FASS Modules
NM1101E - Communications, New Media, and Society
Content is very easy to grasp, but can get very dry. Much of it it's very relevant to daily life, even if you're not planning to major in this module - but its life relevance can also make it what many describe as "commonsensical"; i.e., you feel like you're learning what you already know and the explanations they give simply seem jargonised and ultimately useless. For instance, one section of the communications textbook is devoted to mapping the trajectory of a friendship, and another to a romantic relationship. The module also covers communication design and communication management to some extent, though, which may be more interesting.
Professor Mohan Dutta isn't the best lecturer in FASS. In fact, he's probably the worst lecturer I had this semester. He talks in a way that is riddled with redundancies (he'll rattle off three consecutive sentences all saying the same thing) and spends so much time futilely trying to make lectures interactive that he almost never finishes his PowerPoint slides. However, he isn't a bad lecturer per se, and you shouldn't have much trouble understanding what he's saying - you'll just wish that more of what he's saying isn't already in the textbook.
The exams are mindbogglingly simple (though you may be disappointed with the quality of the questions; they were badly proofread and at times quite unclear), and are likely to be entirely multiple-choice because everyone complained about the midterm short-answer questions so they took those out. You will need to study, since there's a lot of jargon to familiarise yourself with, but as long as you read everything you'll be fine. Coursework consists of three 500-700 word assignments, covering research, design, and campaign management respectively, and as long as you have a decent reference list and follow instructions it should be very easy to score well.
Overall, this is probably the easiest social sciences exposure module in FASS, and I'm saying this without having taken any of the others. You won't be blown away with what you learn, but if you're like me and you're interested in media and/or like overanalysing ordinary things, you probably won't be bored to death either.
Difficulty: very easy, unless you're allergic to jargon. even then, the jargon isn't the worst out there, and should be easy to remember
Workload: shouldn't be a problem
Assessment: shouldn't be a problem as long as you can write in coherent sentences
Interest Value: quite relevant to life, but sometimes so relevant you wonder why you're studying it. I was the most frustrated with this module's content out of all the modules I took this semester
Teaching Quality (Lecture): could have been better, but it didn't really matter for this module because the content was so easy to grasp
Special Note: very, very receptive to feedback; they'll ask for it and make changes the following week, so take it seriously!!
JS1101E - Introduction to Japanese Studies
My favourite FASS module, hands down. I'm very, very impressed with the NUS Japanese Studies department, and I'm so glad I dropped the English Language exposure module to take up this one.
I think this module is one of the easiest Asian Studies exposure modules in FASS to handle. Firstly, you're only studying one country, which should make things easier to remember in your head and seem more focused in general. Secondly, the final exam is multiple-choice, and will be very easy if you study your lecture notes and at least finish all the readings (60 pages a week, but they're interesting and varied readings). The most stressful thing about the module (besides, well, panicking about content, but trust me it's not actually that much) will likely be the coursework, which consists of a 3000-5000-word research paper done in a group, and a 600-word forum post that provides an overview of anything Japan-related. These will require a lot of effort, but will also be very fun - if you try hard enough, you should be able to tailor at least one of these to your specific interests.
I'm not sure how people who aren't interested in Japan at all would take to this module, but for a casual mainstream animanga consumer like me, it was thoroughly enjoyable. The department makes sure that the subject matter covered is digestible for the uninitiated - they frame the content in terms of disciplines of study (what is history? what is material culture? why do we use art to analyse society?) and they keep larger concepts in mind while delving into minute details and anecdotes they find interesting. It also helps that the lecturers are clearly passionate about what they do and want to share their knowledge - the passion becomes contagious at times.
Dr Chris McMorran and Dr Scott Hislop are the best lecturers I had this semester. In fact, I was in one of Dr McMorran's tutorial groups, and he's probably the best FASS teacher I've had overall. They speak very well, are very coherent, and almost invariably finish their lectures on time. They're also very human, for lack of a better word. Dr McMorran remembers each student by name, every year. Dr Hislop talks about his nightmares about the Nara Daibutsu (big Buddha) and his experiences in Zen Buddhist training. They come across as people, which is so important when you're teaching.
So yeah, very good, best module, everyone should take it.
Difficulty: content-wise, just study; for the rest, depends on how good you are at research.
Workload: 60 pages a week, but manageable IMO
Assessment: the best Asian Studies exam ever (MCQ), but research essays can be a challenge depending on how good you are at essays. also group project
Interest Value: will probably cover at least one Japan-related thing you're interested in; if it doesn't, you have the excuse to research it yourself for one of the assessments
Teaching Quality: ace. literally ace.
EN1101E - Introduction to Literary Studies
I really don't have much to say about this module, but here goes:
Very boring, but it's not the module's fault. It's just that if you've taken literature for six years straight, you'll feel like you've gone back to Sec 1. This module is pitched at students of all levels of experience and analytical skill, and it shows. As a prospective literature major it was honestly hard to stay awake in this class. It really goes back to basics.
Texts include a buttload of poems, two plays, and two novels. About half will be classical, so you'll need to spend more time on those. Otherwise it should be manageable, though it'll still be a leap from four ("A"s) /fifteen (IB) texts in two years. The texts aren't difficult, and neither is the analysis. Lectures should be quite interesting if you listen, though you'll be expected to go beyond the content presented in your own work. Dr Barnard Turner is an interesting guy, but very prone to digression. Exams should be fairly easy if you've taken literature as an examinable subject before, and if you haven't, you'll usually have guiding questions to help you along. Tutorial quality depends heavily on the tutor you get; at one point mine (Dr Rebecca Raglon) made us spend three quarters of one tutorial reading parts of the play aloud. I've heard that others were better, though.
