The Minor in Aquatic Ecology aims to expose students to the important disciplines of marine and freshwater ecological studies while developing relevant specific skills, knowledge, and experience among them. With the increasing governmental, private, and societal interest in aquatic sciences, there is a growing demand for manpower with expertise in freshwater and/or marine ecology. This Minor complements aptly the primary disciplines of students from the Life Sciences Major and Geography Major. It will also enhance the training for students keen on related career opportunities at relevant governmental and private institutions in Singapore, including Public Utilities Board (PUB), National Environment Agency (NEA), National Parks Board (NParks), The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), Tropical Marine Science Institute (TMSI), DHI Group, and Singapore-Delft Water Alliance (SDWA).

Reading visual materials provides alternative modes of learning, thinking and research in the humanities and social sciences. The Minor in Art History cultivates analytical skills to interpret a wide range of arts and heritage: from painting, sculpture and architecture to contemporary installation art. As the curriculum straddles different geographies and time-periods it establishes the discipline’s distinct methodology, vocabulary and theoretical foundations. All the same, it explores the possibilities of applying art history and visual materials to other themes and areas of enquiry such as empire, modernity, nationalisms, gender, cultural studies, literature, political science, area studies and more.

The location of this Minor at NUS makes it unique in terms of accessing a fast-growing world-class city for the arts and culture. It aligns with Singapore’s Renaissance City Plan to work closely with the island’s cultural infrastructure, chiefly its National Museums and burgeoning international exhibitions. Set up in collaboration with the National Gallery Singapore, the Minor engages practicing curators as lecturers; it conducts classes within Museum galleries and provides internship opportunities at these institutions. The Minor contributes to grooming young arts professionals, audiences and custodians of world heritage.

The Minor in Asian Studies will be of interest to students across all faculties who seek to develop a critical awareness of Asia in terms of it socio-economic, political, language and cultural features and trajectories. The programme utilises an array of multidisciplinary perspectives and intellectual traditions to bring a multifaceted, inter-Asia approach to the dynamics of Asia providing students the opportunity to take courses on a variety of topics concerning Asia based in the humanities, languages, and social sciences.

This Minor will feature strong coverage to the growing connections among Asian nations, examine Asian societies’ vital institutions, and the major problems and challenges that confront them amidst unprecedented social, political, economic change with technological advancement and globalization. Through such training, students will develop a critical awareness of Asian society and culture, business histories and practices, and the historical, contemporary and the future political and economic dynamics of the vibrant region. Appreciating the value of language for students who intend to work in Asia, the Minor will also count one Asian Language module offered at the Centre for Language Studies (CLS).

Candidates can approach the Chinese Studies, Japanese Studies, Malay Studies, South Asian Studies or Southeast Asian Studies departments to enrol for the Asian Studies Minor.

As the most populous nation and one of the oldest civilizations in the world, China has become increasingly important in international politics and the global economy. China is not only a dynamic market but also a strategic partner for Singapore. Today, China is Singapore’s fifth largest trade partner while Singapore constitutes the sixth largest foreign investor in the People’s Republic of China. The realization of a China-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement by 2010 will potentially create a market size of 1.7 billion consumers and involve an annual two-way trade worth US$1.2 trillion dollars. China, in short, offers enormous potential for Singapore and great prospects for new graduates. The demand for graduates with knowledge of China will increase significantly as the country and its economy continue to grow.

To engage China, one must understand its history and culture. Often, serious misunderstandings arise because of ignorance of the cultural sensitivities of the Chinese. In addition to history and culture, those intending to work or conduct business in China must understand the ways in which Chinese society, politics, and economy operate.

The study of China, therefore, requires a multidisciplinary approach. The Minor in China Studies offers just that.  It aims at providing students with a basic understanding of Chinese culture, history, society, politics, and economy which can complement their major courses of study and prepare them for a career in or relating to China.

The import of “culture” for understanding human activity and the history of its many uses provide the initial basis of Cultural Studies, an interdisciplinary field formed over forty years ago, primarily in the US and UK. Since then, interest in the field has grown exponentially. Incorporating a diverse range of new theoretical inputs, methodological innovations and objects of inquiry, Cultural Studies takes up a number of issues related to contemporary culture while being aware of their specific historical formations.

The research field broadly includes: analysis of contemporary urban cultural practices, including the consumption and politics of mass media, popular literature, consumerism, lifestyles and urban architecture and spaces, the construction of individual and collective identities and formation of subjectivities and, the politics and interests in knowledge production and reproduction.

Students who take up this minor will leave it with a knowledge of contemporary debates in cultural studies and with a theoretical tool-kit capable of analyzing a range of social processes and cultural forms and practices including cinema, cyberspace, popular fiction, popular music and television. Although central to daily life in contemporary, high-technology based society, many of these contemporary cultural phenomena have been placed outside the boundaries of established disciplines such as sociology, history and literary studies, in part because the concepts developed within singular disciplines are unable to capture their complexities.

