UTC2406/UTS2404: Cities and Nature

Sem: AY19/20 Semester 2

Lecturer: Dr Toh Tai Chong

Overview: Despite unprecedented changes in plans due to the evolving COVID-19 situation, I still generally enjoyed this module. I guess it did help that physical classes were only cancelled from W10 onwards so we didn't miss out on much. This course analyses a variety of relevant topics such as sustainability, community engagement and climate change through a multidisciplinary lens, focusing on the impact of cities on our society and natural surroundings. I learnt how concepts from multiple disciplines such as sociology, political science, engineering and environmental studies might potentially come together to help resolve some of the most pressing issues faced by cities today.

Readings were generally light (at least for a social science student like me) and many of them were actually journalistic sources which helped us to understand the relevance of the issue we were studying to our world today. That said, book chapters and academic papers were given for some weeks but it’s nothing really crazy. Field trips are an integral part of this course, and this is what makes this mod stand out from many other regular NUS mods out there. I got to go for the Tiong Bahru Heritage Trail and a Monkey Walk at Bukit Timah Nature Reserve which enabled me to see places I thought I was familiar with from a different perspective. Guest speakers were also brought in for various weeks. It was through this that we got to interact with an actual Orang Laut (sea peoples) and gain a better understanding of the effects of urbanization on traditional communities right here in Singapore. Dr Toh is a really engaging lecturer and the classroom environment was generally nice which made for a great learning experience.

Assessment:

Attendance and class participation (10%): Just turn up for class and contribute meaningfully to class discussions. IIRC Dr Toh will raise certain questions about the readings or videos halfway through the lesson and you’ll discuss them in your small groups before presenting them to the rest of the class.

Individual report (20%): a 1.2k word essay that requires you to analyse how the establishment of vis-à-vis rural areas affects your discipline (major). Being a political science major, this wasn’t that difficult for me as I had a lot of points and examples to draw on, but I did hear of people from other majors who had a slightly more challenging experience.

Reading Quiz (10%): 1-hour open book quiz. Just have to answer some short-answer questions based on an article that you are supposed to have read before the quiz.

Group Presentation (20%): Can’t exactly remember what this was but I think it involved something along the lines of identifying an environmental issue faced in NUS and coming up with a feasible solution based on the Sustainability Singapore Blueprint (SSB).

Participation Observation Report (20%): 1000 words per person in the group (eg. if your group has 4 people, your report should have 4000 words). This is done after a field trip to Toh Yi Community Garden where you observe the people and the place itself. Your report afterwards will be crafted based on a given research question. Don’t be intimidated by the word count though, I remember my group having to cut words more than anything else because there’s just so much to write.

Final Reflection (20%): An assignment that requires you to reflect on your greatest takeaways from the module and your perceptions of various issues before and after the module. Personally, this was something I felt gave a good closure to this module as it forced me to take stock of what I’ve learnt and how I can relate them to my daily life.