Eminent scholar, Professor John Ikenberry, visited SOSS under the OUB Professorial Chair from 12-16 September 2011.The OUB Professorial Chair is supported by a generous donation from the United Overseas Bank (UOB) and was officially launched in conjunction with Overseas Union Bank’s (OUB) 50th anniversary celebrations on 5 February 1999.In January 2002, OUB merged with UOB. But the donation continues to be credited as “OUB” in SMU’s annual reports.The primary objectives of the sponsorship are to help build the university’s research capabilities, and to fulfil its vision for the advancement of education. It also provides a mechanism whereby we acknowledge and recognize distinguished appointees, both external and internal, in their areas of teaching, research and publication. >> more

School Highlights

Student Activities

Distinguished VisitorsNew Faculty

Faculty Achievements

Short Term Research Collaboration ProgrammeInvited Seminar Series

Faculty in the News

Academic Briefing Commencement 2011Freshment Orientation CampConvocation 2011Social Science Day

Distinguished VisitorProfessor John Ikenberry

ISSUE FEATURE

[Photo source: Princeton University website]

Name-your-newsletter Contest

School of Social Sciences (SOSS) invites SOSS faculty, BSocSc students and BSocSc Programme alum to participate in “Name-your-newsletter” contest. The School of Social Sciences Newsletter is a bi-annual publication. Its objective is to keep SMU, SOSS community, and BSocSc alum updated of SOSS faculty, alum movements and achievements, events organized by the School as well as SOSS students’ activities & accomplishments.This naming contest is open to all SOSS faculty, alum and students whose primary or secondary degree is BSocSc. Email your ideas to hmtan@smu.edu.sg by 31 Oct 2011, 5pm. If your proposed name is selected, you win a prize of S$200 book voucher! There is only one award and the decision of the judges is final. The panel of judges chaired by the Dean and comprises the SOSS faculty, students and alum. Hurry, put your heads together and unleash your creativity now!

Dean’s List Presentation

© Copyright 2011 Singapore Management University. All Rights Reserved

Announcement to all BSocSc alum

We like to start a column from the next

issue for alum to share any news (updates)

with SOSS community. Please email us at

socsc@smu.edu.sg

Upcoming WorkshopA Climate of Insecurity: Impending Impacts of Global Climate Change on Energy, Food, Health, and Migration in Asia.

Together with Partnerships for International Strategies in Asia (PISA) at the George Washington University, SOSS is working on a joint project on “A Climate of Insecurity: Impending Impacts of Global Climate Change on Energy, Food, Health, and Migration in Asia”. A workshop to review the research agenda and activities for the project has been tenta-tively scheduled on 18-19 November 2011.

Professor Ikenberry is the Albert G. Milbank Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton University in the Department of Politics and the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, and is co-faculty director of the Princeton Project on National Security, a large, collaborative multi-year project that is examining the chang-ing character of America’s international security environment.

During his visit, Professor Ikenberry delivered a public lecture, “The Rise of China and the Future of Liberal World Order” on Friday, 16 September 2011 at the Mochtar Riady Auditorium at SMU. 155 participants attended the lecture followed by a panel discussion led by Professor James T H Tang, Dean, School of Social Sciences together with Assistant Professor Eduard Jordaan from the School.

school highlights

student activities

faculty in the news

The School together with Singapore Institute of Interna-tional Affairs co-hosted a round table meeting, “The Coming Presidential Election in the United States - What is at Stake for Asia?” on Wednesday, 14 September 2011.

18 senior academics from SMU, NUS & NTU and senior business leaders attended the luncheon meeting led by Professor John Ikenberry. Dr Yeo Lay Hwee, Director, The European Union Centre in Singapore was the moderator.

Professor Ikenberry also met with alum, undergraduates and scholars from the University Scholars Programme during a tea session.

school highlights

student activities

faculty in the news

New Faculty

Visiting FacultyProfessor Kevin Hewison

Visiting FacultyProfessor Xiaotian Wang

Professor Kevin Hewison is Professor of Asian Studies at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hills whose areas of expertise include globalization and social change in Southeast Asia, especially Thailand, democratization, and labor issues. He will join SOSS in January 2012 as Visiting Professor of Asian Studies for six months.

Professor Xiaotian Wang, Professor of Psychology, University of South Dakota, will join SOSS as Visit-ing Professor of Psychology in January 2012 for six months. Professor Wang’s research interests include behavioral decision-making, risk management, and evolutionary psychology.

