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School of Humanities and Social Sciences

Description of Courses


Chinese


HC7101 Graduate Seminar

This course explores themes in Chinese studies in the areas of Chinese culture, literature, language, history, philosophy and/or arts. The course comprises of a series of seminar presentations and discussions on selected topics or topics of special interest to the students. Topics chosen will vary from year to year, depending on student enrollment and the availability of guest speakers. Students who complete this course will gain familiarity with academic discourse in different subject areas. The course will be conducted in Chinese but English reading materials may be included. Students are required to complete a term paper and in class oral presentation. Written project involves either an analysis or a critical review on reading materials or on particular aspect of student's research interest.


HC7001 Special Topics in Selected Historical Personages of Singapore & Malaysia

In-depth study in one or two of important historical figures, such as Lim Boon Keng, Song Ong Siang, Wu Lien Teh, Tan Kah Kee, Tan Lark Sye and Tan Cheng Lock. Focus is on the historical and social background of the person under study, his cultural and political identity, his personal achievements and contributions, as well as the interaction between the individual actor and the larger environment.


HC7002 Special Topics in the Singapore Chinese Intellectual

A detailed study of selected topics in the Singapore Chinese intellectual. Comparison and contrast of various archetypes and representatives. Analysis of how they contradicted and cooperated with each other. Examination of the roles of each archetype in the development of history.


HC7003 Special Topics in Chinese Overseas and Their Relations with China

Over different periods of time, many towns and villages in China have evolved, socially and economically, as a result of changing relations with the Chinese working and living outside China. This course explores specifically the localities with past or present connections with Chinese diaspora, collectively and fashionably labeled as qiaoxiang areas. The aim is twofold. The first is to shed light on the changing landscape of these localities amidst the political and economic developments in China. The second is to identify the pattern and content of the relations Chinese diaspora have with their native and ancestral homelands in China.

Course evaluation: There will be no exam for this course. Final course grade will be based on the evaluation of writing assignments / oral presentation / research paper.


HC7004 Special Topics in Chinese Oral Literature

Studies of the Chinese Oral Tradition. Selected topics such as the following may be examined: Oral Theories, its application and implication in Chinese oral literature; Historical Development and Transmission; Continuity and Authenticity; Orality and Literacy; Oral-derived Texts and literary features; Compositional Methods. Different genres such as the Transformation Texts Singing Narrative, Drum Songs Medleys, and Precious Scrolls will be examined.


HC7005 Special Topics in Pre-Modern Chinese Literature

This course analyses topically the important writers and works in pre-modern Chinese Literature (from Pre-Qin period to the Qing dynasty). Genres include poetry, prose, fiction and drama. Aspects of Chinese culture will be noted through readings.


HC7006 Special Topics in Modern/Contemporary Chinese Literature

In-depth study of selected modern/contemporary authors. Selected topics such as the following may be examined: Comparative Literary Criticism on selected works; Critical Textual Analysis; Transition and Transformation from Modern to Contemporary; Impact of the Cultural Revolution; Modernity and Post-Modernity.


HC7007 Study of Gao Xingjian

The first Chinese-language writer to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2000, Gao Xingjian is a multi-faceted individual. This course will study the man, his dramatic works, theatrical productions, novels and short stories, theoretical concepts and intellectual thoughts. The study of Gao Xingjian will be carried out with cross-disciplinary and cross-cultural approaches, involving in-depth analysis of Gao's works with

literary and performance theories, as well as treating Gao as a significant cultural phenomenon in the context of post-Mao China and transcultural exchanges.


HC7008 Special Topics in Contrastive Language Analysis

Study of topics such as contrastive studies in language such as contrastive rhetoric, contrastive lexicology, contrastive pragmatics, contrastive semantics, contrastive syntax, contrastive pedagogy, compiling and exploiting bilingual/multilingual computerised corpora, bilingual corpora and automatic/computer-aided translation.


HC7009 Modern Linguistics Theories in their Applications in the Study of the Chinese Language

Study of important linguistic theories and their relevance in the Chinese Language. The course will trace the development of linguistic theories with respect to the Chinese Language since late 19th century, examine how these theories are being adapted to describe and explain phenomenon of the Chinese Language, reviewing the unresolved issues thus arose and exploring future research directions.


HC7010 Special Topics in Pre-Modern Chinese

Study of selected topics in the study of Pre-modern Chinese covering aspects such as synchronic and diachronic syntax, lexicology, semantic and phonology; discourse; rhetoric and other functionalist approaches in selected texts, examining their relevance to modern Chinese.


HC7011 The End of the Chinese Middle Ages

This course seeks to explore the drastic and all-embracing changes that Chinese society has undergone from the eighth to the thirteenth century. We will discuss a wide range of topics including elite transformation, state examinations, social status, family strategies, literature, philosophy, ritual, and religion. The goal is to develop a deeper understanding of medieval and pre-modern China. Readings are mainly modern research in Chinese and English.

