Yale-NUS College to be released by the Singaporean authorities
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Faculty approve Yale-NUS resolution
Despite a statement of opposition from University President Richard Levin, faculty voted by a wide margin to pass a resolution urging Yale-NUS College to uphold principles of non-discrimination and civil liberties at Thursday’s Yale College faculty meeting.
The roughly 200 Yale College faculty members who attended the meeting spent two and a half hours discussing revisions to a resolution proposed last month by philosophy and political science professor Seyla Benhabib GRD ’77. After debating the text of the three-paragraph resolution nearly word for word, professors — including some who support the Singaporean liberal arts college — approved a version that begins by expressing concern over a “history of lack of respect for civil and political rights” in the country. Immediately before the final vote, Levin made a brief statement objecting to that language.
“I felt that the tone of the resolution, especially the first sentence, carried a sense of moral superiority that I found unbecoming,” he told the News Thursday night.
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Beacon of 'light and truth' or 'FrankenYale'? Elite college under fire for opening campus in notoriously restrictive Singapore for students willing to pay $18,000 a year
Ambitious plans: This image shows an artist's rendition of the Yale-NUS College that is expected to open its doors in Singapore in the summer for the first 150 students
The prestigious Yale University, which for the past 300 years has prided itself on training students to question and critique, found itself under fire over plans to open a campus in Singapore – a country notorious for restrictions on free speech.
The liberal arts college is set to open its doors in Singapore next summer, making it the first foreign campus to bear Yale’s name. The ambitious, multimillion-dollar project thrills many in the Yale community who say it will help the university maintain its prestige and build global influence.
But it has also stirred sharp criticism from faculty and human rights advocates who say it is impossible to build an elite college dedicated to free inquiry in an authoritarian nation with heavy restrictions on public speech and assembly.
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AAUP criticizes Yale-NUS
The American Association of University Professors issued a statement Tuesday to express “a growing concern” regarding the establishment of Yale-NUS College.
In the statement, the Association, which is dedicated to upholding academic freedom and promoting shared university governance at schools nationwide, urges the Yale Corporation to release all documents related to the founding of the Singaporean liberal arts college, and calls for the University to establish “appropriate and genuinely open forums” in which the academic and political dimensions of the new school can be debated.
“We are concerned about the implications of the undertaking for academic freedom and the maintenance of educational standards at Yale and elsewhere,” said the statement, which was written by AAUP members Joan Bertin, Marjorie Heins, Cary Nelson and Henry Reichman.
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Yale-NUS to ban protests and political party groups
(New York) – Yale University’s acceptance of Singaporean government restrictions on basic rights at the new Yale-National University of Singapore (NUS) joint campus shows a disturbing disregard for free speech, association, and assembly.
Yale-NUS President Pericles Lewis
told the media in July that students at the new campus, expected to open
in August 2013, can express their views but they will not be allowed to
organize political protests on campus or form political party student
groups.
The Singapore government has long severely restricted the
rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly, and
has imposed harsh punishments on violators, Human Rights Watch said. Full story
Related:
Yale defends plans for new college in Singapore - Huffington Post
Unease grows over freedoms at Yale-NUS - Yale Daily News
Free to study, but not to protest: Yale defends plans for new college in Singapore - The Washington Post
Yale Criticized Over Free Speech Policy at Singapore College - NBC Connecticut
Yale defends political curbs on Singapore campus - Yahoo! News
Yale defends plans for new college in Singapore - stltoday.com
Related:
Yale defends plans for new college in Singapore - Huffington Post
Unease grows over freedoms at Yale-NUS - Yale Daily News
Free to study, but not to protest: Yale defends plans for new college in Singapore - The Washington Post
Yale Criticized Over Free Speech Policy at Singapore College - NBC Connecticut
Yale defends political curbs on Singapore campus - Yahoo! News
Yale defends plans for new college in Singapore - stltoday.com
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Faculty weigh Yale-NUS
At a Thursday faculty meeting, Prof. Seyla Benhabib introduced a resolution expressing concern about Yale-NUS. Photo by Kelly Hsu.
Professors introduced and debated a resolution demanding that Yale-NUS College protect civil liberties and uphold principles of non-discrimination at a Yale College faculty meeting Thursday.