[Photo source: U. of North Carolina website] [Photo source: U. of South Dakota website]

SOSS is pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Ann Florini as Visiting Professor for one year from 1st October 2011. Prior to joining SOSS, Professor Florini was with the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore.

One of Professor Florini’s primary responsibilities is to develop a new multi-disciplinary programme focusing on international public policy and business. She will offer undergraduate courses in her areas of expertise including global governance. She will also provide input to the curriculum review for undergraduate political science courses. Given her current work and standing in the field, she would be able to strengthen the academic and professional network of SOSS, provide mentorship for junior faculty, help develop new research initiatives and also help to attract external research funding for the School.

Assistant Professor Ijlal Naqvi, has recently completed his PhD from University of Northern Carolina, Sociology Department. He will join SOSS in January 2012 as Assistant Professor in Sociology. His research interests include Political Sociology, Development and Muslim-majority Countries.

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faculty in the news

Visiting FacultyProfessor Ann Florini

Full Time Faculty Asst Prof Ijlal Naqvi

Distinguished VisitorProfessor Huang Yasheng

In the next few months, the School of Social Sciences will be hosting two distinguished visitors.

Professor Huang Yasheng is scheduled to visit the School of Social Sciences from 26 October to 2 November 2011 under the Ho Bee Professorial Chair in Business and Economic.

On 28 January 2008, Ho Bee Group donated S$3 million to the Singapore Management University (SMU) to establish the endowed Ho Bee Professorship in Chinese Economy and Business, making the latter the first local university to receive contributions from the Group.

The Ho Bee Professorship is SMU’s first professorial chair to provide the opportunity for a distinguished visiting professor to advance education and research in the area of Chinese entrepreneurship and business within the larger context of the Chinese econ-omy.

Professor Huang is Professor of Political Economy and International Management and holds International Program Professorship in Chinese Economy and Business at Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. At MIT Sloan School, Professor Huang founded and runs China Lab and India Lab, which aim to help

entrepreneurs in China and India improve their management. He is a member of MIT Entrepreneurship Center, a fellow at the Center for China in the World Economy at Tsinghua University, a fellow at William Davidson Institute at Michigan Business School, and a World Economic Forum Fellow.

Professor Huang will deliver a public lecture, “What Exactly is a China Model?” on Monday, 31 October 2011 at the Mochtar Riady Auditorium, Level 5, SMU Administration Building from 5.00 pm to 6.30 pm. Please refer to the website: www.socsc.smu.edu.sg for more information soon. Admission to the lecture is by registration and free.

Distinguished VisitorProfessor Elizabeth Perry

Professor Elizabeth Perry will visit the School from 8 November to 13 November 2011 under the Celia Moh Professorialship. The Celia Moh Professorial Chair was established at SMU in 2000 with a generous gift of S$2 million by the late Mr Laurence Moh former Chairman, Plantation Timber Products, in honour of his wife, Celia Moh, on the occasion of their 40th anniversary. The purpose of the Chair is to acknowledge and award an outstanding female faculty member.

Professor Perry is Henry Rosovsky Professor of Government and Director of the Harvard-Yenching Institute. She is a comparativist with special expertise in the politics of China. A fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the recipient of a Guggenheim fellowship, she sits on the editorial boards of nearly a dozen major scholarly journals and has served as the President of the Association for Asian Studies. Professor Perry’s research focuses on popular protest and grassroots politics in modern and contemporary China. Professor Perry will deliver a public lecture, “The Resilience of Chinese Communism: Mining the ‘An-Yuan’ Revolutionary Tradition” on Thursday, 10 November 2011 at the Mochtar Riady Auditorium, Level 5, Administration Building from 5.15 pm to 6.30 pm. Admission to the lecture is by registration and free. Please look out for more information from the website www.socsc.smu.edu.sg soon.

issue feature

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faculty in the news

[Photo source: University of Pennsylvania website]

[Photo source: The Global Speaker Network website]

Short Term Research Collaboration Programme (STRCP)The STRCP is one of the several efforts in SOSS to nurture research and promote scholastic work amongst faculty and the international research community. This programme also aims to inculcate a vibrant research environment in the School and to promote research collaboration between SOSS faculty and scholars outside Singapore.