Course evaluation: There will be no exam for this course. Final course grade will be based on the evaluation of short essays / oral presentation / research paper.


HC7012 Research and Methodology

This course explores different themes, research and methodology in the areas of Chinese culture, literature, language, history, and philosophy. The course comprises of a series of seminar presentations and discussions on selected topics or topics of special interest to the students. Topics chosen will vary from year to year, depending on student enrollment and the research areas of the scholars conducting the class. Students who complete this subject will gain familiarity with different research methods and experience diverse academic discourse in different subject areas. The course will be conducted in Chinese but English reading materials may be included.


HC 7888 Directed Reading

In this course students read extensively in their area of interest under the direction of a faculty member, most likely the supervisor. This course is taken by graduate students on a subject which is not otherwise offered as a course in the MA/PhD program courses in a given semester, but which accords with a member of the academic staff's research interests. The courses offer a great flexibility in adapting to the individual academic interests of the student the research interests of the teacher. Students wishing to take this course should obtain prior agreement of the teacher concerned and his/her Head of Division.

Course evaluation: Assessment is by course-work only. That is either (a) one 8,000 - 10,000 word essay delivered at the end of the semester, or (b) a series of two or more essays together amounting to 8,000 - 10,000 words produced over the period of one academic semester.


English


HL7101 Graduate Seminar in the History of Literary Theory

Organized chronologically, the seminar provides students with a broad historical and critical foundation for the advanced study of literary theory from the earliest periods to the present. It surveys literary theory and criticism from the Biblical, Classical, Medieval, Renaissance, Enlightenment, Romantic, Victorian, Modern, and Post - Modern periods. It examines theories and criticisms concerned with epic and romance, drama, the novel, poetry, and popular culture, and considers questions of aesthetics, authorship, the body, the canon, tradition, gender and sexuality, ideology, interpretation, language, rhetoric, subjectivity, nation, and the institution of literary studies. Rather than focusing on literary theory and criticism through the lens of primarily modern and contemporary schools and movements, the seminar highlights theory as a dynamic and historically contextual mode of literary study. The primary print text is The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism.


HL7102 Graduate Seminar in Critical Theory

This course offers an introduction to a variety of topical literary theories for graduate students. It is divided into a number of units. For example, Marxist Literary Theory, which challenges the notion that there can ever be a non-political, value-free interpretive act and examines the implications of ideology and hegemony as critical concepts: New Historicism, which argues that complex structures of power form the background against which social conflict should be understood; Psychoanalysis and Literature, which explores the two faces of psychoanalytic criticism : as pathographical study and hermeneutic reading; Deconstruction and Ethics, which investigates how the text's rhetoric, arrangement,style, and logic mask over gaps, self-refutations, or aporia; Literary Darwinism, which interprets literature using recent discoveries from the field of cognitivism, developmental psychology, and genetics; and Global modernity, which examines how the popular cultural products of contemporary Asia contribute to (re) constituting a sense of the national or the nationness in the context of a desire for cultural globalization. The objective of the course is to familiarize graduate students with a broad range of topical contemporary theories, a firm grasp of which they will require for their critical writing.


HL7103 Graduate Seminar in Drama

This module will likely cover new ground each time it is taught, providing in-depth analysis of either individual dramatists, historical periods, sub-genres, or theoretical/ theatrical problems in drama. As such, it will focus as much on secondary materials as primary sources, specifically seeking to understand how contemporary aesthetic trends and epistemological commitments are uniquely expressed in the theatre.


HL7104 Graduate Seminar in Film

The seminar provides students with an advanced understanding of the connections between film history, film criticism, and film theory. It explores both mainstream and counter cinema from three major periods of film history: silent cinema,sound film, and digital cinema. It examines film critical approaches to production, distribution, exhibition, and reception. It considers major film theories concerned with montage, realism mise-en-scene film authorship, third cinema, national and intercultural cinemas, cinema semiotics,questions of politics and ethics, film-philosophy, and cultural studies. Relying on primary texts in the form of films, historical publications, and theorethical essays, the seminar concentrates on the relationships between areas of film studies rather than briefly surveying each area separately. Primary print texts include _Film History: Theory and Practice, Film Analysis, and Film Theory and Criticism.


HL7105 Graduate Seminar in Renaissance Studies

“The Renaissance" for our purposes embraces the period of time stretching from roughly 1500 to 1660 - from the first consolidation of the English Tudor state to the Restoration of Charles II. Typically thought of as a great age of drama, the Renaissance saw the flourishing of diverse literary forms from lyric to epic to pastoral while also, of course, giving rise to the plays of Shakespeare, Marlowe, Jonson, and other talented figures. We will examine the social and economic contexts of this diverse literature, including the advent of royal absolutism, the beginnings of empire, and the revolutionary shift from feudal to capitalist modes of production, without neglecting the broader epistemological problems raised by these works with respect to selfhood, virtue, and the nature of truth. Without focusing exclusively on dramatic literature, we will explore how and why the trope of the theatrum mundi or "world as stage" gained an intense hold on the cultural imagination of the period.


