TAN WEI JIAN, TERENCE

M.Soc.Sci Student

Research Title: Decoupling and Assemblaging Spatio-Temporal Infrastructure and Taiwanese Identities of Youth
Research Group: Social and Cultural Geographies (SCG)
Thesis Advisor: Dr Dylan Brady

I am Terence Tan, a Master’s candidate in the Department of Geography. While my predominant research interest lies in social and cultural geographies, I also dabble in legal geography and jurisprudence. After graduating from NUS in 2023, I worked as a research assistant in SMU under Professor Orlando Woods, examining international Indian students’ sense of belonging in Singapore.

For my Master’s thesis, I seek to understand how spaces, which are historically and legislatively entwined, inform and are informed by the collective (community/national) identities, which are socio-culturally and politically embodied. Grounding my project, I will be examining the relationship between Creative and Cultural parks in Taiwan and the formation of identities amongst Taiwanese youths. Particularly, the study wants to determine the impacts said parks, which are steeped in colonial histories, have in informing and shaping identities formation amongst Taiwanese youths. Conversely, the study will also examine the roles that Taiwanese youths play in changing the purpose and operation of these Creative and Cultural Parks.