In recent years, educators and administrators in countries like China, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore are recognising the value in strengthening their own higher education institutions by introducing liberal arts programmes as one of the education pathways available to students. While this stands in contrast to declining enrolment in liberal arts in Canada and the U.S., it suggests that rapidly developing Asian countries are seeing the social and economic benefits of liberal arts education as their economies move up the value chain in the global economy. This talk discusses the ‘practical’ value of a liberal arts education for Asia, and cites the example of Yale-NUS in the context of Singapore.
MEET THE SPEAKER
President-Designate, Yale-NUS College, National University of Singapore
 | Tan Tai Yong is Professor of Humanities (History) and Executive Vice President (Academic Affairs) of Yale-NUS College. Professor Tan oversees the academic and co-curricular aspects of the liberal arts experience at Yale-NUS College, including all faculty matters and academic affairs. Prior to this, he served as Vice Provost (Student Life) and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the National University of Singapore. He helmed the Institute of South Asian Studies as Director from 2004 to 2015. |
This event is presented by The HEAD Foundation, a Singapore-based think tank devoted to research and policy influence in education and leadership, for development in Asia. Admission is free.
