Amanda Gan (Ms)

Proposed Thesis Title:
Supervisor: Associate Professor Sayaka Chatani

I graduated with a First Class (Hons) in History BA from King’s College London in 2021. There, I completed two undergraduate dissertations: the first was titled ‘A Dragon Is Born In A Brook’ about contemporary historical Korean dramas and what they reflect about popular Korean national memory, and the second was titled ‘Masculinity and Femininity are afoot in World War Two Britain’ about the expectations on expressions of wartime masculinity and femininity in Britain during the Second World War, in crime fiction books set and written during the war.

Upon graduation, I joined the Singapore Tourism Board and was part of the Formula 1 team where I oversaw the government hospitality suite at the race in 2023, and the Exhibitions and Conferences team, to promote Singapore as Asia’s leading MICE destination and anchor industry leading B2B tradeshows in Singapore.

I am interested in Modern East Asian socio-economic history and how the crossroads of imperialism and the two world wars have characterised the region. With my background in British history, I am also keen in the intersections between Britain and East Asia. I also enjoy Memory studies and find the politics and commercialisation of it extremely interesting.

I enjoy going for runs, watching TV and films (mystery and crime fiction are my favourite genres), and my favourite literary works are the critiques and essays by George Orwell and CS Lewis, and the Cold War espionage novels by John Le Carre.