Short Course

Continuing Education & Training

Course ID: TGS-2024043279

Enhancing Ethical Reasoning in Corrections (Synchronous e-learning)

In this course, participants will learn the larger socio-legal and ethical issues behind decision making. Participants will also learn a range of decision-making models and how to systematically think through ethical dilemmas.

Course Information

Course Date
6-7 May 2024

Course Fees
$1,700.00* - full course fee
$510.00* - 70% course fee funding
$170.00* - 90% course fee funding *excludes GST

Register Here
Course Objectives

1. Understand ethical reasoning and decision-making guidelines.
2. Understand how to identify ethical issues.
3. Apply guidelines to relevant contexts
4. Be familiar with general ethical principles.
5. Learn ethical-decision making models.
6. Aware of which stakeholders to work with.

Entry Requirements

Degree holders of relevant background, uniformed officers who focus on supervision, or rehabilitation specialists with at least three years’ experience.

Course Instructors

dr george

Dr George Radics

Department of Sociology and Anthropology

Dr. George Radics received his PhD from the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the National University of Singapore. He currently teaches Law in Society, Selected Topics in Law and Justice, Social Thought and Social Theory, and Sociology of Emotions. After receiving his PhD, Dr. Radics studied law at the University of Washington, where he obtained his law degree with a concentration in Asian law. Dr. Radics served as a research attorney at the Supreme Court of Guam for two years after graduating from law school. His interests are law and minorities, sociology of the law, criminal law, sociology of emotions, postcolonial studies, and Southeast Asia.

dr image

Dr Lohsnah Jeevanandam

Department of Psychology

Senior Lecturer
Director of Clinical Psychology Programme
D.Clin.Psych (Queensland), BA (Hons) (Sydney)

Research interests:
•Developmental disabilities
•Dual diagnosis
•Behavioral modification
•Parenting programmes

Recent/Representative Publications:
• Jeevanandam, L. (2009). Perspectives of intellectual disability in Asia: Epidemiology, policy, and services for children and adults. Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 22, 462-468.
• Jeevanandam, L. & Oei, T.P. (2010). Service providers working with persons with intellectual disability: Burnout, coping, self-efficacy, attitudes, and psychological well-being. LAP Lambert Academic Publishing: Germany.

Course Fees

Full Programme Fee $1,700.00 $1,700.00 $1,700.00 $1,700.00 $1,700.00
Less: SSG Funding Eligible for Claim Period 1 Jul 2021 to 30 Jun 2024 $0.00 $1,190.00 $1,190.00 $1,190.00 $1,190.00
Nett Programme Fee $1,700.00 $510.00 $510.00 $510.00 $510.00
9% GST on Nett Programme Fee $153.00 $45.90 $45.90 $45.90 $45.90
Total Nett Programme Fee Payable Including GST $1,853.00 $555.90 $555.90 $555.90 $555.90
Less Additional Funding if Eligible under Various Schemes $0.00 $0.00 $340.00 $0.00 $340.00
Total Net Programme Fees Payable Including GST, After Additional Funding From The Various Funding Schemes $1,853.00 $555.90 $215.90 $555.90 $215.90

Notes
Course Code: TGS-2024043279

*Learners must fulfill at least 75% attendance and pass all assessment components, to be eligible for SSG funding.

**Please note that the mode of delivery is subject to change in light of the COVID-19 situation.

Courses marked ‘online’ may have compulsory face-to-face sessions such as laboratory or hands-on components and details should be sought from the schools or departments before learners register for them.

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Level 4000 Courses

Course Description

* denotes core courses

Note: Undergraduate students from cohort 2020 and earlier should read SC Level-4000 courses with the HM suffix worth 5 units. Undergraduate students from cohort 2021 onwards should read SC Level-4000 courses without the HM suffix worth 4 units.

Professional Certificate in Correctional

Continuing Education & Training

Professional Certificate in Correctional

From its earliest beginning, the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at NUS has combined the disciplines of Sociology and Anthropology. Graduate students can benefit from learning a wide range of theoretical and methodological approaches within both disciplines.

