Course + Year:NUS BA (History) Y4 + Minor in Art HIstory
From the JC route I took, I was enrolled in H1 GP, H2 History, H2 English Literature, H2 Malay Language and Literature and H1 Maths. Yes, it did play a part in deciding which course I wanted to pursue as I was dead set on taking up a Humanities course and realised my passion in learning Southeast Asian History during my time in JC.
Since the A Levels, I was already set on enrolling myself in History and so I set my eyes on the local universities’ History courses under School of Humanities, mainly looking at NUS and NTU. I was actually taking History through Combined Humanities in Secondary school and I fared quite well in the subject in the O’ Levels and so I decided to complete my all-Humanities/Arts subject combination in JC with H2 History! As for why History even after the A Levels, it’s because of the incredible support system of History teachers I have in JC who not only made History super enjoyable to study (even if it was purely regurgitation) but made sure I fared the best in the subject 🙂
I registered for both but I figured that I couldn’t get to NUS with my rank points, considering that I got 75RP and the cut-off points to enter NUS then was 75. I was initially accepted to NTU’s History course after they interviewed me, but after getting a last-minute offer from NUS, I immediately changed my decision to enrol myself in NUS instead. I chose NUS History as the modules that were taught in NUS leaned towards my preference (it seemed more Southeast Asian-centric?) and that NUS boasts the expansive library resources and materials it has (it truly is expansive). I also chose to go to NUS with consideration of the travel time as I lived in the North side of Singapore.
The factors are namely my proficiency and passion in the relevant subject and also whether my own values are aligned with the career that I intend to pursue. Although the career progression factor was secondary in my thought process, I still took it into consideration in my decision-making process. Career progression wise, initially, I wanted to be an educator in History like my JC History teachers and so during my thought process in applying for universities, I was already set to take a degree in History and PGDE in NTU-NIE.
I think it’s best for juniors to be exposed to the stories of students from different universities but in the same course that the juniors intend to enrol in. For example, for a junior who wants to enter as a Psychology major, he/she could approach seniors who are studying Psychology from the different universities (including overseas ones if possible!). This is so that they would have a better understanding of what each university can offer to them as undergraduates, possible career progression after graduating from these universities and also the realities of university students in their daily lives.
Modules that are available and usually taken by students are:
For exposure level 1000 modules, they have relatively easier concepts to grasp and a very, very broad scope of the discourse at hand. It also encourages (although it might feel a bit forced) students to take up modules different from your major/course such as GER modules (Quantitative Reasoning pillar) where it is mandatory for students to take up a module on Quantitative methods, regardless of their home Faculty and majors.
The level 2000 modules only covers a broad survey of time periods and mainly discusses specific themes the professors intend to bring forth. Examples of some of the Level 2000 modules I took were HY2231 Upheaval in Europe: 1848 – 1918 and HY2249 Art and History. These modules are meant to inspire students to discover their preferences in the kind of History they are more interested to delve into, setting the course for the next few years in NUS.
In Year 3, History majors are expected to be reading Level 2000 and 3000 History modules as part of their graduation requirements. Here, Level 3000 History modules are usually very heavy in content as there is a significant attempt to delve deeper into the theme (e.g. Gender History) while still remaining broad in scope.
Students are encouraged to read a lot in Level 3000 modules to expand their knowledge on the theme itself while attempting to explore the scope of the theme. With this, the students too will be exposed to the historical methodologies of conceiving and writing histories due to the wide variety of readings they will be exploring in these modules.
Some of the Level 3000 modules that I took were HY3225 Minorities in Southeast Asia, HY3246 History of Muslims in Southeast Asia and AH3204 Method and Approaches to Art History (the Art History department was still under the wings of the History department before I graduated).
In Year 4 (or even in some cases, Year 3), History majors will be reading more Level 4000s as part of their graduation requirements. While most of them will take up the Honours Thesis project (worth 15 MCs), there are students who take up Independent Study Modules (ISM) (worth 5 MCs).
Level 4000 modules generally push students to not only source for their own primary and secondary sources to supplement their research and learning, but also to interrogate deeply on the historical methodologies they have learnt throughout the 4 years of studying History. This critical thinking towards the construction of History is explored contingent to the themes and its historical approaches.
Some of the titles of Level 4000 modules that I took were HY4217 Approaches to the Study of Southeast Asian History, HY4230 Historiography and Historical Method and HY4227 Sources of Singaporean History. I have written an ISM paper for my last semester in NUS titled “Feminist in the Archives: Feminist Interventions in the history of Singapore modern art (1950s – 1960s)”.
