Other Courses
Cohort 2014 & before:Â Can read GEM2005, SSA2203, SSA2204 and SSA2221 to fulfill History requirements. Not allowed to read to fulfill GEM/SS/UE requirements.
Cohort 2015 & after:Â Can read GEH1011, GES1009, GES1010 and GES1012 to fulfill History requirements. Students using the courses to fulfil the Major or Minor requirements, will have to take another course to fulfil their General Education requirements.
Cohort 2021 & after: Can read GESS1007, GESS1008 and GESS1010 to fulfill History major requirements. Students using the courses to fulfil the Major requirements, will have to take another course to fulfil their General Education requirements.
Units: 4
Workload: 2-1-0-2-5
Pre-requisite(s)/Preclusion(s)/Cross-listing(s): Nil
This course offers an overview of the major events, actors, and developments that have shaped the course and character of Europe since the French Revolution. From the rise of nationalism, industrialization, and imperialism that paved the way for World War I to the failure of peace, the horrors of World War II, the cold war division of Europe and the ongoing process of integration and European Union enlargement, this course sketches out the making and remaking of Europe during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This course is designed for all students at NUS interested in acquiring an understanding of modern Europe.
Units: 4
Workload: 0-3-0-0-7
Pre-requisite(s): Nil
Preclusion(s): Other Freshman Seminar courses
Cross-listing(s): Nil
This freshman seminar will provide students with an opportunity to examine Australian Society and Culture through a study of literature, films, political structures, foreign policy, social movements, and popular music. Students will investigate what it means to be Australian and just what Australian culture might be.
Units: 4
Workload: 0-3-0-0-7
Pre-requisite(s): Nil
Preclusion(s): Other Freshman Seminar courses
Cross-listing(s): Nil
This course will give students the opportunity to analyse how controversies stemming from the Second World War have been understood, judged, and depicted. Course readings and discussions will focus on four events and their historical representation: the U.S decision to deploy the atomic bomb in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Holocaust, the military strategy of bombing German civilian targets, and the Japanese occupation of Singapore. In this course , students will also develop essay writing and presentation skills.
Units: 4
Workload: 0-3-0-0-7
Pre-requisite(s): Nil
Preclusion(s): Other Freshman Seminar courses
Cross-listing(s): Nil
This seminar introduces first-year students to one of the most significant historical events in the global history of the past century: decolonization. The seminar’s topics include: empire and colonialism, resistance and collaboration, the Cold War, nationalism, issues following decolonization, and the legacy of colonialism. Through reading and discussing primary and secondary texts, this seminar aims to expose students to new arenas of research, and provide them an opportunity to learn skills for active and independent research at the university level.
Units: 4
Workload: 0-3-0-0-7
Pre-requisite(s): Nil
Preclusion(s): Other Freshman Seminar courses
Cross-listing(s): Nil
The aim of this Freshman Seminar is to introduce students to the use of travel narratives as sources for historians. Students will be engage with different forms of travel and their productions to explore such themes as exploration, gender, race and culture. Working individually and in groups, students will have an opportunity to hone their research, writing and oral presentation skills.
Units: 4
Workload: 0-3-0-0-7
Pre-requisite(s): Nil
Preclusion(s): Other Freshman Seminar courses
Cross-listing(s): Nil
How did the lives of human beings become objects of governance? Introduced by Michel Foucault in the 1970s, the concept of biopolitics has been one of the most critical tools in investigating the control and regulation of different levels of human life—from individual bodies to populations. Through examining the production and use of medical and scientific knowledge of human life in imperial, colonial, and national histories, this course explores historical processes in which human lives gradually came to be included in various practices of political power. Discussion topics include: race, gender/sexuality, public health and hygiene, population control, and eugenics.
Units: 4
Workload: 3-1-0-4-2
Pre-requisite(s): Nil
Preclusion(s): GEK2049, GEH1013
Cross-listing(s): Nil
Piracy, understood broadly as violence or crime at sea, is a present day phenomenon and yet one which has a history spanning centuries and across all the oceans of the world. From pirates to privateers, corsairs to raiders, maritime predators take various names and forms. This course explores the history of pirates and piracy. By examining case studies from the 1400s onwards and by placing pirates into the context of oceanic history and maritime studies, students will be able to demystify the popular images often associated with pirates.
