Course Descriptors |
MAS901 Issues and Research in Humanities Education (4 AUs)
This course provides an introduction to issues and research in humanities education using the core themes of the programme - in globalization, citizenship, sustainability and heritage. You will be introduced to key issues in humanities education through an engagement with the academic literature. As the core module in a HD programme, you will also learn about research epistemologies and methodologies relevant to humanities education and learn how to write a research proposal relevant to the area of study. |
MAS910 Governance and Public Policy (4 AUs)
This course gives an introduction to goals, principles and indicators of good governance, the public policy making process and conceptual models for policy analysis. Participants will examine governance by governments in representative democracies, with particular reference to Singapore. Participants will also be exposed to debates on how to sustain good governance in a future which will be more complex and unpredictable, and the feasibility and necessity of global governance and a world government. |
MAS912 Heritage, History and Culture (4 AUs)
This course aims to intellectually equip you with the methods and practices that would enable you to make your own assessments about various aspects of (in)tangible heritage. This course intends to engage students in making practical assessments of the tangible built heritage and the intangible heritage of cultural practices and traditions. In the course, students examine the heritage value of historical sites and landmarks as well as cultural traditions. Students do a major case study of a place or a cultural practice that they consider to be of heritage value. The significance and meaning of what constitute heritage is covered. Students consider why some historical sites and cultural traditions and not others are regarded as essential for school field trips and tourism. The question of how the public perceives the past as it is presented in museums is also analysed. |
MAS914 Contemporary Politics of Southeast Asia (4 AUs)
The revised course seeks to engage you in Southeast Asian history and studies by connecting contemporary political issues in Southeast Asia with key themes in the regions history and heritage. In order to achieve this, the course focuses on the dynamics of social, political and economic transformation in Southeast Asia, as well as the relationship between these changes and the wider patterns of globalisation. Although the focus is on contemporary events in Southeast Asia, you will develop an understanding of these issues through an awareness of historical developments since the Second World War, and the role these events played in shaping political institutions and crises. |
MAS917 Citizenship Education in a Global Age (4 AUs)
This course examines the implications of educating young people in a global society and the challenges posed to nation-states, concepts of nationhood and national identity, and citizenship in rapidly changing contexts. The course will provide an introduction to citizenship education in new global contexts through an examination of current scholarly literature about new and emerging global contexts, new forms of civic participation, and new conceptions of citizenship and citizenship education to consider the implications for civic education in a global age. |
MAS919 GIS and Geospatial Learning in Sustainability (4 AUs)
Sustainability has become a key theme in higher education globally. It is also by now a core component of the revised MAHE programme. The spatial thinking tools and applications that you will learn in GIS will help you to better comprehend sustainability issues as well as devise solutions for such problems. This course will enable you to apply GIS vis-a-vis cross-disciplinary perspectives in the Humanities with respect to the Southeast Asian context. |
MAS931 Debates and Issues in Geography Education (4 AUs)
This course engages participants in the major debates and issues in geography education. It also focuses on the implications that these debates and issues have for the teaching of school geography in Singapore and beyond. The course is designed to help participants develop both a global understanding of these topics and an ability to apply key ideas in their practice. |
MAS933 The Early Modern Origins of Globalization, 1450-1750 (4 AUs)
This course probes into the debate and origins of globalization in the early modern period. In the process, issues relating to crises and wars on a global scale, economic systems of the period, as well as issues pertaining to cultural diffusion are explored through films, discussions and presentations. These sub-topics are examined as part of approaches and modeling in the study of the globalization phenomenon in the first part of the course. The second part of the course explores facets of the phenomenon on the ground in various regions of the world from the Far East, Middle East to the Americas. Globalization is a topic that sees its share of discussion in the curriculums of history, geography, social studies and even the language and finer arts subjects in schools. Engaging the phenomenon and issues arising from this will hopefully permit a better facilitation of students learning. |
MAS935 Issues and Research in History Education (4 AUs)
This course explores a range of issues in history education and examines important developments in international research on history teaching and learning. It offers students the opportunity to develop their understanding of the different ways societies have conceived the aims and purpose of history education, and challenges their assumptions on what it means to teach history in schools. Students will examine issues related to: historys place in society, the value of history education in the curriculum, the nature of public debates over history education, aspects of curriculum design and development, and international research on students thinking in history. |
MAS936 Contemporary Singapore (4 AUs)
The increased emphasis on post-independence Singapore in the national humanities curriculum means that there is a need for more knowledge and discussion of Singapores development after 1965. This course takes a thematic and issue-oriented approach towards understanding the evolving political, social-cultural and economic dimensions that shaped the landscape of contemporary Singapore. Through this course, you will examine the multi-faceted challenges facing Singapore today and critically evaluate and offer potential solutions. This course is suitable for anyone looking for a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the historical and contemporary challenges facing Singapore. It is also suitable for anyone interested in learning more about Singapores development since 1965.
Given the increased emphasis on Singapore history in the lower secondary history curriculum, as well as in the primary and secondary curriculum, this course will help teachers acquire a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the historical and contemporary challenges facing Singapore today. |
MAS937 Ancient Civilizations of the East (4 AUs)
The course will provide a survey of the ancient civilizations of the East, namely China, India, and Southeast Asia. Through a close reading and examination of (translated) primary sources, you will be inducted in a critical discourse of not only issues (polity, society, culture and economy) in classical period societies. An examination of exhibits/artefacts from the museum will also allow you to make specific linkages to issues in heritage and (ancient) globalization. |
MAS939 Action Research in Humanities Education: Theories and Practices (4 AUs)
This course is designed to provide an overview of action research in general and action research in education in particular. The theoretical underpinnings of action research will be emphasized. You will have opportunities to explore and critique a range of action research projects in different contexts and subject matters in humanities education. You will be introduced to an action research cycle and will get to plan an intervention either to improve on your teaching practice in your classroom or to mitigate an identified issue in humanities education. This course will prepare you to be reflective practitioners grounded in evidence-based research. |
MAS940 Curriculum Leadership in Social Studies (4 AUs)
Many issues and challenges are involved in the implementation of Social Studies, one of the most important subjects for citizenship education. This course prepares you to lead in the development of curriculum and pedagogy for Social Studies. You will be encouraged to explore the multiple meanings of curriculum and the role of curriculum leaders in Social Studies. Opportunities will also be provided for you to engage in discourses on the theory and practice of curriculum leadership. |
MAS944 Global Cities (4 AUs)
The 21st century is known as the urban century as the majority of the worlds population is moving to urban regions. With increasing processes of globalisation, cities are the new engines of growth for the global economy. While London, New York and Tokyo still occupy the top ranks of global cities, many cities from Global South are challenging this dominance. This course will attempt to introduce the students to the processes of urbanisation the urban ways of life and appreciate the emergence of global cities beyond the Global North. While this course will discuss the theoretical underpinning of increasing prominence of global cities, it will also include various empirical and grounded experiences of global cities around the world. Especially issues related to urban liveability, sustainability, water, housing and other urban infrastructure issues, which will help students achieve a better understanding of the contemporary urban world will be covered. |
MAS945 Travel and Tourism in Asia and Beyond (4 AUs)
Tourism is arguably the largest and most important industry in Asia. New and emerging trends in the region such as increasing mobility of ordinary people, rise in ageing population, rapid urbanisation, and growing emphasis on health and wellness coupled with the rapidly evolving nature of travel call for a serious examination of the subject matter. Yet, it is important to recognise that Asian Tourism does not exist in a vacuum; it is part and parcel of a global tourism system and is in a symbiotic relationship with the rest of the globalised world. In this course, you will examine major trends in travel and tourism, focusing specifically on Southeast and East Asia, but also drawing on case studies worldwide. Further, you will learn about the political geographies of tourism spaces and landscapes, and the changing relationships between state, civil society, and market as well as their influence on power relations in tourism. |
MAS946 Environmental Planning and Management (4 AUs)
This course examines selected environmental challenges in urban areas and explores planning solutions and management options to avoid or mitigate such problems. Multidisciplinary, integrated solutions that follow principles of sustainability are emphasized. |
MAS947 Sociology of Education (4 AUs)
This course introduces students to key perspectives and themes in the sociology of education. Sociology of education studies education as an integral part of larger social systems and institutions, often with a critical view on the ways in which education is implicated in the relations of power and inequality that traverse these systems and institutions.
Theoretical perspectives covered in this course include the functionalist, the Marxist/Marxian, and various other critical perspectives hinging on social differences such as culture, power, gender, race/ethnicity. Other important themes such as neoliberal-ism/ization, globalization and inter-/trans-national mobility, curriculum, critical pedagogy and alternative education, are also examined. |
MAS948 Discourses in Sustainability (4 AUs)
Sustainability as a topic is of utmost importance in the humanities. The environmental and social impacts of global climate change on our everyday lives have also been increasingly emphasised. Accordingly, there is a need to equip you with the history of sustainability studies, alongside current debates as well as possible future trajectories of this discipline. This knowledge will help you to better understand situations related to climate change while foregrounding opportunities for you to play a part in fostering environmental sustainability. |
MAS949 Field Inquiry in Sustainability (4 AUs)
Sustainability as a topic is of utmost importance to all of us, and there has been an increased emphasis on the environmental and social impacts of global climate change on our everyday lives. Meanwhile, fieldwork plays a critical role in knowledge construction vis-a-vis an analysis of the data that has been generated in the field. Fieldwork strengthens our classroom concepts and gives the opportunity to understand the world through inquiry-based learning. However, you may not have had an adequate exposure to multidisciplinary methods that will help you to acquire and examine data related to sustainability topics. This course will equip you with both the qualitative and quantitative skills to collect and interpret data in ways that can help to inform environmental solutions for a more sustainable future. |
MAS950 Spatial Data Analytics in Climate Change and the Humanities (4 AUs)
Spatial data analytics allows one to visualize and analyse social and environmental data. It has become an important analytical tool across a variety of fields such as planning, and most importantly, climate change. The continued emission of greenhouse gases will undoubtedly cause further warming, thereby increasing the likelihood of severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts on people and ecosystems. Moreover, low-income communities are often disproportionately affected by the impacts of climate change. Consequently, there is an urgent need for resilience planning and resource allocation that are equitable and proactive. This can potentially be achieved via an application of spatial data analytics. |
MAS951 Global History of Development (4 AUs)
Development is the purported goal of every state, whether it seeks to develop, to maintain its level of development, or to change the course or shape of its current level of development. But what do states mean when they talk about development? Why has development become so central to how we view the world? How has the definition of development changed over time? What is the relationship between development and sustainability? This course will help you question conventional assumptions about development, and to critically assess development in different historical contexts, with a particular focus on Asia and Africa. You will sharpen your critical thinking skills, widen your understanding of the global community, and gain tools to analyse present-day events in a historical framework. This course is for students who are interested in globalization, global inequality, the history of empires, the Cold War, geopolitics, and economics. |
MAS982 Inquiry and Perspective in the Humanities (2 AUs)
Recognising that inquiry is a valuable experience for postgraduate students, this 2 AU course offers you a chance to trace lines of inquiry with respect to a humanities related topic of your choice. Given that this is a 2AU course, the course assignment format, expectations, and workload are designed such that they would be manageable for you. |