Invited Seminar Series (ISS)Invited Seminar Series (ISS) is a programme for faculty in the School to invite seminar speakers (outside of SMU) to speak at the School’s weekly seminar. The purpose is to encourage scholarly exchange and establish linkage and network with scholars outside SMU (either local or regional).Assistant Professor Yong Cai from University of North Carolina was invited by Assistant Professor Bussarawan Teerawichitchainan to speak on “China’s Below Replacement Fertility in a Comparative Perspective” on 2 September 2011.

Assistant Professor Take-shi Hamamura from The Chinese University of Hong Kong was invited by Assistant Professor Angela Leung to present “Studying Norms of Social Interactions across Time and Place and Why That Matters” on 26 September 2011.

Congratulations to Associate Professor Norman Li who was awarded the prestigious Lee Kuan Yew Fellowship for Research Excellence 2011.

This award aims to promote research and help SMU build up its international standing.

Outstanding SMU faculty is chosen based on their com-pleted research projects in the calendar year.

VISIT WEBSITE WWW.SOCSC.SMU.EDU.SG FOR MORE INFORMATION ON SEMINARS ORGANISED BY SOSS.

The School is privileged to have Mr David Britton from Swansea University visited from 14 September 2011 to 17 September 2011. Mr Britton delivered a seminar on “The Creative Pulse: A Passion Beyond Fashion” on 15 Septem-ber 2011. Thirty two participants attended the seminar comprising professional from the creativity industries as well as students, and faculty from SMU community.

Professor Pascal Vennesson from European University Institute spent one week at the School from 21 August to 27 August 2011. He was here to work on a research project with SOSS faculty, Assistant Professor Clara Portela. He also conducted a research seminar, “Democracy and the Changing American Way of War” on 23 August 2011.

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student activities

faculty in the news

[Photo source: U. of North Carolina [Photo source: Chinese University of Hong Kong

The American Psychology Association has conferred the prestigious award of Fellow status to Professor David Chan. APA is the largest association of psychologists worldwide with more than 154,000 members.

He is also an Elected Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science, the International Association of Applied Psychology and the Society for Industrial and Organisational Psychology.

Faculty AchievementsProfessor David Chan was Conferred Fellow of American Psychology Association (APA)

Lee Kuan Yew Fellowship for Research Excellence 2011

Academic Briefing - 25 July 2011

The Academic Briefing for SOSS freshmen was held on 25 July 2011 at the Mochtar Riardy Auditorium, Administration Building, Level 5. About 100 freshmen attended this information sharing session. The Dean, Associate Dean and faculty members were present to welcome the freshmen. Current students were also present to share with the freshmen on co-curricular activities and giving them tips on bidding of courses, etc.

Commencement 2011 - 29 July 2011 SOSS Commencement Ceremony was held on 29 July 2011 at Suntec City Convention Cen-tre. Faculty members turned out in academic regalia to celebrate this joyous occasion with 110 graduands, parents and guests.

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school highlights

SOSS Freshmen Orientation Camp - 4 to 6 August 2011‘The Camp that shall not be named’ was the 8th annual camp for the School of Social Sciences. It turned out to be a camp that shall never be forgotten for both the organizing committee and the freshmen. Spanned over three days from 4 August to 6 August, the freshmen were wielding wands and fighting the dark forces in this Harry Potter themed camp.

The games kicked start right from Day one and many game stations, both dry and wet were set up all around the school. On Day two, freshmen had to participate in an amazing race style activity and one of the highlights was a game of captain’s ball between the freshmen and an All-star Team formed by seniors across the years, including an alumni. The camp ended off on Day three with a finale dinner at Glass-room in which the Social Science Freshmen of 2011 were officially inducted into the SOSS Family.

Convocation 2011- 12 August 2011Convocation was held on 12 August 2011 at the Suntec City Convention Centre. It marked the start of a student’s university journey. The formal event was filled with tradition and ceremony, with SMU's Pro-Chancellor, Chairman, President and faculty present in full academic regalia to welcome the new students to the University. Current students put up amazing performances to entertain and welcome freshmen of the new intake.

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faculty in the news

[Photos and article contributed by 7th SOSCIETY Executive Committee]

[Photos source: Office of University Events, SMU]

Social Science Day - 2 September 2011

‘Hocus Pocus’ was held on 2 September 2011 at the Level 7, Function Room in School of Social Sciences/School of Economics building to celebrate the 8th birthday of SMU Social Sciences.