Overall, this is a pretty good exposure module, but if you're already been sufficiently exposed, you're likely to be quite bored.
Difficulty: if you've taken literature at O/A/IB level before, you should breeze through this. if not, should still be ok? I don't know anyone who took this without prior experience
Workload: depends on how quickly you read, but there's only one take-home 1500-word essay, so I'd say pretty light
Assessment: as literature exams go, these ones are pretty fair. everything is an essay. if you can't write essays, don't take this
Interest Value: I honestly don't know if anyone not interested in studying literature would be any more interested after taking this module, but I kinda doubt it
Teaching Quality: meh. I hear the other literature modules are miles better
NM2220 - Introduction to Media Writing
I consider this the real Communications & New Media exposure module, in terms of real-world relevance. This, not NM1101E, is what persuaded me to double-major in CNM. It's everything you could ask for in a module like this - it covers all sorts of writing from journalism to games, and is almost entirely practical-based. Readings are very light, but the tutorials are twice as long as your average FASS module for good reason. You will write a lot. Also, all tutorials are taught by former/current media practitioners, and Dr Fran Nathan (the lecturer) used to work at The Straits Times. You'll always feel like you're learning something that will be useful to you later on, if you're considering this as a career.
That being said, I'm not very sure if this module succeeds at teaching you to be a good writer. It will teach you a lot of things about effective writing (backed up by research, too) but if you're not confident in your current writing skill, I wouldn't recommend you take this module. Good writing is often as instinctual as it is theoretical. I have classmates who struggled a lot, and one semester doesn't get you very far; in the end you'll only have five writing tasks (two being the final exam) to improve, which isn't a lot. If grades are important to you, and you can't S/U (pass/fail) this module, remember that studying won't be enough to guarantee good results.
Difficulty: depends on how good a writer you are. if you're good, it's a breeze. if you've had experience in the media industry, even better. if you're not, well...
Workload: very light. you will only be given one week per assignment, because deadlines are even tighter in the real world. I didn't spend much time on this module at all
Assessment: entirely practical-based. even if you don't study you can probably get by if you've got mad enough writing skills, but studying is always useful
Interest Value: if you're considering this as a career, definitely take it. if not, it's interesting, but you might get frustrated because you're being graded on how you write
Teaching Quality: I had Fran Nathan as both my lecturer and tutor, and she's great on both counts
USP Modules
University Scholars Seminar
A series of seminars covering different areas of study. Our seniors told us to bring something to keep us occupied for the first seminar, so almost no one listened to any of these. The parts I actually listened to were interesting, but whether you listen or not will not affect you very much. It's a pass/fail module, and you only need to know the content of, like, one of the PowerPoint slides to complete the response paper assignment at the end of the semester.
Difficulty: lol
Workload: lol
Assessment: lol
Interest Value: lol
Teaching Quality: lol
UWC2101V - Language, Culture and Natives
This module is the reason why I'm staying in USP. Meaning, it's convinced me that the academic offerings by USP are solid enough for me to stay. It's the hardest module I took this semester, and the only one I'm not confident of ace-ing, but is also my favourite NUS module so far. Seminar-style modules are always refreshing in a university that runs primarily on a lecture-tutorial system. Difficult, and stressful for those with performance anxiety, but refreshing.
The subject matter covered here isn't evident from the title itself, but it basically concerns itself with the deconstruction of "native" stereotypes. How we think about "native" peoples, how this shows in media portrayals and colonial rhetoric, and how this impacts real indigenous populations and society as a whole. It's really cool. There's a lot of close reading involved, especially in terms of visual media, which I'd been wanting to do for a long time. I managed to write all three of my essays as visual analyses of popular media; they're among the most enjoyable essays I've ever written.
I hear the Writing and Critical Thinking component of the USP curriculum is going to change significantly next year, so I'm not sure how helpful it would be for me to elaborate much more about the module content, but I will say this - Dr Peter Vail is amazing. He prioritises clarity and is intelligent in a way that is comprehensible (unlike, say, Prof Dutta), which are essential for an academic writing module. He also can be hilarious, and as I said about the Japanese Studies professors earlier, is very human. He's very understanding about the plights of being a student (he once told us that it was completely okay to restrict the time you spend on an assignment, and that it often helps rather than hinders writing), and makes things reasonable. Along with Dr McMorran, he's become one of my favourite teachers ever.
I'm not sure what Dr Vail's next WCT iteration will look like, but he said it might focus more on language and linguistics than the deconstruction of "native" stereotypes that we did, so look out for that.
Difficulty: the most difficult module I took this semester, but all WCT modules are stressful in general, so there's no escape
Workload: pretty heavy - two seminars per week, and three essays with draft consultations. I spent more time on this module than all my other modules
Assessment: even if Dr Vail thinks your essay is well-written, a single significant mistake can still end up costing you your A. one thing I found frustrating about this was that he'd point out problems in my final submission that he entirely OKed in the previous draft. I guess this sort of thing is unavoidable, but it might help to get more than one draft in
Interest Value: who doesn't have stereotypes? it's always fun to see how stereotypes are evident everywhere you look
Teaching Quality: ace. so ace. Dr Vail is cool and has an adorable baby and has yellow-tinted spectacles
Labels: module review