Yale-NUS students can pursue independent language study or research outside of a traditional course structure. After consulting with a faculty member, students can craft a 2.5 unit proposal outlining the nature of the project and the work they intend to finish during the semester. This option is intended for an individual or small group of students – ordinarily 1-2 students– who would like to work with texts and other materials in a language other than English. Faculty can recommend projects to students, but the proposal should come from the students. Students should clearly articulate the goals of their project and what they aim to achieve by the end of the semester.
Example of past successful Independent Language Study & Research (ILSR) projects pursued by Yale-NUS students include:
- “Exploring the transformation of Japanese Noh Literature” – Looking at Noh performances based on five modern Noh plays by Mishima Yukio
- “Arab-Brazilian culture in literature and media” – A study of Middle East migration to Brazil and how it has impacted its culture via study of poetry and television shows in Portuguese
- “Intensive first-year Greek” – Grammar and selected readings
- “Vasubandhu’s Thirty Verses” – A translation and grammatical analysis of this Sanskrit text
- “Love in Antiquity” – Supplementary Latin readings to accompany a course where these texts were read in translation
Several Yale-NUS faculty members* who can work with students in particular languages include:
| FACULTY MEMBER | LANGUAGE |
|---|---|
| Amber Carpenter | Sanskrit |
| Scott Cook | Chinese, Classical Chinese |
| Steven Green | Latin, Ancient Greek |
| Malcolm Keating | Sanskrit |
| Sherice Ngaserin | Sanskrit, Pāli, Ancient Greek |
* Note: Faculty do not receive teaching credit for this work and may not always be available to undertake a 2.5 unit ILSR.