About the Professional Certificate

This professional certificate is comprised of four short courses, each hosted by a different department at NUS, over the course of 6-7 days. Each course serves as a masterclass in correctional management, with more details available below.

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Department of Sociology and Anthropology

Enhancing Ethical Reasoning in Corrections

Learning Outcomes:
In this course, participants will learn the larger socio-legal and ethical issues behind decision making. Participants will also learn a range of decision-making models and how to systematically think through ethical dilemmas.

Find Out More
charles-postiaux-efkSReIxQAw-unsplash
Department of Social Work

Multicultural Sensitivity in Corrections

Learning Outcomes:
This workshop is intended to be interactive, experiential and reflective. Learning will be derived from experiential exercises, case discussions, personal and group-level reflections, role-plays, demonstrations, stories as well as some short lecture vignettes.

Find Out More
Frame 273
Department of Psychology

Integrating Theory (Case Formulation) and Use of Self (Reflective Practice) in Community Correction

Learning Outcomes:
This workshop aims to provide staff with confidence in their casework with clients and increase their flexibility in using different types of interventions.

Find Out More
tingey-injury-law-firm-veNb0DDegzE-unsplash
Department of Social Work

Process and Punishment

Learning Outcomes:
The course will introduce participants to the sociological and psychological issues relating to incarceration and their impact on the processes of prisonization, prisoner identity construction and management, and subsequent reintegration into society.

Find Out More

The Half-life of Knowledge

 IN BRIEF | 10 min read

  • There is now an indisputable requisite to equip graduates with interdisciplinary knowledge and skillsets. We need both the agile lenses of interdisciplinarity as well as the deep-cutting laser of deep domain expertise. The former trains us to aim and focus the laser, while the latter allows us to cut to the heart of a problem.

NUS strongly believes in providing interdisciplinary pathways for its students.


| By Professor Tan Eng Chye |

“Teach a person to fish, and you may feed them for three-and-a-half years” may sound less inspiring than “Teach a person to fish, and you feed them for a lifetime”, but the former more accurately reflects the current realities of tertiary education.

Breaking news travels at warp speed, accelerated by social media and instant messaging. In a matter of minutes, news can reach the four corners of the world. Such interconnectedness highlights the leaps made in information technology over the years while underscoring a persistent and inexorable phenomenon – the reduction of the half-life of knowledge.

The half-life of knowledge, coined by Fritz Machlup in 1962, refers to the amount of time elapsed before half of the knowledge in a particular field is superseded or becomes obsolete. Given the speed with which knowledge develops and is shared, it is perhaps not surprising that this value is ever decreasing in many fields.

This phenomenon raises fundamental questions about our university degree programmes. How should a fresh graduate, filled with aspirations to change the world, deal with the harsh reality that a significant portion of their undergraduate training may be rendered irrelevant by the simple passage of time?

Distilling a degree programme is one possible, albeit drastic approach. We can consider equipping students only with evergreen core domain concepts. This training should take less time than our current degree programmes. As and when students require specific new knowledge, or need to upgrade existing knowledge, they can take short courses to bridge knowledge gaps and meet their professional needs. This type of “just in time” learning, also known as micro-credentialing, helps to circumvent the shortened half-life by injecting cutting-edge knowledge at just the right time.

Another less disruptive approach is revitalisation. We can maintain the current degree programme structure, but provide avenues for graduates to return to university in the future. Such short stints of study can follow existing models for bite-sized, self-contained courses, or semester-long study periods undertaken with the support of employers.

One certainty is that university study will cease to be just one stage of life. Instead, “university studies” will become the de facto way of studying, with a person continually refreshing and renewing their knowledge in tandem with or in anticipation of developments in industry, society and the world.

In anticipation of this, we created the NUS Lifelong Learners Programme (or NUS L3), which  promises a 20-year period of student enrolment, from the point of undergraduate or postgraduate admission. In other words, a graduate of NUS can choose to come back to campus to take courses for at least 20 years from the day of matriculation.