HL7106 Graduate Seminar in Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Literature and Culture

The Restoration and eighteenth century witnessed the emergence of a stunning variety of new modes and forms and the revival of still others. Among the "revived" forms satire was by far the most visible and important, especially from 1600 to 1740s. At the same time, from the first decades of the eighteenth century, the early novel and the poetry of sensibility stake their claims on a new kind of audience ( the literate middle classes) as well as giving expression to new scales of value (evident, for example , in privileging of the "natural" world over the human and of sentiment over reason ) . The shift from a neoclassical to a more recognizably modern aesthethic finds an echo in the drama of the period, as the elaborate Restoration comedy gives away to a homely species of sentimental melodrama. This course proposes to examine such developments in their social and cultural context with special attention to the rapid urbanization and industrialization of English society, the increased literacy of the population and greater availabilty of printed material, and the rise of both empricism and a reaction against it.


HL7107 Graduate Seminar in Romanticism

The Romantic period marks a watershed in the nature of literary products. It is characterized by the appearance of two apparently opposite but nonetheless inseparable tendencies; the use of text to express issues of pressing social relevance and to reflect issues of personal import to the writer. This course explores the nature and implications of this upheaval and its legacy through an investigation of selected texts. Amongst the topics it will address are the rise of radicalism and its effect on literary products, the new abhorrence of social division, the emergence of a new wave of women's writing, the questioning of established ideological convictions, the excitement at the expanding boundaries of the known world, the impact of science on literature, the influence of German idealism on the literature of the period and the insistence on the authority of personal vision and experience. The course will explore works from a wide range of genres including poetry, drama, fiction, philosophy, journalism and critical writing. Its objective will be to expose students to the ambivalence of a literature that marks the origins of a great many debates that are still topical today.


HL7108 Graduate Seminar in Victorian Literature and Culture

This course provides a thematic, instead of a purely chronological, approach to a number of Victorian literary texts. The comparison of canonical nineteenth-century works and only recently reprinted material, including fiction by long forgotten popular writers, will help us to understand the developments that engendered a plethora of controversies, both at the time and in its wake, engendered a versatility of works, and perhaps above all, created the novel genre as the Victorian era's most popular, critical, and representative form of literary expression. In covering a number of emergent subgenres as different as the sensational detective novel and the domestic family chronicle, the course thereby aims at once to offer a grounding in Victorian literary culture and to inspire research on new directions in recovery work as well as in aesthetic analysis.


HL7109 Graduate Seminar in Modernism

This course entails an in depth examination of the major British and Irish works of the modernist period. Historical and cultural contexts, in particular technological innovations and modernization, will be used to understand the time period that produced such formally experimental literature. Texts covered will include James Joyce Ulysses, Virginia Woolf's The Waves, Dorothy Richardson's Pilgrimage, and the poetry of T.S. Eliot. In addition, we will survey seminal critical works that have shaped how we look at modernism, beginning with what modernist wrote about their own art to the present critical discourses of modernist studies.


HL7110 Graduate Seminar in Contemporary Literature and Culture

This seminar has a number of different, but related, aims: firstly we will read extracts from recent commentaries on the state of literary studies and assess the claims and counter-claims about various practices of reading and how they intersect with and/ or react against social agendas. We will conclude this discussion with a consideration of the value of aesthetic readings. Secondly, in the context of our discussions about merits of various reading strategies, we will read contemporary literary works from notable writers whose aesthetic commitments intersect those of the secondary reading. Finally, in part responding to our analysis of the three novels, we will attempt to address the precarious question of what constitutes the "contemporary". This will involve a consideration of what is meant by literary postmodernism and investigate the suggestion that postmodernity may have been surpassed by an age of irony - or an age of skepticism.


HL7111 Graduate Seminar in American Literature and Culture

This course will combine a review of the history of the field of American studies with the interpretation of a range of works of American literature. During the first half of the semester, we will focus on the history of American literary scholarship, from the earliest works of Lawrence and Parrington of the 1920's, which attempted an interdisciplinary formulation of the "American mind, " to the myth-symbol works of the 1950's and 60's (Marx . Kolodny. Trachtenberg) , to the more recent dissolution of American studies, in which disciplinary sub-fields have challenged the earlier consensus regarding American identity and have reflected upon the nation's cultural history from a post-humanist perspective. During the second half of the semester, the emphasis will shift to the analysis and interpretation of several representative works of American Literature.


HL7112 Graduate Seminar in Singaporean Literature and Culture

This course will discuss selected Singapore literary and popular cultural texts with a view to establishing the historical, political, social, intellectual and cultural developments that underpin their emergence, as well as the aesthetic and authorial projects that they initiate. Potential authors include but are not limited to : Lee Tzu Pheng , Arthur Yap, Kuo Pao-Kun, Su-Chen Christine Lim, Eleanor Wong , and Alfian Sa'at. Filmic and performance texts may also be included. Links should be made with postcolonial theory and with literary theory in general. Tutors may cover a selection of the following topics: - Relationship between anglophone writing and various vernacular literatures, - Impact of language policies, - Relationship between different genres and forms, - The question of a Singaporean literary tradition, - Role and function of identity policies, - Modernity and modernization, - Urban culture, - Literature and technology.


