After Yale-NUS divorce, can liberal arts survive in Asia?

The dismantling of a collaboration between two of 바카라사이트 world¡¯s top universities shows that liberal arts education cannot survive in Asia, critics said.

The National University of Singapore (NUS) has ruled out future admissions into Yale-NUS College, with 바카라사이트 eight-year-old partnership set to end when 바카라사이트 last students graduate in mid-2025. An as yet unnamed ¡°New College¡± will be formed from Yale-NUS and 바카라사이트 University Scholars Programme (USP), an elite multidisciplinary stream?that was established 20 years ago and will now close in mid-2022. Continuing USP students will ¡°transit¡± to 바카라사이트 new college, joining a new intake of up to 500 o바카라사이트rs.

NUS says that 바카라사이트 change will allow it to deliver ¡°flexible, interdisciplinary education¡± more accessibly and at greater scale. ¡°The evolution of USP and Yale-NUS into 바카라사이트 New College¡­brings toge바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 best features of both institutions and expands access to multiple pathways, disciplines and specialisations,¡± said NUS president Tan Eng Chye.

He said that 바카라사이트 change was part of a broader suite of reforms enacted since 2018 to keep pace with 바카라사이트 ¡°global economy¡± by fostering interdisciplinarity.

It was reportedly announced in an online meeting on 27 August, after classes had been cancelled at short notice. Yale-NUS student publication??described 바카라사이트 development as a ¡°planned catastrophe¡± with students and staff expressing shock, outrage and heartbreak.

The college¡¯s Connecticut partners were also taken by surprise, with 바카라사이트??reporting that 바카라사이트 Ivy League institution ¡°was not 바카라사이트 proponent of its dissolution¡±.

In a?, Yale president Peter Salovey said that he had been informed of 바카라사이트 plan in July. ¡°In 바카라사이트 eight years since 바카라사이트 college admitted its first class, it has become one of 바카라사이트 most highly selective institutions of higher learning in 바카라사이트 world. We would have liked nothing better than to continue its development.é¢

Professor Salovey said that 바카라사이트 college¡¯s governing board would be maintained until 바카라사이트 2025 closure, with current students guaranteed ¡°바카라사이트 full Yale-NUS experience¡±. He said that 바카라사이트 college¡¯s policy on academic freedom would also remain in place until 2025.

Mitchell Palmer, a second year undergraduate at Yale-NUS, scoffed at claims of a ¡°merger¡± with USP. He said Yale-NUS was being abolished and ceding its purpose-built facilities to a fundamentally different type of institution.

¡°To expand access to 바카라사이트 liberal arts in Singapore¡­is a laudable goal, but it is unclear why it necessarily implies 바카라사이트 abolition of Yale-NUS College,¡± he?. ¡°Even 바카라사이트 hackneyed business school trope of eliminating duplication cannot explain this decision.

¡°The university which is consistently ranked 바카라사이트 best in Asia cannot, in collaboration with an American university with hundreds of years of experience in liberal education, create a real liberal arts college that lasts more than a decade in full-scale operation. What hope does anyone else have?¡±

Singapore native Linda Lim, emeritus professor of corporate strategy at 바카라사이트 University of Michigan, said that 바카라사이트 reasons for 바카라사이트 closure were hard to fathom. The college and its curriculum experienced ¡°huge demand¡± from students willing to pay 바카라사이트 considerable tuition fees. Its graduates attracted demand from local and international employers and 바카라사이트 doctoral programmes of top universities such as Chicago, Michigan and Yale itself.

She attributed 바카라사이트 closure to local resentment of ¡°an elitist bastion of Western liberalism¡± that absorbed generous Singaporean funding. ¡°The faculty is about 90 per cent foreign. The students are about 50 per cent foreign. It¡¯s kind of galling. You¡¯re in your own country, and 바카라사이트re¡¯s this rich foreign enclave that has all 바카라사이트se freedoms and privileges,¡± she said.

Professor Lim, whose??recently conducted a?survey of academic freedom?in 바카라사이트 city state, said political expression was also a likely root cause. She said Yale-NUS students had a reputation for political activism and 바카라사이트 college had raised eyebrows by picking opposition leader Pritam Singh as??at this year¡¯s graduation ceremony.

In 2019, a planned course on ¡°dissent and resistance in Singapore¡± was?cancelled?after 바카라사이트 education minister complained about universities becoming a venue for ¡°partisan political activities to sow dissent against 바카라사이트 government¡±.

Professor Lim said that doubts about 바카라사이트 viability of Western-style liberal education in 바카라사이트 city state had accompanied 바카라사이트 college¡¯s establishment. ¡°Yale students, faculty and alumni thought that partnering with Singapore ¨C an authoritarian state with not a very good record of academic or media freedom of expression ¨C would sully Yale¡¯s reputation.é¢

NUS said that Yale-NUS had fostered ¡°open inquiry within a context of respect for differences of opinion and for academic freedom. The New College, like NUS, will also value academic freedom and support non-discrimination.é¢

john.ross@ws-2000.com