Interdisciplinarity
Beyond the way knowledge is acquired, we are also grappling with working in an increasingly VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) world. In such a context, can we continue to hold a siloed view of domain disciplines? In training law students, for example, we would be remiss not to show them basic programming, which can allow them to create customised commands to quickly and easily trawl through databases, with millions of legal records, to identify precedents.

Deep domain expertise is like a laser – a focused beam of knowledge that can cut through dense problems. However, real-world issues are increasingly multifaceted and ill-defined, often lacking a clear vulnerable spot at which a laser beam can be aimed.

As a mental experiment, consider the challenge of introducing autonomous electric vehicles to a city. This proposition involves urban design, city planning, the law, and engineering for accessibility. We can form a multidisciplinary team of experts, where each member is a domain expert, to tackle the issue. However, in all likelihood, we will encounter misalignment between domains, simply owing to differences in problem-solving methodology, thinking models or even nomenclature.

If we liken domain training to equipping students with specific lenses through which they can see and focus on information to solve a problem, then interdisciplinarity suggests that we should train students to operate across more than one domain. By educating them in core ideas from multiple domains and providing opportunities to apply their knowledge in authentic settings, students with interdisciplinary training can switch domain lenses as needed, solving problems using novel and unorthodox approaches that transcend domains.

To be clear, we are not advocating for dismantling deep domain training. Rather, we recognise that there is now an indisputable requisite to equip graduates with interdisciplinary knowledge and skillsets. We need both the agile lenses of interdisciplinarity as well as the deep-cutting laser of deep domain expertise. The former trains us to aim and focus the laser, while the latter allows us to cut to the heart of a problem.

NUS strongly believes in providing interdisciplinary pathways for our students. In 2020, we created the College of Humanities and Sciences (CHS) to provide an enhanced interdisciplinary undergraduate experience for students of the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. CHS undergraduates can choose between deep domain training or the flexibility of interdisciplinary training of varying breadth and depth in modules offered by both faculties. Continuing our efforts to pave more interdisciplinary pathways for students, in 2021, we merged the School of Design and Environment and the Faculty of Engineering to form the College of Design and Engineering. More recently, NUS launched NUS College, Singapore’s first honours college offering pathways to more than 50 majors across a half dozen degree programmes. The aim of NUS College, as explained by its inaugural dean, Professor Simon Chesterman, “[is to offer] broad, interdisciplinary competencies that equip students for life, along with the opportunity to dive deep into areas in which you are passionate.”

To quote Charles Dickens, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness.” Indeed, our experiences with the global pandemic and its effects on education over the past two years have given us the rare opportunity to engage in deep reflection and introspection. Witnessing the breakdown of resistance to adopting and adapting technology for teaching and learning during this time, we should be emboldened to re-examine and revolutionise some of our established, and perhaps outmoded, notions of how to offer higher education.

About the Author

Professor Tan Eng Chye is President of the National University of Singapore. A passionate academic and educator, Prof Tan is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global University Leaders’ Forum, as well as Singapore’s Future Economy Council, which is tasked with driving the growth and transformation of the country’s future economy.

 

This article was first published in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2023 supplement and first appeared in NUSNews on 4 November 2022.

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Here are some useful information before submitting your application

Application Procedure

The Department offers one intake per academic year, which is the August intake. The application period is from 16 May to 1 November, in the year preceding the intake.

Application outcomes will be released in May.

Apply Here

Applicants must apply online. Please access the online system and complete the application.

If your application is shortlisted for admission, you will be contacted by the department after the deadline and will be asked to submit your application package to them by post.

Only shortlisted candidates will be notified for interviews via Zoom. Interviews usually take place in late November/early December.

Application Requirements

In general, applicants without a background in Sociology or Anthropology can be considered for admission.

Before submitting the application, applicants may seek the consent of any faculty member to be their potential thesis advisor. However, for successful Sociology candidates, the Department reserves the right to assign a thesis advisor(s) and will make arrangements for a mentorship programme, whereby a mentor will be assigned to guide the Sociology newcomer during the first semester. Subsequently, if the partnership works out well, the mentor will become the official thesis advisor.