After University President Richard Levin updated faculty on the liberal arts college planned by Yale and the National of University of Singapore, around 15 professors made statements, many of which criticized the Yale-NUS project. Faculty then voted to introduce a new item for debate — a resolution expressing concern about Yale-NUS written by political science and philosophy professor Seyla Benhabib.
The step was unusual in that it first required a two-thirds faculty vote to suspend the rule against presenting motions not already on the agenda, Yale College Dean Mary Miller said. Though the nearly three-hour meeting was twice extended by faculty votes, the roughly 150 professors present voted to postpone a decision on the resolution until their next meeting in April.
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Singaporean opposition leaders challenge Yale-NUS
Chee Soon Juan, secretary-general of the Singapore Democratic Party, urged Yale to not become complicit with the ruling People’s Action Party’s restrictions on campus freedom. Photo by Benjamin Ackerman.
Singaporean opposition leaders challenged the establishment of Yale-NUS at a panel discussion in Sheffield-Sterling-Strathcona Hall Friday afternoon.
Secretary-General of the Singapore Democratic Party Chee Soon Juan and Secretary-General of the Reform Party of Singapore Kenneth Jeyaretnam called for a re-evaluation of Yale’s motives in partnering with the National University of Singapore in the creation of Yale-NUS, condemning Yale’s alleged compliance with restrictions enforced by the People’s Action Party — the party currently in charge of Singapore’s government. Roughly 100 members of the Yale community attended the panel, which was co-sponsored by the Yale International Relations Association and the Council on Southeast Asia Studies at Yale and also included Meredith Weiss, associate professor of political science at the State University of New York at Albany.
“When you seek to advance your interest at the expense of ours, I wonder if you are our friends at all,” Chee said. “Teachers and students, if you will not accept anything less for yourselves here in New Haven, why do you deny it in Singapore?”
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Yale-NUS is not Yale?
Professor of computer science, Michael Fischer writes in the Yale Daily News that "Yale-NUS is not Yale":
"Once freedom of expression is compromised at Yale-NUS, how comfortable can anyone feel that it will continue to be strenuously defended on the New Haven campus? Will Yale faculty feel uncomfortable about expressing views critical of the Singaporean government, perhaps out of fear of damage to our so-called colleagues at our satellite campus in Singapore, or perhaps out of fear of retribution from the Yale administration that has as-yet-undisclosed financial ties with the Singaporean government? Ethical standards cannot be compromised a little bit at a time and retain any force."Austin Shiner has a different view and writes in the Yale Daily News:
"Did these laws render 1960s, '70s and '80s America unfit for liberal arts education? No. Did the Yale faculty abandon its pursuit of light and truth in 1986, when our highest court ruled against its ideals of openness and tolerance? Of course not. Has Yale severed ties with Kansas? Why, then, should section 377A preclude liberal arts education in Singapore?"And if Yale is an Ivy League university in the US, does that make Yale-NUS a Clementi League university in Singapore? Maybe, an S-League university?
As for me, my primary concern is, if Yale-NUS is not Yale, what other names can we use? Here is my list:
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Singapore's Venture With Yale to Limit Protests
Next year, when Yale University welcomes students to its joint venture with the National University of Singapore, campus political life will likely bear little resemblance to that of its Ivy League model.
The joint venture is the first new college to bear Yale's name in 300 years—and the first attempt to start a liberal-arts school in one of Asia's leading financial centers.
But the Singapore campus won't allow political protests, nor will it permit students to form partisan political societies.
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Yale Steps Into the Authoritarian Abyss
This month Yale tried to keep up that pretense as its new, star-crossed liberal arts college -- undertaken with and paid for entirely by the authoritarian city-state of Singapore and its National University of Singapore -- announced that "Students at the new Yale-NUS College will be able to express themselves freely on campus."
Skepticism about this among Yale's own faculty "would fade as people see the "successful education experiment," Business Week was told by Pericles Lewis, the energetically pliable former Yale English professor who is now the new college's president. "We expect students to express all kinds of opinions on campus," he said. "The issue is about going off campus and, there, students will have to abide by the laws of Singapore." The college's first students, who are now being admitted, will arrive just over a year from now.