Through multidisciplinary methodologies, Cultural Studies combines and adapts qualitative research strategies to specific analytic interests, including textual analysis, ethnographic observations and different theories of interpretation, including semiotics, psychoanalysis, post-structuralism and post-modernism.

To minor in English Studies, students must pass at least 24 MCs of EL and EN modules which must include the following:

1. EL1101E/GEK1011 The Nature of Language
2. EL2201 or EL2101 Structure of Sentences and Meanings
3. EN1101E/GEK1000 An Introduction to Literary Studies
4. A minimum of ONE level 2000 EN module from the following:
   EN2201 Backgrounds to Western Literature and Culture
   EN2202 Critical Reading
   EN2203 Introduction to Film Studies
   EN2204 Reading the Horror Film
   EN2205 Late Medieval Literature and Culture
   EN2207 Gender and Sexuality in Literature
5. At least 8 MCs of EL and/or EN modules at level 3000.

The Minor in Film Studies helps prepare students for the challenges associated with negotiating life in a world dominated by images, and by the multiple, sophisticated and complex appeals made by a growing range of increasingly interrelated image-based media. Exposure to film’s history, its aesthetic elements, and its industrial contexts will allow students to develop the fundamental and vital skills to address, critically assess and engage with cinema in its myriad contexts.

The program will introduce students to a range of perspectives on the study of film, hone critical and analytical skills, and enhance a thoughtful and engaged appreciation of film culture in its historical, industrial, political and socio-cultural contexts. The interdisciplinary nature of the minor offers students the opportunity to interrogate moving images from the varied vantage points of different disciplines, examining film as art, culture and business, and as text, discourse and product.

Students will (1) Gain insight into the history of film and its key aesthetic practices; (2) Interrogate the social meanings, functions and uses of film; (3) Develop their media literacy through film analysis skills; and(4) Cultivate an informed, critical approach towards the role of images in our society.

Gender Studies is now a widely recognised interdisciplinary field of enquiry in the humanities and social sciences. The reason that this field has become prominent over the past thirty to forty years is closely tied to social changes in industrialised countries.

The Gender Studies Minor Programme aims to develop both conceptual knowledge and key abilities as a foundation for a systematic inquiry into gender-related matters. Conceptually, these modules help students to build up a nuanced understanding from different disciplinary perspectives of the ways in which gender exerts far-reaching impact on everyday encounters and lived realities.

Students who have undergone this programme are expected to be able to critically evaluate the merits of alternative interpretations by building arguments for or against particular explanations.

A Geographical Information System (GIS) is a multidisciplinary technology for the collection, storage, manipulation, analysis and display of all types of spatial information about locations and relations of different phenomena on the earth's surface. The GIS analytical process is like the work of a detective trying to put all the pieces of evidence together to solve a mystery. GIS provides a means of integrating information in ways that help us understand and solve pressing research, planning, and management problems, such as tropical deforestation, rapid urbanization, transportation planning, disease dispersal, hazard mitigation, and impacts of climate change. Using GIS to take the pulse of the Earth helps scientists plan, map, and model changes and trends to make better decisions for the future.

The Minor in GIS provides a new opportunity for NUS students, and one that promises to be welcomed by many employers. Job prospects across public and private sectors have been one of the greatest factors driving the tremendous growth of the demand for GIS education in colleges and universities throughout the world in the past two decades. This demand will only continue to grow as more careers require some GIS knowledge.

Students who choose to Minor in GIS will gain experience using GIS software, as well as familiarity with various modern geospatial techniques, including GPS (Global Positioning Systems) and remote sensing. Completion of the Minor will provide the student with skills and experience that are in great demand in today’s workplace, from government, private industry, to non-for-profit sectors. For example, the WHO has used GIS for emergency preparedness for flooding in SE Asia. In Singapore, the Urban Redevelopment Authority has used GIS in town planning and the National Environment Agency has used GIS to analyze patterns of dengue fever cases.

Geosciences – the sciences of the Earth and its environment – are concerned with exploring ideas about the natural world, understanding the physical and chemical processes that determine the distribution of resources, location of hazards and operation of surface processes. Geosciences provide advice and guidance on preserving the environment, rehabilitating damaged ecosystems, determining the environmental impact of certain activities, mitigating environmental hazards and assessing the implications of environmental change. How the earth system will respond to human impact is one of the most pressing issues facing society

The subject area of Geosciences is not well represented in NUS beyond modules in the Department of Geography, nor is there provision in any other tertiary institutions in Singapore. Given the increasing significance of environment on national and international agendas it is timely to consider how to improve awareness of geosciences.

Although there are several modules in NUS that deal with aspects of environmental technology, there are fewer specifically concerned with environmental processes. An opportunity to obtain a better grounding in the application of science to the understanding of the Earth and its environment would be beneficial to students at this time of increasing concern about environmental management. There are many international applied geosciences companies with regional offices in Singapore providing graduate employment opportunities. By developing a minor that enhances analytical and predictive skills in the geosciences area can contribute to improving Singapore’s competitiveness in this arena and to providing future leaders with enhanced environmental awareness that may influence policy development.