HL7113 Graduate Seminar in Postcolonial Literature

This course explores the field of postcolonial studies through a detailed engagement with representative works of postcolonial literature and theory. We will be discussing literature from throughout the postcolonial world, and focusing on some of the major social, historical and political issues this literature addresses. The course will also trace the development of postcolonial theory , from the anti-colonial writings of Frantz Fanon and Aim'e Ce'saire to the work of more recent postcolonial critics such as Edward Said, Homi Bhabha, and Gayatri Spivak. Finally, we will be subjecting 'postcolonial studies' itself to critical scrutiny, addressing some of the key debates and controversies within the field.


HL7114 Graduate Seminar in Cultural Studies

To provide graduate students with a sound and up-to-date theoretical foundation for Cultural Studies, this course will examine the theoretical and methodological tools that have defined the field of Cultural Studies, starting with an introduction to key theoretical concepts. The course will also examine the production and consumption of a range of popular cultural forms. Having gained a sound theoretical foundation, students will go on to analyse a range of cultural forms and practices including cinema, cyberspace, popular fiction, popular music and television.


HL7888 Directed Study in Literature

This course will provide graduate students with an opportunity to engage in independent research related to their proposed dissertation/thesis and to produce an appropriate example of written work arising from this. The content and requirements of each Directed Study module are to be determined by the student in conjunction with the appointed supervisor/ thesis committee and the Head of Division.


HL7901 Graduate Seminar on Special Topic

This course will provide graduate students the opportunity to engage with the research interests of the faculty and visiting faculty that are not covered by other listed modules. It might consist of an in-depth study of a single author or of a theme. Every time it is offered, the module will be tailor-made to the specific interests of the individual staff teaching it and / or students who enroll for it. The specific topic offered for any semester will be clearly signaled in advance.


Economics


HE 9001 Mathematical Economics

In this course, participants will be introduced to solution methods for systems of linear and non-linear equations, optimisation, approximation, numerical integration and differentiation, solution methods for differential equations, dynamic programming, and optimal control.


HE 9002 Econometrics I

This course provides an extensive discussion of estimation and inference issues. It covers classical linear and structural equation models, maximum likelihood and minimum distance (generalised method-of-moments) estimation, inference (testing) for a variety of applications. Students are expected to complete problem sets and an empirical project involving data analysis. The course also devotes substantial attention to attaining competence in programming with an advanced statistical package such as GAUSS.


HE 9003 Econometrics II

This course aims to illustrate some ways in which econometric methods may be employed in empirical research. It consists of illustrative examples drawn from published research papers and discussions of modern applied econometric techniques. These may include panel data and discrete dependent variable models, nonparametric and semiparametic regression models, and simulation estimators. The prerequisite for this course is Econometrics I or an approved equivalent.


HE 9004 Computational Econometrics

This course provides graduate-level training in the use of numerical methods in economics. These methods have broad relevance to all areas of social science research. Using mainframe computing software, the course discusses the application of computational techniques to model building and specification testing, and the handling of specific problems such as unit roots, time varying volatility, autoregressive conditional heteroskedastic models, and regime switching models.


HE 9101 Seminar in Microeconomics

This course provides a solid foundation in microeconomics at the graduate level. The unifying theme of the seminar is the theory of maximising behaviour, with emphasis on how basic principles of modern microeconomics play a role in business decision-making. The course begins with an analysis of supply and demand and utility maximisation by the consumer, followed by an examination of firms' pricing and output decisions in both competitive and monopolistic settings. It concludes by considering the effect of market structure on prices, production, and profit.


HE 9102 Seminar in Macroeconomics

This course provides a graduate level introduction to nonstochastic and stochastic macroeconomics. The framework used will range from the Keynesian model to the Philips Curve. The aim is to develop an understanding of how key macroeconomic variables such as GDP, employment, interest rates, exchange rates and inflation, are jointly determined over periods of time that correspond to the business cycle. Of particular interest will be the structuring of optimal monetary and fiscal policies and the role of interest rates in open economies.


HE 9103 Seminar in Monetary Economics

This course deals with monetary aspects of macroeconomics, placing particular emphasis on the role of inside money (credit) and the crucial role of information in the functioning of modern economies. The course will cover topics including the following: the role of national debt and intergenerational allocation, the demand & supply of money, static models, dynamic models, inflation, rational expectations, policy effectiveness, old and new Philips curves, price stickiness, monetary versus real business cycles, rules versus discretion, and open economy monetary analysis.


HE 9104 Seminar in Development Economics

This course provides in-depth coverage of topics in development economics for graduate students. We explore the definition and measurement of economic growth and development. We also examine competing development theories and characteristics of economic growth. We then proceed to various specific issues in the economics of developing countries, such as the relationship between population growth and economic development and the debate on export promotion versus import substitution. A large number of additional readings will deepen and broaden the student's understanding of the subject.


