Yale-NUS College

View More

Sean Cham

Class of 2019
View More

Rebecca Yuqi Huang

Class of 2019
View More

Gertie Ma

Class of 2019
View More

Al Lim

Class of 2019
View More

Lam Sze Ching

Class of 2019
View More

Look Woon Wei

Class of 2019
View More

Ly Nguyen

Class of 2019
View More

Teo ZhiXin

Class of 2019
View More

Holly Apsley

Class of 2018
View More

Kavya Gopal

Class of 2018
View More

Elizabeth Heng

Class of 2018
View More

Rachel Lim Wan Shuen

Class of 2018
View More

Lim Se Ern

Class of 2018
View More

Timothy Chua

Class of 2017
View More

Laureen Hollge

Class of 2017
View More

Clarissa Leong

Class of 2017
View More

Diamanta Vania Lavi

Class of 2017
View More

Subhas Nair

Class of 2017
View More

Elson Ong

Class of 2017
View More

Reuben Su

Class of 2017

Sean Cham
Class of 2019
Singaporean

Why Urban Studies?
I've lived and grown up in a city, travelled to many other cities, and always wondered what made each city so different yet so similar. My interests lie in urban history and heritage, and the relationships between our memories and the built environment. I am interested in old places and modern ruins, as well as the processes and stories that follow obsolescence and abandonment.
What is your most memorable experience in the major to date?
My most memorable experiences are always the city tours that we take for urban studies classes. Professor Jane Jacobs brought us around Singapore to look at different building typologies and patterns in the city for 'Cityscapes and Urban Forms', while Professor Chua Beng Huat showed us around the civic district and the URA for 'Housing and Social Inequality'. These classes have allowed me to view Singapore from different perspectives and lenses, and it's always great to be learning out of the classroom.
What are your other interests?
I am a photographer and artist, and I often explore the relations between human and place in my works. One of my works, 'Yesteryears', explore the ruination of buildings in Singapore in the form of in-situ self portraits. I am currently working on a theatrical installation piece - 'First Storeys' - that explores the history of public housing in Singapore.
Which quality of the city do you like best?
I like that cities are not fixed; regardless of how strict regulations are in each city, there will always be some form of 'resistance' or urban interventions which are always interesting.
Rebecca Yuqi Huang
Class of 2019
Chinese

Why Urban Studies?
I have always been interested in sociology, and I believe the best way to learn it is through majoring in urban studies at Yale-NUS. Growing up in a fast-developing city Wuhan, I was amazed by how people's perceptions of their everyday lives are shaped by urban environments. I hope to better understand the socio-political dynamics of a particular physical space.
What is your most memorable experience in the major to date?
When Prof. Chua took us to eat at the back alley of a Tze Char restaurant to experience the true Singapore urban living.
What are your other interests?
Digital arts, animations, east Asia pop culture and politics
Which quality of the city do you like best?
I like its spontaneity. The endless possibilities of political expression, cultural inventions and the amorphous yet solidly present sense of community embodied by the cities.
Gertie Ma
Class of 2019
Singaporean

Why Urban Studies?
I've always had a fascination with the built environment and how it interacts with the society. I grew up very fortunate to have had many opportunities to travel and witness firsthand how different places have such different spatial qualities. Before Urban Studies, I was more attracted to the different vernacular architecture of each place, but always felt that there was more to each place that I did not fully uncover. Urban Studies allowed me to be view cities more critically, understand its urban patterns and societal influences, and substantiate my personal musings of different cities with other academic!
What is your most memorable experience in the major to date?
Taking Prof Jacobs' class on Cityscapes and Urban Forms, and then immediately applying all that I learnt in that class on a weeklong field trip with her to London over summer 2017!
What are your other interests?
Architecture, physics, rock/metal music, walking
Which quality of the city do you like best?
The physical aspect: geographical maps, architecture and city skyline. Bonus points if the cityscape is able to narrate its history!
Al Lim
Class of 2019
Singaporean

Why Urban Studies?
For the first time in history, the percentage of people living in cities exceeded 50 percent in 2007. Indeed, I’ve seen this statistic as the opening sentence in every other Urban Studies paper. It emphasizes the sheer amount of people in cities, its renewed importance as a lens, and the pressing need to have a mode of study to address this. The multi-dimensional approach of this major to tackle various conceptualizations and processes of the urban is a unique aspect of the discipline. Even more than that, my experience in the major has taught me to critically interrogate my assumptions, understandings and propositions of ‘urban’ phenomena. For me, it is the epitome of a liberal arts education—a syncretic mix of theory, methods and tools to address a multiplicity of spaces. No more can I make sweeping claims of the urban without thinking about the non-urban, rural, or inherited assumptions we make when perpetuating these socially produced categorizations. In other words, it’s an exciting major well positioned to tackle contemporary issues, which has developed my critical thinking skills in more ways than I previously imagined.
What is your most memorable experience in the major to date?
Urban Theory with Professor Nick Smith.
What are your other interests?
With regards to academics, I’m an Arts & Humanities minor—primarily interested in traditional Southeast Asian art history and poetry.
Which quality of the city do you like best?
Character.
Lam Sze Ching
Class of 2019
Singaporean