Units: 4
Workload: 2-1-0-0-7
Pre-requisite(s): Nil
Preclusion(s): GEH1077
Cross-listing(s): Nil
More people live in cities now than in any other point in history: how does this change human culture and civilisations? Cities tell a story of our world; they are a testament to humankind’s ability to reshape the environment in lasting ways. They reveal how we interact with the environment and with each other. Cities are created in many forms and for many reasons ranging from defense, religion and economic activity. Through case studies this courses examines urban history, lived experiences and how city life has changed over time.
Units: 4
Workload: 2-1-0-2-5
Pre-requisite(s): Nil
Preclusion(s): GEH1079
Cross-listing(s): Nil
This course seeks to analyse why killing ‘unarmed civilians’ has been so commonplace in war, across time and space. Why were defenceless unarmed people killed by armed forces? The word now used to define this theme is ‘non-combatant.’ But neither word nor concept is primordial, or was universal. The notion that some types of people should not be targets for military operations did not spring from our consciousness, or from any abstract sense of ethics or morality. It evolved historically, and not in any straight line. This course will ask the direct questions: how, why and to what ends?
Units: 4
Workload: 2-1-0-1-6
Preclusion(s): GET1037
Cross-listing(s): Nil
This course discusses the ‘big picture’ of History by considering defined themes that range across time and space. The focus is not on individual societies or time periods, but on questions related to commonalities in developments across all societies. This approach is like looking at a painting from a distance instead of at the brush strokes that constitute it, and will lead to questions about what human activities and experiences constitute the global experience. As part of the Thinking and Expression pillar, this course will help students think historically and also critically engage the maxim that ‘the past is a foreign country.’
Units: 4
Workload: 2-1-0-2-5
Preclusion(s): Nil
Cross-listing(s): Nil
This course is intended to whet students’ appetites for a gustatory exploration of the past. We will consider various historical exchanges of ingredients across the globe, the refinement of techniques of culinary preparation, rituals of consumption, table manners and cutlery as well as the cultural significance of acts of feasting or fasting. Various religious, medical and cultural dietary regulations and taboos will be examined, along with the rise of sumptuary rules and connoisseurial practices, and the development of ‘dining out’. Finally we will analyse the role of food in the formation of various identities: nation, gender, class, diaspora.
Units: 4
Workload: 2-1-0-3-0-4
Preclusion(s): Nil
Cross-listing(s): Nil
This course traces how the sky has shaped cultures from across the world and in different times. We will explore how skywatching has provided answers to fundamental questions, such as the origins of life and the world, how society should be organised, and how our lives should be led. We will consider perspectives from Indigenous, European and Asian cosmologies, and discuss practices of prediction including astrology and meteorology. We will ponder the implications of technology that is now reshaping our sky. You will have the opportunity to reconnect with the sky and to discuss what the skies mean to you.
Units: 4
Workload: 2-1-0-2-0-5
Preclusion(s): Nil
Cross-listing(s): Nil
This course examines the relationship between economics and war. Armed conflict has always required the deep involvement of profit-seeking actors: mercenaries, merchants, trading companies, banks, corporations, and contractors. In turn, innovation and infrastructural development have instigated new methods of warfare. By examining the intersection of military and economic forces from around the world, from the early modern era to the present day, the course explores how the exigences of war have shaped the emergence of the nation-state, the development of capitalism, and the creation of global labor markets.
Units: 4
Workload: 2-1-0-5-0-2
Preclusion(s): SC2217
Cross-listing(s): Nil
This course offers a broad survey of the evolution of travel and tourism, delving into its historical foundations and contemporary complexities. Students will examine the history of travel and exploration and its impact on cultural exchange, empire-building, economic development, and global connectivity. Students will trace the historical roots of the booming travel and tourism industry, and be introduced to contemporary issues related to travel consumerism, sustainability, and the influence of technology and social media. Students will develop an understanding of the multifaceted nature of travel and tourism within the broader historical and contemporary context of societal, cultural, and environmental dynamics.