I think one of the most important characteristics of a NUS History student is that they are generally inseparable from libraries, be it NUS Central Library (CLB) or any other archival and regional libraries. Due to the heavy content of History modules, we spend a great deal reading widely and thoroughly. Thus, a lot of our research on modules will naturally make us gravitate towards libraries a lot (either to find archives or non-online resource materials). We are also usually surrounded by books and journals, which is an ordinary sight I feel.
A lot of our history classes tend to range from morning to evening classes but are rarely scheduled back-to-back with one another. We tend to have at least 1 hour breaks in between classes to rest or go for lunch and actually, the majority of us would use this time to nap everywhere and anywhere we can (we even share our napping spots, best spot being in our Honours Room). For me, a good cup of coffee from Coffee Roasters @ AS8 or Deck (our school canteen) is a good perk-up before classes. You will definitely see our professors too grabbing their cuppa joe before rushing to class. Some of these breaks are also reserved for consultations with them, who are always ready to help.
On hindsight, I think our level 3000 modules (and onwards) are quite mentally exhausting as our professor/teaching assistants (TA) constantly keep the intellectual rigour going. This is also why it is extremely important for us, NUS History students, to stay ahead of our readings so that we will not only be able to understand the content and issue at hand, but also participate actively in class. Usually, there will be assignments to be prepared before classes too.
I think one of my favourite classes would be HY3231 History of the Malay World as I have always wanted to read a module under the History department to understand the Malay society through historical thinking. In my opinion, I became a better History student after this module – as Dr. Kelvin Lawrence, my professor for this class then, always kept us on our toes and challenged us to critically analyse the Malays’ history as written by its victors. It is through his classes where I learnt the significance of contingent thinking – taking an event/opinion rooted to its spatial and temporal context into account – and also how crucial it is to develop an interdisciplinary lens when studying History such as adopting a class approach. His classes left me within more questions than answers on not just History but of life too – as it should be in any undergraduate classes!
Generally, I enjoy the higher level History modules more as it allows me to go more in-depth into the subject matter. Additionally, we tend to have more time to build rapport with our professors through these classes. As Level 3000 modules onwards are most likely to be seminar-based (3-hour class discussions per week) as compared to tutorial-based (2-hour lecture and 2-hour tutorial class per week), we get to be engaged in more intellectual debates and learn more from our peers and our professors chiming in.
I really enjoy learning about the cultural and social history of Southeast Asia and our people and find that the complexity of histories interlinked with one another is truly fascinating to read about. Once I began to read Art History modules, I developed an inclination to studying both modern and contemporary art in Southeast Asia.
I dislike studying military history or monumental histories on European civilisations as it goes against my personal beliefs as a History student. Honestly, even though I tried it in attempts to try to find something new, I did not fare too well in it.
Ah well, simply put, I was actually not inclined to study the history of our colonisers 🙂 I begin to realise the politics of historiographies in European civilisations trivialises the histories of their colonies and one to many times, dehumanises and/or objectifies our own narratives, cultures and people.
It also didn’t sit right with me to only learn about European civilisations that was so often fed to us throughout primary, secondary and tertiary levels of History education. The study of military history and grand strategies of wars have the tendencies of reducing human lives into statistics and numbers for the determination of victors and war-profiteering strategies. Thus, as a humanist and anti-colonialist, I did not really agree with the dominant historiographies that plagued these topics.
The Level 2000 modules usually have a mixed range of students from different faculties and departments. However, in the Level 3000 modules onwards, their numbers start to decrease due to the niche areas of themes covered and intensity of intellectual rigour in these modules. Although there are minor and double-degree programmes offered for FASS students, we are generally too busy taking classes from our Home department for our graduation requirements that some of us miss the chance for interdisciplinary learning.
I think there are better chances to meet people outside of NUS History if you have a variety of interests that you are driven to learn about. Other than that, the opportunity of interdisciplinary learning is quite subliminal and of a somewhat superficial level. For me, I was able to minor in Art History as the course was recently opened for students to register, in 2017. I did take a few classes for Southeast Asian Studies and Malay Studies but was not encouraged to take more than the required modules to graduate from departments outside of my home faculty.
Teaching styles of each professor/TA vary quite distinctly from one another and so there isn’t a dominant style of teaching in NUS History, I would say (even if there is, I’m not really aware of it). Our History professors always maintain a certain standard of intellectual rigour in classes by encouraging us to facilitate the seminar’s discussion or voice our opinions on certain issues. More so in Level 4000 modules, professors will go a step further and give us room to explore a theme by allowing us to critique the methodologies and come up with research-based questions that could launch themselves into theses of their own.