Trends in the 21st century such as the prominence of health and illness in everyday life, the increasing rates of illnesses associated with people's lifestyles, occupations, individual choices, governments' decisions and the relevance of ecological factors, all accentuate the importance of analysing health and illness systematically from the perspectives of the social sciences and humanities.

The objective of the Minor in HSS is to introduce students to the rich and varied expertise from the social sciences and humanities on health phenomena.  The Minor in HSS focuses on three areas of health knowledge contributed by social sciences, and based on these areas of health knowledge, the Minor in HSS is designed to attain three learning outcomes.

The first two are knowledge outcomes:
	(1)	Students will obtain basic knowledge on the influence of psychological, social, economic, cultural, historical, and environmental factors on health-related behavior and attitudes as well as on illness and disability patterns in society and their consequences.
	(2)	Students will be acquainted with the application of social science research approaches to the analysis of three areas of health knowledge:
		(i)	the impact of the psychological dimensions of individual behaviour and attitudes;
		(ii)	the socio-economic, and cultural dimensions of individual and collective health-related behavior, attitudes, and beliefs including the structure, dynamics and roles of health organisations and social support network;
		(iii)	the relevance of the economic and physical environment to the population’s health.
The third learning outcome is on ability:
	(3)	Students will be able to search for and identify evidence-based social science research on health-related behaviour and attitudes as well as on illness and disability issues and patterns in society.

With almost every aspect of our lives being influenced by interactive media, it is increasingly important for students from all backgrounds to be aware of how these new technologies and designed and developed. The Department of Communications and New Media and the School of Computing are jointly offering a multidisciplinary Minor in Interactive Media Development. It is open to all NUS students with suitable background but preference is given to CNM and Computing Science (CS) students.

For CNM students, this Minor programme is an upgrade from the present loose of CS module offering to a structured programme. For CS students, this Minor programme continues to provide a structured programme for them to take NM modules after B.Comp. (CM) is merged into B.Comp.(CS). For students in other faculties, this Minor programme provides an interdisciplinary training and experience of both NM and CS modules.

What is the meaning of “religion” in the 21st-century?  Sigmund Freud sought to bring religion beneath the microscope of scientific rationality in his 1927 work The Future of an Illusion.  Religion, answering back, might quote Mark Twain: "The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated."

Religion has always been a prominent force in human life, and, despite predictions to the contrary, it remains one today.  In this region, it is impossible to understand our society or those of our neighbours’ without understanding the religions that permeate them.  Moreover, by virtue of its secular state and pluralistic society, Singapore is well positioned to take a leading role in the study of religion.

Religious Studies at NUS will involve the scholarly exploration both of the phenomenon of religion and of different specific religious traditions.  Religious Studies, as a scholarly and intellectual discipline, transcends individual disciplines to consider beliefs, practices, texts, history and social functions of religion from a variety of disciplinary perspectives.

This programme will train students to discuss - with respect and grace - some of the most volatile issues of our time.

Minor in Science, Technology and Society (STS) is for students from any NUS faculty or discipline who want to understand the immense influence of science & technology on modern social, political, religious, and cultural life. The core courses within STS are historical and sociological, but electives are offered across a broad range of departments and faculties. Students need no previous background in science or engineering to do well in this Minor.

The STS Minor is designed to:

a.	Serve as a formal scholarly ‘meeting ground' for students throughout the university who are curious about the science-technology-society relationship.
b.	Present students with a basic yet critical history of modern science, engineering, and medicine, i.e. how, where, and when they arose, and why they came to have such inordinate influence on the modern world.
c.	Present students with a basic understanding of how social scientists study the physical sciences, life sciences, technology, and medicine, and how these activities have become embedded in social processes.
d.	Allow students to understand how science and technology differ from (and converge with) other realms of human thought and activity. Expose students to critical thinking on ‘scientific method', the manipulation/conservation of nature, and similar concepts.
e.	Acquaint students with the idea that science and technology (as human understandings of/manipulations of nature) interact with social, political, cultural, religious, and other realms normally considered ‘outside' nature. To expose students to the lively scholarly disagreements as to the depth and limits of this interaction.

It is estimated that the world’s urban population recently surpassed 50% of the total population. Asia remains less than 50% urbanised but is one of the most rapidly urbanising regions on Earth. International linkages between urban management professionals of various kinds are also increasing and Singapore is seen as a leader in many aspects of urban management, policy and planning. For these and other reasons, opportunities for urban professionals are likely to continue to increase.

Students will be offered the chance to develop expertise and skills in urban studies that would be an asset not only for those already majoring in an urban-related area, but also for the many others from various faculties who have an interest in urban-related careers. Students will get the opportunity to make explicit to employers their special strengths in this area.

Students will be provided with a good balance of breadth of knowledge, practical skills, and theoretical depth in a range of urban-related fields. The minor is not conceived as an introduction to any major in urban studies or such like. Instead, it is to be seen purely as a minor which can enhance the degrees and employability of students taking a wide variety of existing majors.