Units: 4
Workload: 2-2-0-0-2-4
Preclusion(s): Nil
Cross-listing(s): Nil
When Rome grew into an empire, the city transformed itself into the capital of the known world. It was the first – and until London in the early 19th century – the only Western city to reach a population of a million. Rome reflected the grandeur and diversity of its empire. It was a cosmopolitan, multi-lingual, and multi-ethnic mega-city, which showcased Roman might, organizational efficiency, and cultural wealth through public works, monumental architecture, and a consumer culture. Studying Rome offers insights into the genealogy of Western urbanism and statecraft, because the city and its empire became paradigmatic in Western Eurasia.
Units: 4
Workload: 3-1-0-4-2
Pre-requisite(s): Nil
Preclusion(s): GEK2049, GEC1003
Cross-listing(s): Nil
Piracy, understood broadly as violence or crime at sea, is a present day phenomenon and yet one which has a history spanning centuries and across all the oceans of the world. From pirates to privateers, corsairs to raiders, maritime predators take various names and forms. This course explores the history of pirates and piracy. By examining case studies from the 1400s onwards and by placing pirates into the context of oceanic history and maritime studies, students will be able to demystify the popular images often associated with pirates.
Units: 4
Workload: 2-1-0-2-5
Pre-requisite(s): Nil
Preclusion(s): Nil
Cross-listing(s): Nil
This course examines the social and cultural significance of superhero entertainments. Particular attention is paid to the origins of superheroes in comic books and the manner in which the major two companies, DC and Marvel, positioned those heroes in blockbuster movies commencing with Superman in 1978. The course traces the antecedents of comic book superheroes, discuss their various incarnations in other media forms like radio and television, and culminates in a discussion of the wave of recent superhero films. The course will also cover some of the strategies companies have adopted in licensing and marketing their superheroes.
Units: 4
Workload: 2-1-0-0-7
Pre-requisite(s): Nil
Preclusion(s): GEC1030
Cross-listing(s): Nil
More people live in cities now than in any other point in history: how does this change human culture and civilisations? Cities tell a story of our world; they are a testament to humankind’s ability to reshape the environment in lasting ways. They reveal how we interact with the environment and with each other. Cities are created in many forms and for many reasons ranging from defense, religion and economic activity. Through case studies this course examines urban history, lived experiences and how city life has changed over time.
Units: 4
Workload: 2-1-0-2-5
Pre-requisite(s): Nil
Preclusion(s): GEC1031
Cross-listing(s): Nil
This course seeks to analyse why killing ‘unarmed civilians’ has been so commonplace in war, across time and space. Why were defenceless unarmed people killed by armed forces? The word now used to define this theme is ‘non-combatant.’ But neither word nor concept is primordial, or was universal. The notion that some types of people should not be targets for military operations did not spring from our consciousness, or from any abstract sense of ethics or morality. It evolved historically, and not in any straight line. This course will ask the direct questions: how, why and to what ends?
Units: 4
Workload: 2-1-0-2-5
Preclusion(s): HY2239, SSA2203, GESS1007
Cross-listing(s): Nil
This course traces the business history of Singapore from its origins as an East India Company outpost, as an entrepôt for regional and international trade routes to its current status as a global city and centre for international finance and business. This course offers an introduction to business history and explores different case studies in the local context. These case studies range from ‘rags to riches’ stories of early migrant communities, popular local brands, and present day entrepreneurs. Major topics include: trading communities, commodities, networks and migration, entrepreneurship, business culture, heritage, globalisation, state, politics and business.
Units: 4
Workload: 2-1-0-2-5
Preclusion(s): HY2229, SSA2204, USE2304, GESS1008
Cross-listing(s): Nil
This course is about Singapore’s emergence from British colonial rule and merger with Malaysia to independence and nation-building. It covers political events, the economy, education, national service, ethnic relations, and culture and national identity. Students are encouraged to think through issues central to these topics.
Units: 4
Workload: 2-1-0-2-5
Pre-requisite(s): Nil
Preclusion(s): SSA2211, GESS1009
Cross-listing(s): Nil
Histories of Singapore have conventionally been narrated along internal lines, framed by administrative, political and national trajectories. Yet, the evolution of Singapore, from regional emporium to imperial port and strategic naval base, has all along been defined by much larger regional and transoceanic forces. Even after political independence in 1965, Singapore continues to project itself as a 'global city-state'. This courese seeks to examine the historical evolution of Singapore against the contexts of global changes and developments from the 14th to the 21st century. This course is open to all students interested in Singapore studies.
