Transcript

The classrooms were spaces that brought academic and social learning together, and where we experienced the magic of the Yale-NUS College curriculum. This is how a typical classroom environment looked like: Five to ten minutes before class, students slowly trickle in, prepared for discussion and having read the assigned text for the day. They catch up on course matters like the readings and the assignments, or just do a quick exchange of the latest gossip on campus. Occasionally, some of them come a bit earlier with their breakfast, snack, or a cup of coffee, and if you’re lucky you would also see a glimpse of them doing an expeditious tarot card reading. The instructor then arrives, sets up the audio-visual system, and puts on lively music to set the mood. As soon as everybody settles down, the students are then whisked to an exciting 80-minute adventure: they are brought to the sacred groves of the ancestral lands of upland Southeast Asia, to the microbial colonies living in the hydrothermal vents of the deep oceans, or the grand museums and libraries of the colonial metropoles. As they explore these places in their minds, they write ideas and draw mind maps on the white boards, and they engage in heated, yet collegial debates.  

Sometimes, the magic extends outside the classrooms. When the sun is out but the weather is not too hot or humid, class discussions are brought to the Residential College courtyards. Students break into smaller discussion groups and huddle together comfortably on the lawn, writing ideas on a Manila paper. They are then brought together to sit around a tight circle for a casual whole class discussion. This time, no PowerPoint slides to distract the free flow of scholarly discourse. After class, there is a sudden traffic and bustle in the spaces outside the classrooms, as students and faculty rush to their next class or meeting. Others decide to continue class conversations on the hallways outside or the courtyard across the classrooms, extending the classroom adventures a bit longer.

Among the classrooms where I taught, classroom [Lecture] Theatre 1 in Saga College was particularly dear to me. I remember facilitating numerous class discussions there on a wide array of topics, from Donna Haraway’s When Species Meet to Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen’s thermodynamic limits of the economy to Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring. We also hosted numerous capstone project colloquiums in that room, where senior students presented findings from their year-long projects to classmates, friends and family. It was a friendly room that welcomed thought-provoking questions and insights, as well as lots of laughter. The room had a beautiful semi-circle design with three huge white board and projector panel screens in front. It always looked quite impressive when speakers flashed their slides on the three panels, while the warm ambient lighting added an elegant feel to the room. It was deceptively small, but a lot of people can be packed in it. The size and configuration were just right for a hybrid format of lecture and class discussion. These were the unique features that made Lecture Theatre 1 a space that nurtured my public speaking skills as a junior faculty in the College, and I imagine the same for many students who learned to present their works in that room. Sizeable yet intimate, it was the room that built our confidence.