But something was missing from these on-campus freedoms, I thought -- especially as I read the comments posted by young Singaporeans below a Bloomberg version of the story that was carried on the Singapore website Tremeritus.
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Yale Draws Flak for Its Singapore Adventure
Students walk on the campus of Yale University in New Haven, Conn
To find the origins of Yale University, don’t go to New Haven, Conn., the New England city where this hallowed American institution sits. Instead, spin your globe and head to the old British redoubt of Fort St. George in Chennai (formerly Madras), India.
This was where, in the late 17th century, a certain Elihu Yale made his fortune as a top official of the East India Company — riches that enabled him to eventually donate a carton of 32 books in 1718 to an obscure college he would never see across the oceans in colonial Connecticut. Those books, summarily sold in Boston for the kingly sum of £562, helped shore up the fledgling school that would take his name: Yale. What later became the training ground for five U.S. Presidents, myriad world leaders and generations of American cognoscenti (and, indeed, it was also this reporter’s alma mater) would not be what it is today, were it not for its ties with Asia.
Fast-forward almost three centuries and Yale’s connections to the East are once again dominating events on campus. A much discussed venture into Singapore proceeds apace: the Yale–National University of Singapore (NUS) College is set to open its doors to students in August 2013. Yale’s administrators have touted it as one of Asia’s first liberal-arts colleges, an institution that emphasizes “critical thinking and classroom interaction.” University President Richard Levin trumpeted last year: “Just as Yale shaped liberal-arts education in the U.S. in the 19th century, we believe the new Yale-NUS College can play a pivotal role in shaping the many liberal-arts colleges likely to be built in Asia in the coming decades.”
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The Yale-NUS controversy in perspective — Michael Montesano
There has been understandable concern here in Singapore over the tone and content of last week’s Yale College faculty resolution on the proposed Yale-NUS liberal arts college.
Many Singaporeans found that resolution condescending and even insulting to Singapore. They wondered, too, how well the Yale faculty who voted to support the resolution really understood this country and the texture of its daily life, including the life of its universities.
In fact, the resolution and the vote in its support say far more about Yale than they do about Singapore. They reflect the approach that Yale’s current leadership has taken to the university’s partnership with the National University of Singapore (NUS).
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FISCHER: Yale-NUS is not Yale
Yale-NUS, the new liberal arts college being created in Singapore under the guidance of Yale University and the National University of Singapore, raises two almost completely separate issues. Both are important but easily confused. First, is it possible and desirable to attempt to establish a Western-style liberal arts college in an environment whose social norms do not support freedom of expression? And second, what is the relationship between Yale and Yale-NUS?
Most of the discussion has centered around the first issue. I want to share my views on the second and say why I am troubled by what I am seeing.
Yale is a collegium of scholars dedicated to create, preserve and disseminate knowledge in an environment of mutual trust, tolerance and respect. Its goal is to bring light and truth to a world often confused by darkness and deceit. For over 300 years, the name Yale has stood for these values that the Yale community holds so dear. The current faculty are stewards for these ideals and have the responsibility to preserve and perpetuate them for future generations and for the benefit of society.
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An Open Letter to the AAUP from Yale-NUS College Faculty
Yale-NUS College: Perils and PromisesAn Open Letter to the AAUP from Yale-NUS College Faculty
As members of the Yale-NUS College faculty, we write in response to the American Association of University Professors’ open letter to the Yale University community (December 4, 2012).
We appreciate the AAUP’s concern about the matters outlined in their open letter. Their letter echoes many of the ongoing discussions among Yale-NUS faculty members and administrators as our college policies continue to evolve, and we welcome the AAUP’s interest in our educational mission.
At the same time, we wish to state publicly that no representatives of the AAUP consulted with us, as faculty members and colleagues, about any of our own assessments of, concerns about, and active efforts to promote and secure (i) academic freedom; (ii) the rights of faculty, staff, and students; and (iii) shared faculty governance at Yale-NUS College. Moreover, the AAUP’s open letter, while inviting members of the Yale University faculty to contact the AAUP about future concerns, makes no similar invitation to members of the Yale-NUS faculty. Yale-NUS faculty contact information has been publicly available at the Yale-NUS website since this past summer(http://www.yale-nus.edu.sg/index.php/about/faculty.html).