The minimum criteria for admission to our master’s and PhD programme are as follows:

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Making a Tangible Difference in Her Community

 IN BRIEF | 10 min read

  • Nur Hikmah Binte Md Ali hopes “to address some of the problematic ideas that are rampant in society.”.

Hikmah felt that Malay Studies and Sociology were relevant to her experiences and would enable her to make sense of the multifaceted nature of society.

Growing up as a Madrasah student, Nur Hikmah Binte Md Ali was keenly aware of assumptions that religion is both cause and panacea to certain problems.

Concerned about such assumptions, she was motivated to deepen her understanding of the issues within the Malay Muslim community.

So when it came to choosing what to study in university, the choice was simple. Without hesitation, she clicked on “Malay Studies” on the online application form.

“I found that Malay Studies in NUS was most relevant to my personal experiences and would help me to make sense of my own society,” said Hikmah, who also selected Sociology as her minor.

Both these courses combined to give her new insights as well as learning tools, enabling her to challenge the status quo by digging deeper to examine the root causes of the key issues affecting her community.

With her newfound knowledge, Hikmah decided to share her observations by writing various commentaries that were published in Berita Mediacorp, the Malay news arm of Mediacorp.

Her commentaries have explored topics such as religion and its role in social development programmes, as well as undergraduate education – both in relation to the Malay-Muslim community.

Turning knowledge into action
Hikmah also sought to make an impact within the university. In 2020, she became the President of the NUS Malay Studies Society.

Driven by her passion to raise awareness of socio-economic issues and policies, she organised several forums where speakers were invited to share about a wide range of issues pertaining to the development of the Malay community – extending to topics such as gender and sexuality.

Hikmah (front row, left) with her friends from the Malay Studies Society.

She also joined NUS Interfaith, eventually becoming a member of the executive committee and organising events on and off campus, as she believed strongly in the need to promote a better understanding of other religions.

Beyond her activities on campus, she was recognised with a nomination as “Sahabat Sastera” (Friend of Malay Literature) by the Malay Language Council in 2021, for promoting the value of Malay literature. She is also working on a book with the other nominees on this topic.

Hikmah (back, left) with her friends at the NUS Interfaith booth at a student life fair in 2019.

Hikmah is set to play an integral role in shaping the Malay media landscape too, as she now sits on an advisory panel for Malay media at Mediacorp. A recent initiative is the “Nadi Kampus” (Pulse of the Campus) section in Berita Mediacorp, where undergraduates are free to submit their poems, videos, short articles and other media forms.

Overcoming obstacles along the way
However, Hikmah’s NUS journey was not all smooth sailing. When she first arrived at NUS, Hikmah was taken aback by the huge class size and distance between the student and the lecturer. It was a far cry from her Madrasah experience.

Thankfully, Hikmah made friends with a number of helpful seniors. With their support, Hikmah found her place in NUS. “Being with them helped me to transition to university life,” she said.

Coming from a large family of six, financial struggles were another hurdle in Hikmah’s education path. For a period of time during the height of the pandemic, she had to work as a swab assistant to help her family out – all while keeping up with her studies.

Fortunately, a MUIS Zaakat financial assistance scheme and the NUS Merit Scholarship gave Hikmah some reprieve and enabled her to pursue the academic excellence she has now achieved.

All her achievements are possible, she believes, because of the support she has received – from family, friends and the University. She also credits picking the right courses in NUS, that have opened up a whole new world of learning.

Hikmah graduated with a Bachelor of Arts with Honours (Highest Distinction) in Malay Studies on 6 July.

With all that she’s gained at NUS, Hikmah hopes “to address some of the problematic ideas that are rampant in society.”

“Malay Studies has helped me to understand my own realities better,” she said. Coupled with Sociology, the courses have taught her how to critique assumptions and policies, and equipped her with the capability to make a difference in society.

This story first appeared in NUSNews on 7 July 2022 as part of NUS News’ coverage of Commencement 2022, which celebrates the achievements of our 13,975 graduates through 28 in-person ceremonies. For more on Commencement, look out for our other graduate profiles, check out the official Commencement website, or look up (and tag) #NUS2022 and #NUSFASS on NUS' and FASS' social media channels!

