Power, Space and Pleasure - writing class group 1 at NUS (:
Natasha, Maiyah, Wen Qi, Melissa, Bernice, Chong Ming, Mei Yi, Yvette, Pamela, Denise, Yu Guang and Dr Johan! (:
November 08, 2007
November 02, 2007
Collaborative Blog Post
[This entry is part of a collaborative blogging exchange between students at National University of Singapore and Stanford University. The exchange is described in more detail here and here]
Hi (from Singapore)! The members of this group are Yu Guang, Melissa and Chong Ming. The ideas are rather varied, so please pardon us for the lack of a more creative title for this post!
Planned and Unplanned Spaces in Singapore
[This entry is part of a collaborative blogging exchange between students at National University of Singapore and Stanford University. The exchange is described in more detail here and here]
Greetings from Singapore! We are Bernice, Natasha and Maiyah. We are interested in planned and unplanned spaces in Singapore. Due to the scarcity of land in Singapore, unplanned spaces that are associated with tradition and meaning are stamped out as they are seen as a liability to urban growth and development.
Continue reading "Planned and Unplanned Spaces in Singapore" »
Examining Spaces in Singapore Literary Works
[This entry is part of a collaborative blogging exchange between students at National University of Singapore and Stanford University. The exchange is described in more detail here and here]
Hi, we’re Pamela, Wen Qi and Yvette from NUS. Our group will be studying Singaporean literary works and how they relate the placement of the individual and the state in planned and unplanned spaces.
Continue reading "Examining Spaces in Singapore Literary Works" »
Resistance and Power
[This entry is part of a collaborative blogging exchange between students at National University of Singapore and Stanford University. The exchange is described in more detail here and here]
In situations of apparently stable, absolute power, it is sometimes difficult to imagine how and why resistance would emerge, yet somehow it almost always manages to. While the circumstances surrounding its origins and emergence can differ, and even how this ‘rage against the machine’ manifests, it doesn’t detract from the fact that where resistance exists, there lies a chink in the armor of power, making ‘absolute’ power a problematic term in itself.
The Tensions Between Functionality and Sentiment in Spaces
[This entry is part of a collaborative blogging exchange between students at National University of Singapore and Stanford University. The exchange is described in more detail here and here]
Sreemanee Raaj:
In his chapter, "Globalization: The Human Consequences", Zygmunt Bauman talks about how the excessive planning of space by planners, is in fact counter-productive. According to Bauman, planning essentially results in a removal of “everything truly human” and therefore rendering the space virtually inhabitable. In Singapore, spaces are being incessantly transformed and re-transformed in the name of economic efficiency. My essay essentially explores how the government keeps the people rooted to this city state as the physical landscape continues to change, leaving little to hold on to. I will be exploring the methods employed by the Singapore government in providing Singaporeans a sense of belonging and rootedness in this ever changing environment.
Continue reading "The Tensions Between Functionality and Sentiment in Spaces" »
November 01, 2007
The Tensions of Urban planning
[This entry is part of a collaborative blogging exchange between students at National University of Singapore and Stanford University. The exchange is described in more detail here and here]
Planning plays an important part in urban development, particularly in space-constrained Singapore where tension exists between traditional practices and urban planning in city spaces. We are a group of NUS undergraduates working with Dr Johan in the module— Power, Space and Pleasure—to investigate this tension, particularly in relation to the concept of power, space and pleasure. We will be dealing with Michel Certeau’s The Practice of Everyday Life, Zygmunt Bauman’s Globalization: The Human Consequences and other related sources which analyse the influence of city planners on urban dwellers.
Photos of UWC2101H Group 2 @ NUS
Absent: Geneveive Wong and Vanessa Keng
Interiorization in Different Spaces
[This entry is part of a collaborative blogging exchange between students at National University of Singapore and Stanford University. The exchange is described in more detail here and here]
The Panopticon was a model of a prison created by the English philosopher Jeremy Bentham through which power was maintained by ceaseless surveillance, which results in
interiorization, the process by which a prisoner becomes unable and unwilling to commit wrong-doing because he is constantly being watched. The main focus of both our papers lies in the idea of interiorization, in which a link is drawn between space and power.
The Tension between Planned and Unplanned Spaces for State-Building
[This entry is part of a collaborative blogging exchange between students at National University of Singapore and Stanford University. The exchange is described in more detail here and here]
Planned spaces homogenize the city and its inhabitants by distinguishing the function that each space serves. Our group which consists of Yuan Ting and Cherlyn focuses on how planned spaces can affect individuality. This ultimately contributes to state control and the ideals of the government party in power.
Continue reading "The Tension between Planned and Unplanned Spaces for State-Building" »
The relationship between power and space - from Dawn, Shu Ying and Tetty @ NUS.
[This entry is part of a collaborative blogging exchange between students at National University of Singapore and Stanford University. The exchange is described in more detail here and here]
Hi, we are Dawn, Shu Ying and Tetty, from NUS. Dawn is studying architecture, Shu Ying is an industrial design student and Tetty is an arts student, intending to major in History. Our paper 3 topics all revolve around the relationship between the concepts of power and space, or more specifically how the control of spaces by authorities affects people.
Continue reading "The relationship between power and space - from Dawn, Shu Ying and Tetty @ NUS." »
October 30, 2007
Cross-Cultural Collaboration
Students in my class Power, Space and Pleasure are currently working on their Paper 3 assignment. There's some more info as well as context on this assignment below.
But first I want to thank Alyssa and Christine for this wonderful opportunity to collaborate. I am very excited that the students taking my National University of Singapore (NUS) class are getting the opportunity to post their ideas for papers to the Stanford Cross-Cultural Rhetoric blog.
In particular, I am looking forward to two things: the comments NUS students will post on their overseas peers' thoughts, and the comments Stanford and Örebro students will be posting on NUS students' ideas. This will give participants the chance to interact with other people taking writing classes, in other parts of the world, and in diverse institutional settings. Though I am pretty sure we share many fundamental rhetorical and other principles, it is certain that differences will emerge.