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SDP to Yale: Respect the rights of Singaporeans
SDP secretary-general Dr Chee Soon Juan has written to Yale-NUS president Professor Pericles Lewis, pointing out the contradiction of promising academic freedom while banning political parties from engaging students on campus. I read with extreme dismay the Wall Street Journal's report that the new Yale-NUS College will not allow "partisan politics" or the formation of "political parties on campus". This includes societies linked to political groups. Beyond that, however, students will be "totally free to express their views."
Yale-NUS will adopt this policy because the Ministry of Education in Singapore insists that the College "will have to comply with the university rules as well as Singapore laws."
The ban is disturbing on two levels. First, would you care to point out what Singaporean law prohibits the conduct of partisan political activities by students or bans the formation of political parties and groups in universities?
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Yale to Ensure Students in Singapore Have Freedom of Expression
Yale-NUS College: Perils and PromisesYale to ensure students in Singapore have freedom of expression
Yale University will ensure its liberal arts campus in Singapore won’t impose censorship amid criticism the city-state’s laws will stifle academic freedom.
Students at the new Yale-NUS College will be able to express themselves freely on campus and skepticism of the venture should fade as people see the “successful education experiment,” Pericles Lewis, president of the Singapore campus, told reporters yesterday.
The college is the first overseas undergraduate campus by the New Haven, Connecticut-based Yale University and is funded by the National University of Singapore, the city’s government and private donors. The venture has been criticized by Yale professors who say they were not consulted in the planning and that they have concerns about civil rights in Singapore, where the government has said restrictions on public assembly and speeches are necessary to maintain social and religious harmony.
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As Yale's Blunder Deepens, Singapore Bares Its Teeth
When the Yale College Faculty passed a resolution in April condemning the "lack of respect for civil and political rights in the state of Singapore, host of the proposed Yale-National University of Singapore College" and urged "Yale-NUS "to uphold civil liberty and political freedom on campus and in the broader society," Yale's president Richard Levin declared that the resolution -- passed in his presence and over his objection -- "carried a sense of moral superiority that I found unbecoming."
Levin then unbecame what he ought to be as president of a liberal-arts university by going to Singapore and giving a speech at the end of last month, the same month in which authoritarian corporate city-state had committed yet another of its abuses against basic civil liberties that have been monitored and condemned by many international observers and advocates -- liberties that, as the Yale faculty resolution emphasized, "lie at the heart of liberal arts education as well as of our civic sense as citizens" and "ought not to be compromised in any dealings or negotiations with the Singaporean authorities."
When Levin gave his speech touting the appointment of the ill-prepared but energetically pliable Yale professor Pericles Lewis as Yale-NUS' first president, Singapore had only recently prevented Chee Soon Juan, Secretary-General of the opposition Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), from leaving the country to give a speech of his own at the Oslo Freedom Forum.
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Anonymous Yale-NUS detractors struck campus this weekend, posting fliers that lambaste Yale-NUS as "undemocratic" and "indefensible."
"Yale-NUS is first and foremost a business venture by the plutocrats who manage [Yale's] endowment," the flier reads, referring to the Yale Corporation, the University's highest governing body.
"Their readiness to unabashedly dismiss concerns for basic rights in the face of potential profit shows the priorities of the university are: decidedly NOT with the students, teachers, and workers they are leaving without a voice." Full story
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Singapore: Yale to Curtail Rights on New Campus
Yale-NUS detractors paper campus with fliers
Anonymous Yale-NUS detractors struck campus this weekend, posting fliers that lambaste Yale-NUS as "undemocratic" and "indefensible."
"Yale-NUS is first and foremost a business venture by the plutocrats who manage [Yale's] endowment," the flier reads, referring to the Yale Corporation, the University's highest governing body.
"Their readiness to unabashedly dismiss concerns for basic rights in the face of potential profit shows the priorities of the university are: decidedly NOT with the students, teachers, and workers they are leaving without a voice." Full story
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Yale University’s acceptance of Singaporean government restrictions on basic rights at the new Yale-National University of Singapore (NUS) joint campus shows a disturbing disregard for free speech, association, and assembly. Yale-NUS President Pericles Lewis told the media in July that students at the new campus, expected to open in August 2013, can express their views but they will not be allowed to organize political protests on campus or form political party student groups.