HE 9105 Seminar in International Economics

This course covers the theory of international economics including the theory of comparative advantage, tariffs, capital movements, balance-of-payment adjustments and exchange rates. The theory is related to current issues in international economics including trade policies, balance of payment adjustments, and other current problems of the world economy. The aim is to provide participants with a background for understanding the effect of the international economic environment on business decisions and economic policy making.


HE9106 Topics in Mathematical Economics and Microeconomics

This course is to equip students with more advanced mathematical skills for economic analysis and to expose them to topics in advanced economic theory. The knowledge learned from this course will be beneficial to the PhD students for their study of other economic courses and to build a solid foundation for their research.


HE 9201 Contemporary Issues in Economics

This course presents a selection of advanced topics in economics with emphasis on firm, management or industrial strategy. Other possible topics include competitive interactions among firms, dynamic modelling in macroeconomics, and productivity analysis.


Public Policy and Administration


Core Courses


HA9001 Theories of Public Policy

This course addresses the theoretical underpinnings of public policy. It discusses the role of different theories in understanding public policy, including institutional theory, group theory, elite theory, system theory, rational theory, incrementalism theory, and public choice theory.


HA9002 Theories of Public Administration

This course discusses the intellectual development of public administration as a discipline. It will discuss the theory of bureaucracy, politics and public administration, theory of public management and theories of public organizations, postmodern theory, critical theory, public institutional theory, theories of governance, decision theory, and rational choice theory.


HA9003 Research Methods

This course aims to provide researchers and practitioners with the essential knowledge and skills about how to conduct empirical research in the field of public administration. Topics include: ontology and epistemology of social sciences, research ethics, research design, research strategies and procedures for quantitative research, qualitative research and mixed methods research. In addition, specific popular analytical techniques of quantitative methods and qualitative methods such as multiple linear regression, factor analysis and survey data analysis will be discussed.


Elective Courses - Public Policy Concentration


HA9101 Policy Analysis

This course discusses analytical approaches and methods that are intended to guide policy design and structure policy choices. Topics include: argumentation analysis, stakeholder analysis; economic cost-benefit analysis and related methods. It enables students to analytically prepare, design and select public policy, and seeks to improve students’ basic skills in analytical thinking, information gathering, and writing. Students are required to complete a term paper and in class oral presentation.


HA9102 Public Policy Formulation and Implementation

This course is a research seminar focusing on public policy in selected countries, paying particular attention of how policies are made and how they are implemented.  In the course students will read seminal works on models of the policy formulation/design and implementation processes, and they will apply what they have learned to address a research question or questions. Students are required to complete a term paper and in class oral presentation.


HA9103 Politics of Policymaking

This course examines the politics of public policy-making from both a theoretical and empirical perspective. Among the questions asked are the following: What determines how policy is made? Whose interests are represented in policy-making? When and why do policies get changed or stay the same across time and space? The focus will be on the political variables that affect policymaking. Written project involves either an analysis or a critical review on reading materials or on particular aspect of student’s research interest.


HA9104 Comparative Public Policy

This course is about the study of how and why different governments pursue particular courses of action or inaction. It focuses on some of the major theoretical and methodological approaches to the comparative study of public policies and programs, helping students develop the skills needed to study and explain convergence and divergence in government policy and program choice, implementation, and outcomes. Written project involves either an analysis or a critical review on reading materials or on particular aspect of student’s research interest.


HA9105 Seminars on Singapore Public Policies

The Singapore government has often gone against conventional wisdom in the formulation of its innovative public policies. The seminars are designed to provide students with an overview of Singapore's public policies by providing an in-depth analysis of local politics and public policy considerations. Eminent speakers from the government or other decision ‑ making bodies will be invited to participate in discussions on their approach towards public policy making and the competitive advantages of its system of governance.


HA9106 Advance seminars on Policies

This course presents a selection of advanced topics on public policies. Through case studies, participants will be introduced to thematic topics in policy making, implementation, and evaluation. The course will examine policy issues from an international perspective, with particular focus on the Singapore experience.


Elective Course - Public Administration Concentration


HA9201 Public Management and Institutional Analysis

This course aims to help students understand and analyze public management issues from the perspective of institutionalism. Theories about the three most significant approaches to institutional analysis are covered, which include the institutional analysis and development framework, legal institutional analysis and the advocacy coalition framework. Based on the three frameworks, a variety of public management and public policy issues including environmental protection, urban planning, citizen participation, economic development, policy agenda setting in Southeast Asia are covered.


HA9202 Ideas and Issues in Public Administration

This course consists of several seminars on a variety of cutting-edge ideas and issues in public administration. It will be delivered by faculty members and guest speakers. It will survey ideas and issues in the field of public administration from historical and comparative perspectives. Topics covered include classic public administration theories, postmodern public administration theories, discursive public policy making, governance, network management, citizen participation, organization behavior in public organization, public service motivation, public sector human resource management, public performance management, public finance, administrative law.