Units: 4
Workload: 2-1-0-2-0-5
Preclusion(s): HY2254, SSA2221, GESS1010
Cross-listing(s): Nil
This course is designed for both History and non-History students to explore the development and evolution of popular culture in Singapore from the colonial period to the present day. Students will learn diverse topics including Singapore's changing religious landscape, wedding and death rituals, as well as varied forms of popular entertainment from street opera, amusement parks to radio and cinema. Students should expect to gain a sensitivity to change and continuities within historical contexts, to better understand Singapore’s rich cultural heritage and to hone their skills in critical thinking, writing and presentation.
Units: 4
Workload: 2-1-0-2.5-4.5
Preclusion(s): GESS1026
Cross-listing(s): Nil
This course facilitates an introductory inquiry into Singaporean pasts based on a cache of 'objects', broadly defined. Students will be invited to make critical observations and bring to bear their imaginations on a variety of 'objects' from Singapore’s pasts: sand, well, club, movie and sound card, among others. Students will then exercise their historical imaginations to generate interpretive possibilities pertaining to Singapore's past prompted by these objects, both individually and collectively. In reflecting on these objects and their possible connections to the past, students will emerge from this course with a broad, diverse, creative and concrete grasp of Singapore's histories.
Units: 4
Workload: 2-1-0-2-5
Preclusion(s): HY2239, SSA2203, GES1009
Cross-listing(s): Nil
This course traces the business history of Singapore from its origins as an East India Company outpost, as an entrepôt for regional and international trade routes to its current status as a global city and centre for international finance and business. This course offers an introduction to business history and explores different case studies in the local context. These case studies range from ‘rags to riches’ stories of early migrant communities, popular local brands, and present day entrepreneurs. Major topics include: trading communities, commodities, networks and migration, entrepreneurship, business culture, heritage, globalisation, state, politics and business.
Units: 4
Workload: 2-1-0-2-5
Preclusion(s): HY2229, SSA2204, USE2304, GES1010
Cross-listing(s): Nil
This course is about Singapore’s emergence from British colonial rule and merger with Malaysia to independence and nation-building. It covers political events, the economy, education, national service, ethnic relations, and culture and national identity. Students are encouraged to think through issues central to these topics.
Units: 4
Workload: 2-1-0-2-5
Pre-requisite(s): Nil
Preclusion(s): SSA2211, GES1011
Cross-listing(s): Nil
Histories of Singapore have conventionally been narrated along internal lines, framed by administrative, political and national trajectories. Yet, the evolution of Singapore, from regional emporium to imperial port and strategic naval base, has all along been defined by much larger regional and transoceanic forces. Even after political independence in 1965, Singapore continues to project itself as a 'global city-state'. This course seeks to examine the historical evolution of Singapore against the contexts of global changes and developments from the 14th to the 21st century. This course is open to all students interested in Singapore studies.
Units: 4
Workload: 2-1-0-2-0-5
Preclusion(s): HY2254, SSA2221, GES1012
Cross-listing(s): Nil
This course is designed for both History and non-History students to explore the development and evolution of popular culture in Singapore from the colonial period to the present day. Students will learn diverse topics including Singapore's changing religious landscape, wedding and death rituals, as well as varied forms of popular entertainment from street opera, amusement parks to radio and cinema. Students should expect to gain a sensitivity to change and continuities within historical contexts, to better understand Singapore’s rich cultural heritage and to hone their skills in critical thinking, writing and presentation.
Units: 4
Workload: 2-1-0-2.5-4.5
Preclusion(s): GES1037
Cross-listing(s): Nil
This course facilitates an introductory inquiry into Singaporean pasts based on a cache of 'objects', broadly defined. Students will be invited to make critical observations and bring to bear their imaginations on a variety of 'objects' from Singapore’s pasts: sand, well, club, movie and sound card, among others. Students will then exercise their historical imaginations to generate interpretive possibilities pertaining to Singapore's past prompted by these objects, both individually and collectively. In reflecting on these objects and their possible connections to the past, students will emerge from this course with a broad, diverse, creative and concrete grasp of Singapore's histories.