The Singapore government has long severely restricted the rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly, and has imposed harsh punishments on violators, Human Rights Watch said.
“Yale is betraying the spirit of the university as a center of open debate and protest by giving away the rights of its students at its new Singapore campus,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Instead of defending these rights, Yale buckled when faced with Singapore’s draconian laws on demonstrations and policies restricting student groups.”
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Yale-NUS college saga rages on
It might be just a symbolic gesture but an important one nonetheless, according to Yale University professors: On Friday, the American university's faculty voted 100 to 69 to pass a resolution expressing "concern regarding the history of lack of respect for civil and political rights in the state of Singapore".
The resolution, which was passed despite opposition from Yale president Richard Levin, also called on the planned Yale-NUS college to uphold principles of "non-discrimination for all ... civil liberty and political freedom on campus and in the broader society".
Nevertheless, those who voted for the resolution included supporters of the Yale-NUS college who said they hoped that it would strengthen the partnership between Yale and the National University of Singapore (NUS).
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Forecast for political protest at Yale-NUS College: unclear
Pericles
Lewis, new president of Yale-NUS College (second from right), with
Singapore prime minister Lee Hsien Loong at the college's groundbreaking
this month. Photo: Yale-NUS College
Will students and faculty at Yale’s Singaporean affiliate be allowed to hold political protests on campus?
That’s unclear, says Pericles Lewis, the literature professor who stepped down from the Yale faculty July 1 to become the first president of Yale-NUS College. A joint venture between Yale University and the National University of Singapore, Yale-NUS broke ground this month and will begin enrolling students in 2013.
As Asia’s first liberal arts college, the school—designed by Yale
faculty and funded by the government of Singapore—may test the limits of
free speech in a country that, for example, prosecutes bloggers and journalists.
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Singapore's first liberal arts college to open in 2013
Singapore's first liberal arts college is going to receive its first batch of 150 students in 2013, the National University of Singapore said on Thursday.
The college will be set up jointly by the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the Yale University under an agreement to provide a new model of liberal arts education for Asia in the complex and rapidly changing world. It is the first campus of Yale outside the United States.
Tan Chorh Chuan, president of the NUS, said the new college will benefit from Yale in curriculum designing.
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Yale, NUS set to bring new model of liberal arts education to Asia
Yale University, which has been one of the principal institutions behind shaping liberal arts education in the United States since the 19th century, in collaboration with the National University of Singapore (NUS), will be establishing the Yale-NUS College - an autonomous institute under NUS - as the first ever liberal arts college in the Asian region.
The NUS-Yale collaboration had run into some rough weather following concerns among a section of the Yale faculty and administration over the academic freedom that they could enjoy in the rigidly regulated Singaporean environment. However, with the eventual feeling of assurance that faculty members can research and teach in topics here without restrictions, Yale announced its final decision to go ahead with the project.
The inaugural class of the College will commence in 2013 with about 150 students, and aims to add 250 new students every year, aiming for a total student population of about 1000.
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Yale University to Launch New College in Singapore
Yale University and the National University of Singapore are planning to launch a jointly operated liberal arts college in Singapore, the southeastern island city-nation located at the tip of the Malay Peninsula.
Approximately 5 million people call Singapore home, living in tight quarters in a land area that is slightly smaller than the five boroughs comprising New York City.
Singaporeans are well educated and have some of the highest incomes in the world. The city is also home to one of the largest financial centers in the world, something not lost on Yale which has one of the top business schools in the nation.
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Yale unveils its first overseas campus in Singapore
Yale University has unveiled the first liberal arts
college in Singapore with the National University of Singapore (NUS),
which is its first overseas campus.
The 500,000 square feet Yale-NUS campus will be located to the north of NUS’s existing facilities. It will feature three residential colleges centered around the school’s core facilities. Each of the three residential hubs at Yale-NUS will feature dining halls and classrooms, grouped around an individual quad similar to Yale’s colleges in New Haven. Additional facilities include a library, administrative offices and performing arts spaces such as a performance hall, black box theater and arts studios.
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