HA9203 Organizational Behavior in the Public Sector

This course exposes participants to advanced behavioral science theories and applications in public administration in this era of evolving work force and technology. It incorporates concepts and methods from the behavioral and social sciences to help participants understand workplace behavior and how that ultimately relates to organizational success or failure. Topics will include group dynamics and teams, conflict management and negotiation skills, power and politics, organizational change and development, motivation, work attitudes, leadership, decision making, and organizational culture.


HA9204 Political Economy of Globalization

This is an interdisciplinary graduate seminar. The objective is to examine the ways in which changes in the international economy and the regimes that regulate it interact with domestic politics, policy-making, and the institutional structures of the political economy in industrialized democracies and developing nations. The course will examine how the powerful forces of international capital flows are shaping public policy decisions at the national and the international level. Class discussions will be based on selected theoretical and policy articles. Students are required to complete a term paper and in class oral presentation.


HA9205 Public Budgeting and Financial Management

This course examines the critical issues in public budgeting and financial management, and how they interface with public management drawing on comparative experience in various countries. Topics include theories of budgeting, intergovernmental fiscal relations, performance budgeting, budgetary reforms, accounting and auditing in the government, taxation, financial management in government and non-profit organizations, public debt and capital budgeting.


HA9206 Comparative Public Administration

Comparative public administration is the study of how, why and to what effect governments choose certain policy instruments and organizational arrangements to implement decisions. This graduate seminar focuses on public sector reform in comparative context, the varying impact of globalization on developed and developing countries, emerging supra-national and global bureaucracies, and the role of international organizations in public administration and public sector reform. Final course grade will be based on the evaluation of writing assignments / oral presentation / research paper.


HA9207 Advanced seminars on Public Management

This course focuses on various tools for the daily and on-going management of public and non-profit organizations. Topics include management theories, change management, strategic management, performance management, restructuring, reengineering, conflict management, learning organizations, management of innovations, management of culture and ethics.


Psychology


HP7001 Advanced Research Design and Data Analysis

The course is designed to acquaint researchers with the principles of experimental design, basic experimental designs used in social science research including between-subjects, within-subjects/repeated-measures, mixed (split-plot) and nested designs. The core statistical tool to be discussed is General Linear Models with emphasis on model comparison approach to analyse data collected from various experimental designs.


HP7002 Research Seminar

The purpose of this course is to expose students to the most up-to-date research in the behavioral sciences. Through exposure to established scholars’ research and readings on research methodology, students will acquire broad knowledge in various fields of behavioral sciences and the foundation knowledge on research methodology needed for their own research.


HP7101 Pro-seminar in Human Development

This subject provides the opportunity for the students who will undertake research projects in human development to review the basic theories and principles of human development and to read and critically analyse contemporary research articles in human development. The selection of the topics to discuss will take into consideration the research interests and plans of the students.


HP 7102 Pro-seminar in Industrial and Organisational Psychology

The pro-seminar in industrial and organisational psychology provides a basic review of theories and research in industrial and organisational psychology. Students will be exposed to classic studies in industrial and organisational psychology. Depending on the specific interests and research plans of the students, up-to-date research articles will be introduced and critically analysed.


HP7103 Pro-seminar in Social Psychology

The course provides students with an advanced survey on major theories and research in social psychology. Discussion covers both classics and contemporary hot topics in areas such as attitudes, the self, motivation and goals, emotions, social cognition, and intergroup processes. Students participate in critiques and presentations of the readings and develop their own social psychological research towards the end of the course.


HP7104 Pro-seminar in Personality Psychology

The course provides students with an advanced survey on major personality theories of adulthood, their major propositions, and their implications for describing, explaining, and predicting human behavior in context.


HP7105 Pro-seminar in Cultural Psychology

This course surveys theories and research on the co-constitution of culture and person. Discussion focuses on both how culture is influenced by collective psychological processes such as the creation of shared reality and social representations, and how individual psychological processes such as social perception, emotion, and the self are influenced by the cultural context. Through the critical analyses of empirical cultural research, students develop their own research proposal in cultural psychology.


HP7106 Pro-seminar in Asian Psychology

This course surveys and analyses contemporary psychological theories and empirical research in Asian populations. The objective of the pro-seminar is for the student to appreciate the person x culture interface and to gain insight into the research issues involved in conducting research in the non-Western cultural communities. Conceptualisation and operationalisation of culture both as a research variable and the context in which human behaviors take place will be discussed. Likewise, culture specific Conceptualisations and operationalisation of various psychological construct will also be discussed. Focus will be on the major cultural groups represented in Singapore: Chinese, Malays and Indians.


HP7107 Pro-seminar in Biological Psychology

This course surveys the board areas of biological bases of behavior including sensation and perception, sleeping and dreaming, aggression, biological rhythms, animal models of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.