Just Launched: Singapore’s South Asian Communities Book and Documentary Series

 IN BRIEF | 8 min read

  • The NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) showcased a series of books and short documentaries that focused on Singapore’s lesser-known South Asian communities at a book launch-cum-documentary screening at the Indian Heritage Centre on 28 May 2022.

Prof Tan Tai Yong, Dr Jayati Bhattacharya, and Assoc Prof Rai (fifth, sixth and seventh from the left respectively), with former and current graduate students of the NUS South Asian Studies Programme.

The NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) showcased a series of books and short documentaries that focused on Singapore’s lesser-known South Asian communities at a book launch-cum-documentary screening at the Indian Heritage Centre today. Titled “Hidden Heritage: Minority South Asian Communities in Singapore”, the series shines a spotlight on the Bengali, Gujarati, Hindustani (the diaspora from the Gangetic Heartland), Tamil Catholic and Telugu communities.

An initiative of the NUS FASS South Asian Studies Programme, the series explores the everyday experiences of these communities and demonstrates the unique and shared historical trajectories and cultural values made while interacting with other ‘Indian’ and non-‘Indian’ communities in Singapore; sifting the intricate tapestry within the ‘Indian’ ethnic category to unveil the rich heritage of the diaspora. The South Asian communities were chosen for their unique social, historical and cultural characteristics and the series aims to share and shape popular discourse beyond flattened, homogenised imaginations that do not match the histories, learned heritage, or lived realities of many Singaporean ‘Indians’.

The list of five books are as follows (the five documentaries bear the same title):

  • Sojourners and Settlers from the Gangetic Heartland: The Hindustani Diaspora in Singapore
  • 'Bhadralok’ Connection: The Bengali Diaspora in Singapore
  • Being Catholic the Tamil Way or Being Tamil the Catholic Way? The Tamil Catholic Community in Singapore
  • Telugus in Singapore: Re-making Diasporic Identities
  • Business Connections, Culture and its Continuities: The Gujarati Diaspora in Singapore

The series explores the everyday experiences of these communities and demonstrates the unique and shared historical trajectories and cultural values made while interacting with other ‘Indian’ and non-‘Indian’ communities in Singapore.

The project is led by Head of the Programme Associate Professor Rajesh Rai, and Senior Lecturer Dr Jayati Bhattacharya, with research and writing support from the Programme’s former and current students. It is supported by the Heritage Research Grant of the National Heritage Board.

Professor Tan Tai Yong, Chairman of the NUS Institute of South Asian Studies and Guest-of-Honour at the event, said, “The Hidden Heritage Series contributes to our understanding of lesser-known South Asian communities in Singapore. Collectively the books and documentaries raise awareness of the intricate tapestry of Singapore’s diverse multicultural society.”

Associate Professor Rajesh Rai added, “A fascinating aspect of this research has been in the unveiling of the immense contribution of these small communities in the historical development of Singapore. At the same time, these studies also draw attention to how their identities have transformed over time in the context of living in a global city.”

The event saw a panel discussion with the authors to introduce the series. This was followed by a screening of the documentaries. The event was attended by distinguished members of the local Indian community, guests from the Indian Heritage Centre and National Heritage Board, as well as representatives from FASS.

Book copies will be distributed to the National Library with the documentaries used as a teaching aid for NUS students. The Programme is planning to produce a second series that will focus on five other minority South Asian communities in two years’ time.

Click here for the synopses of the books and documentaries.

This article first appeared in NUSNews on 28 May 2022.

 

Prospective Students

Prospective Students

The Department offers one intake per academic year, which is the August intake. The application period is from 16 May to 1 November, in the year preceding the intake.

Important: The University has not engaged any external agencies to undertake graduate student recruitment on its behalf. Candidates interested in our graduate programmes are advised to apply directly to the University and not through any agents. Candidates who apply through agents will not have any added advantage in gaining admission and the University reserves the right to reject such applications without giving reasons.

If you have further enquiries about the admissions process, please email the Graduate Studies Division at fasbox3@nus.edu.sg.

For other matters concerning the programme, please email the Department at socbox1@nus.edu.sg.