Leaving a NUS history class, especially those of level 3000 modules onwards, would make your mind reel from a lot of questions rather than answers (in a good way). Also, professors do emphasise the importance of interdisciplinary thinking when approaching a theme/event and the contingency it plays in the writing (and rewriting) of histories. Our readings consist of not only writings by historians but are plucked from a diverse spectrum of fields.
Writing an academic/research essay is perennial to every History module and in most cases, it has the heaviest weightage in the module. This is for our examiners to analyse not only our research methods, but also our skills to develop a sound argument corroborated by substantial and contingent evidence. Having the skill to argue effectively is very important in NUS History; it has a lot of weightage in the grading of our papers.
The ability to write well in final exams is also quite critical as it holds the second heaviest weightage, though these final exams appear more so in the level 2000 and level 3000 modules. Also, professors do value students’ abilities to express their thoughts in the class discussion as it usually takes up 10% to 20% of the overall weightage of the module.
Higher level modules also rarely have final exams, which is why it is common for History students to have very little exams at the end of the semester.However, with the heavy content and importance of essay-writing, we are mostly very occupied during the semester with our readings and assignments. This said, some modules do have group projects to work on our presentation skills but in a lot of classes, individual work ethic is key in scoring a satisfying grade.
I would say 90% of our modules’ exams are in essay formats. So, first and foremost, we work on our essay writing a lot! In some cases, our examiners require us to research on the topic itself before going into the exam halls and thus, encourage students to value-add their own research on top of the module’s content. This said, our professors empathise with us whenever the modules’ content gets too “heavy” and/or requires in-depth research before the final exams. Thus, a good majority of the level 4000 modules (and some level 3000 modules) are open-book exams as History shouldn’t be memorised(unlike primary/secondary/tertiary level of History education), but rather, interrogated and understood deeply.
With regards to the type of questions the final exams will have, it is usually the standard A-Level type of argumentative History questions which appears easy to answer but requires time and thought to have a nuanced stance. Some professors put a creative spin on final examinations: they assign an essay in an open format – it could be a short story, play, manifesto, or a complaint letter, even. This is to emphasise the importance of historical imagination for every History student!
For starters, NUS, like most universities, encourages strong independence in learning and seeking knowledge. While there is a reading list to follow throughout the semester for each module, students are advised to read outside of their modules too so as to broaden their thinking on the subject matter itself.
While JC History is mainly regurgitating facts and narratives (I can only comment on the JC syllabus as I took the JC route!), NUS History is entirely different. Historical facts are questioned of its subjectivity and rather than memorising narratives, we are taught to understand the subject positionalities of each narrative and the possibilities of rewriting histories from a different set of lens through historical imagination. While the lower level History modules might echo a bit of what is studied in JC (i.e. time period and space-wise), the pedagogy in teaching and equipping us with reading skills departs from the JC History curriculum. There is now a focus in asking critical questions in texts we have read and understanding the patterns of writing histories. This said, it is incredibly important for us to read widely, beyond our own majors, to understand the academic moulds that fit each field of study.
Thus, one will not be able to answer questions in the final exams if they were to cram last-minute. There is no option of regurgitating what is said in lectures. Rather, you need to insert your own voice based on what you’ve learnt throughout the semester, and express it coherently onto paper in the finals.
I didn’t have much expectations of NUS History before I entered as I wasn’t as informed of the class structure within a semester and what was required of me in every class. I had only based my knowledge of campus life through informative NUS websites and nothing else. However when I started having classes, I began to feel the stress from the fast pace and intensity of each class. Also, I didn’t score too well in my Year 2 as I was unable to grasp complex concepts and express it coherently in my essays. Had I known that my professors would always be ready to have a cup of coffee with me and discuss my essays further, I think I would have fared better in my early years in NUS.
I love being a part of NUS History as it always challenges me to go beyond my discipline when researching about my field of interest. When told to research about our own papers, professors will encourage us to read indiscriminately. Also, History professors always welcome their students for an intense debate about anything under the sun, which I absolutely adore.
I think the things I dislike about the course are strongly tied to the graduation requirements of FASS whereby students are not sufficiently encouraged to take up modules that promote interdisciplinary thinking. I think within FASS, departments worked in silos and so did their students. Rather than being tied by their majors, I would much rather read a mix of my own core modules and modules not from my own faculty and department – which is what I was not aware of in the first few years in NUS. It is only when the Art History course was offered to me in my Year 2 Semester 2 that I realise I could have taken more than the graduation requirements of Unrestricted Electives (UEs) on fields of study I would want to study on i.e. Malay Studies, Southeast Asian Studies.