HP7108 Pro-seminar in Cognitive Psychology

Cognitive psychology is the study of how we plan and carry out everyday tasks while interpreting and responding to the constant input of sensory stimulation present in the world. The subject addresses both bottom-up (sensation driven), and top-down (internally driven) processing. The seminar will begin with perception in the visual and auditory domains, and then move to higher levels of processing including, object recognition, attention, memory, executive processing, language, learning, reasoning, social cognition, and an overview of the development of cognition across life span. Modern research has focused on finding the neural basis of cognition, and this seminar will reflect this focus. The objectives of the class are to (1) to learn the critical importance of the cognitive approach to studying psychology, (2) to study brain-behavior connections, and (3) to inform about the state-of-the art research in cognitive psychology. Students are expected to be able to review critically currently psychological findings of cognitive psychology, and more importantly, to be able to design and conduct cognitive psychology research.


HP7202 Special Topics in Industrial/Organizational Psychology

This course provides graduate students with a theory-based, integrative, hands-on, practical view of leadership from the individual and organizational perspectives. Students will use a cross-cultural perspective to distill useful and practical concepts from each theory, which will be reinforced with individual interactive on-line activities and self-assessments designed to highlight practical application and personal skills.


HP7203 Special Topics in Social Psychology

Emerging technologies such as social networking and virtual worlds have become an inseparable part of our lives. They inevitably change our social behaviors and relationships. The purpose of this seminar course is to introduce students to the up-to-date interdisciplinary research on emerging technologies and social behavior. This course is designed for graduate students with advanced knowledge in research methodology and competence in major theories and findings in social psychology research literature. Students will be asked to critically evaluate the research on technology and social behavior, and develop their own research ideas in the field.


HP7204 Special Topics in Asian Psychology

In this seminar we will study the state-of-the-art in the field of personality psychology, with a specific focus on the major theoretical, methodological, and developmental issues surrounding child and adolescent psychopathology. The course will investigate how group level and individual differences in psychopathology can be explained by personality and developmental factors. The major theoretical issues covered include: assessment of personality and psychopathology; personality stability and coherence and its relationship within the course of a disorder; contributions of individual and life-stage factors in risk and resilience to psychopathology. After several introductory sessions to survey the field, the rest of the term will involve student-led discussions about particular disorders such as Oppositional and Conduct Disorders, Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and Childhood Depression.


HP7206 Special Topics in Asian Psychology

Psychology, being a scientific study of human behavior, is intimately related to the social cultural context in which the behavior takes place. Historically modern psychology has its roots in Western culture, the present pro-seminar, seeks to introduce psychology, with its scientific approach, to the Asian cultural context. The seminar will begin by introducing the different framework and orientations to the culture and psychology connection, different approaches to culture, methodological issues and specific topics of research of psychology in Asia will be introduced and discussed. The objectives of the seminar are to (1) learn the critical importance of culture in psychological research, (2) ways to study culture-behavior connections and (3) inform about scientific studies of psychology in Asia. Students are expected to be able to review critically currently psychological findings of people in the Asian context and more importantly, to be able to design and conduct research of psychology in the Asian context.


HP7215 Family and Human Relationships

There is an increasing awareness that the individual’s behavior takes place in the context of others. Individual behaviors develop within the context of interpersonal relationships and human organisations such as the family. Family and Human Relationships introduces the students to the major theories and empirical studies in the structure and processes of the family and interpersonal relationships. Students are expected to read the theories, significant empirical findings and the emerging theoretical and methodological perspectives in family and relationships studies.


HP7216 Behavioral Decision Making

The purpose of the seminar is to introduce students to the fast growing field of behavioral decision making. This is an interdisciplinary domain that has its roots in Economics and psychology, and has important bearings in operation research and almost any discipline within the social sciences. The course attempts to identify and describe rules for optimal decision making - the so called normative view, and contrast it with the manner in which people actually make decisions – the so called descriptive view. The gap between the two, leads to the old question of the extent to which people are always rational actors. Deviations from rational behavior are explained in cognitive (e.g., limited processing capacity, limited memory, reasoning faults) as well as in motivational and emotional terms (e.g., the role of expectancies, self control, regret and disappointment). What are good decisions (from an individual and societal viewpoints) will be examined from both normative (rational) and descriptive (empirical) perspectives. Applications to different fields such as economics, marketing, medical decision making, and judgments in the judiciary system, will be briefly discussed.


HP 7217 Applied Functional Neuroscience

The purpose of the seminar is to introduce students to the fast growing field of neuropsychology where neuroimaging is applied as an advanced technique to study brain functions. This is an interdisciplinary domain that has its roots in psychology, neuroscience and biomedical engineering, and has important bearings in advancing psychology as an interdisciplinary science. The course attempts to provide an introduction to major neuroimaging techniques in neuropsychology in studying brain function, as well as, how these techniques can be combined complementarily to answer some of the more perplexing questions in cognitive neuroscience. We will focus on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) as a measurement technique that observe brain functions as it occurs and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) as a manipulation technique that change how the brain functions. With these foundations, students will be exposed to readings on how these techniques are applied to various areas of neuropsychology to advance our knowledge of the intrinsic properties of brain function, higher cognition in subcortical structures, the normal aging process of the brain, as well as, pathological aging in dementia.