Units: 4
Workload: 2-1-0-4-3
Preclusion(s): Nil
Cross-listing(s): Nil
This course is an introduction to gender and sexuality issues in Singapore from a historical perspective. We examine how our everyday understandings of gender have been formed in a long, complex process of negotiation over the twentieth century. In five themes 1) religion and marriage, 2) non-binary histories, 3) state morality, 4) queer stories and 5) gender troubles, we trace how state and religious authorities have shaped sexual behaviours and gender identities, with varying degrees of conformity and contestation from groups and individuals. Throughout history, gender remained fluid despite multiple attempts at restraining sexuality.
Units: 4
Workload: 2-1-0-1-6
Preclusion(s): GEC1037
Cross-listing(s): Nil
This course discusses the ‘big picture’ of History by considering defined themes that range across time and space. The focus is not on individual societies or time periods, but on questions related to commonalities in developments across all societies. This approach is like looking at a painting from a distance instead of at the brush strokes that constitute it, and will lead to questions about what human activities and experiences constitute the global experience. As part of the Thinking and Expression pillar, this course will help students think historically and also critically engage the maxim that ‘the past is a foreign country.’
Units: 4
Workload: 2-1-0-0-0-7
Preclusion(s): Nil
Cross-listing(s): Nil
Non-human animals have been essential actors in human society from its beginnings. Their existence has often been taken for granted, however, both in daily life and scholarship. This course will foreground the human/non-human animal relationship, taking methodologies from history, zoology, bioethics, and allied fields. It will be organised around such themes as the domestication, breeding, eating, worshipping, ownership, and conservation of animals, and modern conceptions like biodiversity, zoonoses, and speciesism. Students will not only be exposed to the thriving interdisciplinary scholarship on the human/animal relationship but also be invited to reflect on the role of animals in their own lives.
Units: 4
Workload: 2-1-0-2-5
Prerequisite: HY2239, GES1009
Cross-listing(s): Nil
This course traces the business history of Singapore from its origins as an East India Company outpost, as an entrepôt for regional and international trade routes to its current status as a global city and centre for international finance and business. This course offers an introduction to business history and explores different case studies in the local context. These case studies range from ‘rags to riches’ stories of early migrant communities, popular local brands, and present day entrepreneurs. Major topics include: trading communities, commodities, networks and migration, entrepreneurship, business culture, heritage, globalisation, state, politics and business.
Units: 4
Workload: 2-1-0-2-5
Pre-requisite(s): HY2229, GES1010, USE2304
Cross-listing(s): Nil
This course is about Singapore’s emergence from British colonial rule and merger with Malaysia to independence and nation-building. It covers political events, the economy, education, national service, ethnic relations, and culture and national identity. Students are encouraged to think through issues central to these topics.
Units: 4
Workload: 2-1-0-2-5
Pre-requisite(s): Nil
Preclusion(s): GES1011
Cross-listing(s): Nil
Histories of Singapore have conventionally been narrated along internal lines, framed by administrative, political and national trajectories. Yet, the evolution of Singapore, from regional emporium to imperial port and strategic naval base, has all along been defined by much larger regional and transoceanic forces. Even after political independence in 1965, Singapore continues to project itself as a 'global city-state'. This course seeks to examine the historical evolution of Singapore against the contexts of global changes and developments from the 14th to the 21st century. This course is open to all students interested in Singapore studies.
Units: 4
Workload: 2-1-0-2-5
Preclusion(s): HY2254, GES1012
Cross-listing(s): Nil
Popular Culture in Singapore is designed for both History and non-History students to look at the development of popular culture in Singapore from the colonial period to the present day. By learning about street theatre, local films, and theme parks among others, students will explore thematic issues like diasporic, immigrant and cosmopolitan communities; colonial impact; stratification of society by class, race and religion; surveillance; gender and the body; family and social spaces (theme parks, social clubs, sports fields). Students are expected to gain a sensitivity to historical contexts, and to better understand Singapore’s rich cultural heritage – what has been lost, what has been recovered, the politics of heritage as well as the political, social and economic realities in Singapore’s historical trajectory.