Definitely the misconception that History majors memorise every historical event because of the myth that our exams are pure regurgitation of historical facts. Doing so might land you a good grade in JC, but it might not get you far in the NUS History department. As mentioned, we are taught to dare to explore multiple historical narratives and the construction of histories itself. Thus, an inquisitive nature and the critical skills to argue against mere historical “facts” is very much valued in the History department.
I think a student who loves to read will do very well in History. Due to the nature of the course and the tantamount of required readings each semester, an NUS History student does not stop reading, ever, in my opinion. For years, I have compared my weekly readings with so many of my friends from different departments in NUS FASS and I’ve found out that a lot of my modules have about 2 – 3 times more required readings to prepare every week for class than they do (e.g. in a week, a Level 3000 Sociology module might have 30 pages of required readings).
I have friends from different majors of FASS that took up the same History modules as I did and complained about the endless amount of readings they could never finish in time. However, I have grown accustomed to the insane amount of readings I have to do and developed a consistent pace to keep up with my readings list for the semester (with some lapses here and there, like any normal human being). With this, I think the student will have to adapt a strong love for reading (beyond leisure reading even) for NUS History.
I would say school readings for one module per week will take me 3 hours to complete. Beyond the curriculum readings, it varies from 2 to 4 hours of researching and reading per module. So in a regular semester, I will need to take around 15 hours reading only school readings and another 20 hours (ish) to research and read beyond my reading list per week!
But my time spent reading might not be relatable to some as I’m a slow-reader when I need to digest information 🙂
Under normal circumstances (COVID-19 aside), our seniors would have graduated and landed on a variety of career paths from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the education sector. While a lot of us do end up in academia and/or civil servants, fewer of us go into sectors like the Arts industry.
Before officially graduating from NUS, I intend to land myself some internships in museums with the Fine Arts as their niche(like the Singapore Art Museum and NTU Centre of Contemporary Art). I want to broaden my experience working in the museum industry, with the little knowledge I have from my Art History minor! From there, I plan to secure a stable job from my networking in this tight-knit industry through my internships and work my way up to be an art curator in Singapore.
While the number of assignments might look less daunting in module description, it is important to note that a lot of research goes behind each assignment. This would mean selecting texts used for your papers, going through these texts and developing an argumentative slant in your research essay. With this, our workload is pretty heavy during the semester as we are constantly occupied in the research process for the assignments.
In my experience, I had “hell weeks”: these were weeks in the semester in which I had multiple essays due. After going through 2 whole years, I managed to find the rhythm to maintain a consistent pace to ensure I don’t feel too burned out from reading and writing during the semester. Although my timetable might not look like I’m bogged down from too many tutorials/classes, I used a lot of my free time reading for my assignments and research interests. Nonetheless, once you get used to it it is easier to slot in leisure time out of school.
For me, I managed to organise 2 dance productions under NUS Ilsa Tari (Malay dance) in my Year 2 and 3 and remain active in the group throughout my years in NUS too. To me, it is really about having discipline to be consistent in your work and establish that work-life balance.
NUS History Society constantly organised activities inclined towards interest in Singapore’s history like history/heritage trails, and even talks and discussion. Unfortunately, I did not take part in them as my time was already occupied by my commitment to NUS Ilsa Tari and my studies.
I live off-campus and I would say that it deterred me a little from joining campus activities as the travelling journey to-and-fro school can be quite tiring. Nonetheless, it does give me some time to chiong read my readings/assignments or even recollect my thoughts for the day, which I truly appreciate.
In my opinion, I think a lot of History students appear to be quite closed off from others due to the individualistic nature of our classes but they shouldn’t be mistaken as cold or indifferent. The community within NUS History Society is really friendly and relates to one another well regarding the struggles we face in our academic paths.
Please do not limit your undergraduate lives by merely taking History modules, as much as it is important to clear your graduation requirements. In my opinion, any graduating FASS student should develop an interdisciplinary lens through their years in NUS and not be bound by their own majors. A lot of my insights for my penultimate Independent Study Modules (ISM) paper are from my discussions with friends who had different majors from mine – mainly Malay Studies, Sociology, and Southeast Asian Studies. Although professors encourage readings from outside your major, please do actually take modules that allow you to explore these readings in greater depth. It will definitely help you to be a better, more empathetic History student.
The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the interviewees and do not reflect the official policy or position of any institution. They are also not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, class, individual or organisation.
The information contained in this website is intended to provide general guidance only. It should not be relied upon as professional advice and does not 100% guarantee admission into any course.
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