HP7301 Advanced Quantitative Methods in Psychology

This course serves as the continuation of HP 7001. In HP 7001, we examine different types of experiments designs commonly used in psychological studies and discuss statistical methods for analyzing experimental data through general linear models. This course concerns advanced statistical methods for analyzing multivariate data collected from experimental and non-experimental settings. This course is designed to prepare students to conduct independent empirical research for their required thesis. Throughout the course there will be an emphasis on both conceptual understanding and the development of practical ‘how-to’ skills. Students will learn to select and conduct appropriate advanced statistical analysis relevant to their research.


HP7889 Directed Reading

One important element of graduate research training is a student’s familiarization with classic and contemporary literature in the student’s field of specialisation. This would provide a solid theoretical and conceptual basis needed for advanced empirical scientific enquiry. This familiarization not only depends on student’s reading of relevant topics in breadth and in depth, but also relies on the exchange of critical thoughts between the student and a faculty member who specialises in the specific area. In this course, students are expected to read widely and in depth under the guidance of a faculty supervisor.


HP7888 Independent Study

The Independent Study Module provides the student an opportunity to engage in independent psychological research related to the proposed thesis. The content and activities of each Independent Study Module is to be determined by the student and his or her supervisor with approval by the Head of the Division.


Sociology


HS 7001 Classical Sociological Theory and Research

This course examines the theoretical foundations and research traditions of sociology as a discipline. In particular, the contributions of Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim, and Max Weber are discussed against the backdrop of the social and intellectual contexts of their times. The course considers these and other classical theorists' continuing relevance for the analysis of social change and the development of social theory. Examples of course themes include:

Students will take this course in their first semester.


HS 7002 Contemporary Sociological Theory and Research

Legacies of classical theory are critically reviewed in light of 20th century developments. New schools of social theory are examined. The syllabus centers on contributions of the following contemporary sociological theorists. Examples of course themes include:

e.g. Michel Foucault, Jürgen Habermas, Pierre Bourdieu

Additionally, students will consider contributions of other theorists from a secondary list according to the discretion of the faculty.


HS7003 Theory and Method in Social Research

The syllabus for this course will be determined by the individual faculty subject to the approval of the Division Head. It will focus on theoretical methods in social research; that is, the relationship between theory and data in the process of doing sociological research. (Note: Some students may be required to take HS9910 in addition to or instead of this course. Course themes include:

HS7101 Graduate Seminar: Economy and Society

'Economic man' is not an isolated individual but is embedded in networks of social relations. This course examines social aspects of economic life historically and in the contemporary context. Course themes include:

Further details of the syllabus will be dictated by the individual faculty subject to the approval of the Division Head.


HS7102 Graduate Seminar: Political Sociology

Power is a fundamental feature of social life, and it is manifested most obviously in the role of political institutions, especially in the modern nation-state. This course examines the nature and exercise of power and political control. In tracing the making of the modern state, it considers the ideological processes that legitimise political rule and government authority, especially in relation to nation-building and citizenship. Course themes include:

Further details of the syllabus will be dictated by the individual faculty subject to the approval of the Division Head.


HS7103 Graduate Seminar: Sociology of Cultures

Culture is transmitted by the institutions and processes of 'socialization' and is drawn into the social construction of personal and collective identities. The graduate seminar will be organised by the following themes:

HS7104 Graduate Seminar : Social Organisation

Social organisations are a central feature of modern society. This course is concerned with bureaucratic and post-bureaucratic organisations and with the relations between these organisations and their environments. The course examines social organisations in term of hierarchy, control, authority, decision-making and accountability.

HS7889 Independent Study in Sociology

This course provides students with an opportunity to engage in independent research related to their proposed thesis. The content and requirements of each Independent Study module are determined by the appointed supervisor and the student , depending on their area of interest. In this course, students are expected to read widely in both classical and contemporary sources under the guidance of their supervisor.


HS7909 Advanced Qualitative Methods in Social Research

This course examines the qualitative methods employed in social research. Students are required to take HS7003 Theory and Method in Social Research prior to this course. The course covers various issues of methodology in sociological research. Course themes include (1) epistemological and ethical issues, (2) research design, (3) participant observation, (4) ethnographic methods, (5) interviews, (6) content and discourse analysis.


HS7910 Special Topic: Advanced Quantitative Methods in Social Research

A PhD in sociology will require competence in advanced research methods. Students lacking necessary quantitative methods training will be required to take methods class prior to enrolling in HS9910.

This course (or equivalent) will equip students with analytic competencies necessary for completion of their masters or PhD research. The syllabus for this course will be determined by the individual faculty subject to the approval of the Division Head.

The two basic options for satisfying the methods requirement are:

Option one will be organised around the following themes: