Singapore has been decked out for Chinese New Year–red lanterns ablaze, mandarin oranges piled high in impossible stacks (to be given as gifts when visiting), and dogs of all shapes and sizes to honor the just-ushered-in “Year of the Dog.” Following tradition, we spent time with family (we have cousins in Singapore) and went to Chinatown to celebrate. In a nod to Dorothy from Wizard of Oz, we certainly felt “we were not in [Times Square for New Years’ Eve] anymore!”
I am glad to have had six extra weeks between our secular holiday and this lunar new year to share a few thoughts for the year and new academic semester. Being at Yale-NUS College has been a great opportunity for me to learn, teach and grow. The founders and current leadership share a fierce commitment to and vision for this liberal arts college. The faculty work exceedingly hard to balance excellence in teaching, research and service. And the students are smart, curious and dedicated. All have built a college and a home.
Established in 2011, Yale-NUS is the first liberal arts college in Singapore, and its “parents” are its namesakes: Yale University and the National University of Singapore. More than one-half of our selective (an admittance rate of ~7 percent) student body are from Singapore, and the others come from more than 60 countries around the region and the world, leading to discourse and experience grounded in diversity. My classes alone have included students from Singapore, China, South Korea and The Philippines as well as Ghana, Germany, the United States and others.
The Yale-NUS Common Curriculum is built on the foundation of liberal arts’ traditions in the humanities, arts and sciences, drawing on global intellectual traditions and cultures. By the time students get to my upper-level classes–Social and Behavioral Foundations of Health, Community Health Assessment and Intervention, and The Human Condition: Psychology, Health and Literature–they are grounded in quantitative reasoning, philosophy and modern social thought. They come to class extraordinarily well-prepared (making me up my teaching game). They are excellent writers and creative thinkers.
More Yale faculty and students should come to Yale-NUS and to Singapore. Many who visit value the experience, and thus return to deepen their ties. This year, I look forward to welcoming my colleagues from the Yale School of Public Health, Dean Sten Vermund and Professor Becca Levy as well as alumna UCSF Professor Elissa Epel (Yale PhD ’98, Psychology) for symposia that highlight transdisciplinary (aka liberal arts) and translational science. In addition to the many merits of Yale-NUS College, Singapore is a thriving financial hub; ranks first in health care in the world; is an innovator in digital technology, Smart Cities and housing; hosts architectural wonders and artistic treasures; and nurtures multi-culturalism and regional cohesiveness despite increasing divisiveness and nationalism globally.
It is a new year, and new opportunities await.
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Jeannette Ickovics, Ph.D., is the Samuel and Liselotte Herman Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the Yale School of Public Health and Professor of Psychology at Yale University. She is a Visiting Professor at Yale-National University of Singapore for the 2017-2018 academic year. This is her first trip to Singapore, and she is writing a periodic blog about her experiences that will appear on Yale School of Public Health social media.