Highlights of the evening include the soft launch of the Social Science alumni chapter, headed by Fish Leow. He took the stage and got all his fel-low juniors interested with his sharing of nostalgic memories from his school days. Aside from that, Social Science’s favourite duo of Ryan and Amy performed a couple of songs, with one specially written for So-cial Science. As performances were ongoing on stage, a street magician was also going around showing magic tricks to wow groups of students. The food and drinks were also specially chosen to fit our favourite colour as green beer and green macaroons were served to everyone at the event.

It was a night during which everyone celebrated their identity as a Social Sci-ence student and new friends across the Social Science cohorts were made amidst all the fun.

Dean’s List & School Awards Presentation - 9 September 201135 students were awarded the Dean’s List for their outstanding academic results in AY 2010/11. Each awardee received a certificate and a plaque from the Dean at the Awards Presentation Ceremony held on Friday, 9 September 2011 at the SMU Gallery.

At the same ceremony, the SOSS Teaching Excellence Award was also presented to Associate Professor Bridget Welsh, Assistant Professor Evelyn Au and Adjunct Faculty Ms Yoko Morikawa. Congratulations to all the winners!

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faculty in the news

[Photos and article contributed by 7th SOSCIETY Executive Committee]

Faculty in the NewsRecent NewsDavid Chan – 16 September 2011, Channel News Asia SMU Professor Gets Fellow Status from American Psychological AssociationNorman Li – 22 September 2011, American Psychological AssociationMen and Women Cooperate Equally for the Common GoodKirpal Singh – 25 September 2011, Channel News AsiaSpeaking Good English >> more

JournalChi-Ying Cheng, Ka Yee Angela Leung - “Going Beyond the Multicultural Experience – Creativity Link: The Emotional Pathway Underlying Dual-cultural Activation and Creativity” with T. Y. Wu, 2011, Journal of Social Issues (Special Issue: Social Psychology for Globalization), forthcoming (The authors contributed equally to this work)Clara Portela - “Belarus and the European Union: From Sanctions to Partnership?” 2011, 9, 4, Comparative European PoliticsJohn Williams - “Moore-paradoxical Assertion, Fully Conscious Belief and the Transparency of Belief ”, 2011, Acta Analytica

Chapters in BooksYooil Bae - “Governing Cities without States? Rethinking Urban Political Theories in Asian Context”, Urban Theories beyond ‘the West’: A World of Cities, In Mark Jayne et al. (eds.), Routledge, London, 2011Thomas Brian Mooney, Mark Nowacki & John Williams - “Kovesi, Connaturality, and the Metaphysics and Epistemology of Virtues”, Morality and Meaning: The Legacy of Julius Kovesi, Studies in Moral Philosophy, T. Brian Mooney and Alan Tapper (eds.), Brill Academic Publishers, 2011, forthcoming James Tang - “Chinese Foreign Policy Challenges: Periphery as Core”, in New Frontiers in China’s Foreign Relation, Allen Carlson and Ren Xiao (eds.), Lexington Books, 2011

Book ReviewsDavid Chan - “An Introduction to Latent Variable Growth Curve Modeling (2nd edn)”, T. E. Duncan, S. C. Duncan, & L. A. Strycker (Author), Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, New Jersey, 2010, in Organizational Research Methods

Books and MonographsJohn Donaldson - “Small Works: Poverty and Economic Development In Southwestern China.”, Cornell University Press, Ithaca NY:, 2011 Angela Leung - “Cultural Processes: A Social Psychological Perspective”, with, C-y. Chiu, Y. Hong (EDS.), Cambridge University Press , New York, 2010, 336 pagesClara Portela - “European Union Sanctions and Foreign Policy”, Routledge , 2010

Conference PapersHoon Chang Yau - “Between Evangelism and Multiculturalism: The Dynamics of Christianity in Indonesia”France: 31st International Society for the Sociology of Religion 30 June - 03 July 2011Ivy Lau - “Cultural Immersion and Social and Cognitive Flexibility”Kunming, China: The 9th Biennial Conference of the Asian Association of Social Psychology 28 - 31 July 2011Tobias Rettig - “Commemorating the Indian National Army in Singapore, 1945-2011”London United Kingdom: 26th Association of Southeast Asian Studies in the United Kingdom Conference9 - 11 September 2011

Working PapersThomas Brian Mooney, Mark Nowacki & John Williams - “Kovesi and the Formal and Material Elements of Concepts”, October 2010Mark Nowacki - “Social Virtues Within and Across Cultures: Against the Idea of Universal Rationality”, July 2010John Williams - “Moore’s Paradox, the Priority of Belief and Eliminativism”, by October 2010

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