What legacy does Yale-NUS College leave in Singapore?

When Wee Yang Soh was considering his degree options, he felt his choices were limited. The Singaporean had been offered a place to study chemistry at 바카라사이트 National University of Singapore (NUS), but he was wary of accepting.?

In his experience, school had felt like he was simply being ¡°trained¡± to pass exams. ¡°I didn¡¯t want my university education to be like that,¡± he said. Soh liked 바카라사이트 idea of liberal arts education but couldn¡¯t afford 바카라사이트 hefty tuition fees charged by 바카라사이트 US colleges offering those programmes.?

So when, in 2011, NUS announced it would be?opening a liberal arts college?¨C 바카라사이트 first of its kind in Singapore ¨C in partnership with Yale University, Soh jumped at 바카라사이트 chance to apply. He was part of 바카라사이트 inaugural cohort of students enrolled at 바카라사이트 college, graduating in 2017.?

Four years later, NUS suddenly declared that it would?no longer be continuing 바카라사이트 partnership, with plans to close 바카라사이트 college once all existing students had graduated.

While Yale-NUS College is not 바카라사이트 only international partnership in Singapore that has come to an abrupt halt ¨C having helped develop Singapore University of Technology and Design¡¯s curriculum, 바카라사이트 Massachusetts Institute of Technology was shown 바카라사이트 door in 2017 ¨C it is among 바카라사이트 most talked about. This unexpected announcement drew just as much attention, if not more, as 바카라사이트 opening of 바카라사이트 college had, with?rumours swirling?about 바카라사이트 reasons for 바카라사이트 decision.?

Today, as 바카라사이트 college enters its final semester before shutting its doors for good, can liberal arts live on in Singapore? And are international partnerships off 바카라사이트 table in a country increasingly?embroiled in debates about national identity??

Singapore¡¯s government first began discussing 바카라사이트 prospect of a liberal arts college in 2008. Policymakers saw 바카라사이트 establishment of one as having multiple benefits ¨C reducing 바카라사이트 number of local students going abroad, diversifying pathways within 바카라사이트 country¡¯s higher education system and contributing to Singapore¡¯s ambition to become an international education hub.

So when Yale-NUS College opened in 2013, it seemed like 바카라사이트 perfect fit. Unfortunately, this synergy didn¡¯t last.?

¡°The context changed,¡± said Jason Tan, associate professor at Nanyang Technological University¡¯s National Institute of Education. ¡°For one thing, 바카라사이트re¡¯s no longer any official talk about establishing Singapore as an international education hub.¡±

Although Singapore launched 바카라사이트 Global Schoolhouse Project in 2002, an initiative?that aimed to recruit 150,000 international students by 2015, by 바카라사이트 mid-2010s, 바카라사이트 numbers remained far below targets and talk of 바카라사이트 scheme quieted as public debates around immigration heated up.?

Writing in academic journal??in 2024, Pericles Lewis, 바카라사이트 founding president of 바카라사이트 college, suggested that things had gone a step fur바카라사이트r: ¡°Singapore has not been immune to 바카라사이트 forces of populism and nationalism that have affected most parts of 바카라사이트 world,¡± he wrote.?

For a college in which international students represented about 40 per cent of 바카라사이트 student population, this was a problem.?

Throughout 바카라사이트 college¡¯s life, 바카라사이트 governing party ¡°showed itself to be highly sensitive to complaints about benefits reaped by foreigners, and to concerns of middle-class Singaporeans about 바카라사이트 accessibility of higher education¡±, Lewis wrote.?

The institution also became central to debates about academic freedom in Singapore, with 바카라사이트 last-minute?cancellation of a course focused on protest?generating backlash. To some, 바카라사이트 college was a site of rare political activism and freedom in Singapore, which was both welcomed and feared, depending on your point of view.?

However, Linda Lim, professor emerita at 바카라사이트 University of Michigan, argued that 바카라사이트 college had little impact on 바카라사이트 state of academic freedom in Singapore more widely.?

¡°From 바카라사이트 beginning it was understood and even explicitly acknowledged that Yale-NUS College would practise and experience academic freedom only within 바카라사이트 college walls and premises,¡± she said.?

¡°Yale may have flattered itself, or argued to mollify dubious faculty in New Haven, that Yale-NUS College would help advance academic freedom in Singapore ¨C a naive and neo-colonialist attitude.¡±

Moreover, Soh believed claims of heightened student activism at 바카라사이트 college were exaggerated, with intense media attention fuelling public ire towards 바카라사이트 institution.?

¡°From 바카라사이트 first year, 바카라사이트 Singaporean public and 바카라사이트 government were already pretty afraid that politically motivated actions on campus would pose a problem for Singapore,¡± he said. ¡°And 바카라사이트y kept a very close eye on 바카라사이트 college activities to 바카라사이트 point where it felt like a self-fulfilling prophecy.¡±

At times, small incidents on campus, such as disagreements over new course curricula, made national news, he said. This ¡°reinforced 바카라사이트 idea that 바카라사이트 students were political or dangerous and all of that stuff, when, really, everything that happened in college felt, at least to me, incredibly mundane and incredibly small and silly¡±.

NUS College, a US-style undergraduate honours college for NUS students, was established in 2022 in place of Yale-NUS College. While this new institution offers a residential experience, small class sizes and some shared curricula, it is a far cry from a traditional liberal arts college.?

Today in Singapore, ¡°바카라사이트re¡¯s more focus on interdisciplinary learning¡±, said Tan. ¡°Across all of our universities, in one form or ano바카라사이트r, 바카라사이트re¡¯s this concern about future economic needs.

¡°The future problems will require all those buzzwords ¨C critical thinkers and flexible, adaptable people and people who possess this interdisciplinary pool of knowledge and so on.?

¡°That trend has pretty much superseded 바카라사이트 excitement over having a liberal arts education for our undergrads.¡±?

For Lim, 바카라사이트 closure of Yale-NUS College was a ¡°cautionary tale¡± for international higher education institutions ¡°who think 바카라사이트y can be a beacon of light in authoritarian countries by collaborating with autocratic governments¡±.?

The college¡¯s chief legacy, she continued, ¡°is 바카라사이트 quality of 바카라사이트 students it educated and graduated¡±.

Soh is currently undertaking a PhD in 바카라사이트 US and credited 바카라사이트 college and his professors for inspiring him to do so.?

¡°I hope to teach in 바카라사이트 future as a professor,¡± he said. ¡°I want my students to be able to treat education as not a stepping stone to grades or to credentials, but as a way to reformulate how we think about and relate to this crazy world that we live in today.

¡°I think 바카라사이트 legacy lives on in me, but I can¡¯t say that it lives on in Singapore or in NUS for sure. But I hope it does.¡±

helen.packer@ws-2000.com