Why Urban Studies?
To me, the urban shapes how life unfolds. You see it in the archeological findings of street plans from the Roman Empire to modern day mixed use complexes in downtown city areas. Urban Studies is a way for me to understand the sociological impacts of visible and invisible structures and institutions, which affect how national goals to a grocery trip is planned. The urban has a part to play in telling an individual's life story and I love learning through stories, so I knew this was the major for me.
What is your most memorable experience in the major to date?
Attending class is work but I do enjoy it too, I am taking a class called Housing & Social inequality this semester and class time is always an interesting time. This is especially so because we have a great professor, who is incredibly knowledgable and also nice to talk to about life in general.
What are your other interests?
Reading, listening to music, going to concerts, going to the gym and travelling
Which quality of the city do you like best?
I love waterfronts. They are my favourite things to discover in cities because they allow me to watch the hustle and bustle of city life with the still and calming view of a massive water body. I also just like to sit in silence and watch the water because living in a city, I always find it hard to make time for me to just be and do nothing.
Look Woon Wei
Class of 2019
Singaporean

Why Urban Studies?
Having lived in Singapore all my life, I've essentially been surrounded by an urban jungle. Going knee-deep into the issues that surround and complicate the urban is an eye-opening and fascinating experience.
What is your most memorable experience in the major to date?
Exploring both San Francisco and London in the 2017 Spring and Summer LABs, led by Prof Nick Smith and Prof Jane Jacobs respectively. Both LABs were particularly enriching because they were illustrative examples of what I had learnt that semester in Urban Theory, Cityscapes and Urban Form and Urban Political Ecology!
What are your other interests?
Everything mobile phone-related and Kpop!
Which quality of the city do you like best?
The towering buildings, especially the ones made of glass! Oh, and swimming pools.
Ly Nguyen
Class of 2019
Vietnamese

Why Urban Studies?
Before Urban Studies, I was worried I wouldn't find a major I am passionate for. Stumbling upon Yale Summer Session's module "Intro to Study of the City" was the most fortunate experience that happened to me. The incredible class I took with 6 other passionate peers opened myself up to a passion I never knew I had, a deep curiosity with how cities flourish, decline, attract, energize and exhaust their inhabitants. Since then, I have never had second thought about my major.
What is your most memorable experience in the major to date?
San Francisco's LAB with prof. Nick Smith, prof. Sanger and a great bunch of inspiring people.
What are your other interests?
Historical fiction, EDM music, cooking shows and tennis.
What are the first things you notice about a city?
Teo ZhiXin
Class of 2019
Singaporean

Why Urban Studies?
Geography is a subject I have been fascinated with since I was first exposed to it back in high school. My love for the processes and phenomena in human geography was what drew me towards Urban Studies. And having thoroughly enjoyed every urban course I have taken so far, it is little wonder that I picked Urban Studies as my major.
What is your most memorable experience in the major to date?
Spending about a week in London learning about its urban history and regeneration processes from amazing urban professionals, surrounded with some of the closest friends I have made in YNC.
What are your other interests?
Women's issues, dance, Kpop and floorball
Which quality of the city do you like best?
How every city's concrete jungle is simultaneously homogenous and diverse, especially the Central Business Districts (CBDs). The buildings might not have the same facades but the energy and the compactness really gives me a feeling of home.
Holly Apsley
Class of 2018
United States of America

Why Urban Studies?
I'm interested in many things -- politics, economics, social justice, etc. So I chose Urban Studies because studying cities -- especially how they are arranged in space -- allows me to study how these larger dynamics express themselves on the ground. It narrows my focus without restricting me from studying any of these topics I care about. Liberal arts classes in general analyse the world through words, images, and numbers, but Urban Studies adds the spatial/geographic lens to my arsenal.
What is your most memorable experience in the major to date?
In Nick Smith's Key Debates in Urban Planning and Policy (KDUPP) class, I wrote a passionate position paper about the value of Bukit Brown Cemetery arguing that it was unique because no one group had "inscribed a narrative" onto it; rather, many groups coexisted there with their own interpretations. I really enjoyed taking abstract theory written in the West and reinventing it in Singapore.
What are your other interests?
Rock climbing (YNC Casual Climbing Club), biking, hiking, peer counselling, eating out
What are the first things you notice about a city?
Are there people outside? Are there busy small businesses, people loitering, have they made informal amendments made to public space? What are the differences between neighbourhoods? To what degree does the organization seem "rational" or large-scale?
Kavya Gopal
Class of 2018
Indian

Why Urban Studies?
It is difficult to imagine solving any contemporary problem without giving some consideration to the urban. Like many people around the globe, my life has been deeply impacted by the urban experience. Having grown up in New Delhi and Singapore, I have always been fascinated by cities—the built environment, its material flows, and their inhabitants. Naturally, Urban Studies, with its interdisciplinary and self-aware approach was my first choice.
What is your most memorable experience in the major to date?
I loved walking around the different neighbourhoods in Manhattan, during my semester abroad, and seeing the descriptions and analysis of famous Urban Theorists come to life and remaining relevant today!
What are your other interests?
Peer counselling, Film and Cooking.
What are the first things you notice about a city?
The transportation networks! Especially how friendly a city is to a pedestrian. I also immediately try to hunt down its important cultural institutions.
Elizabeth Heng
Class of 2018
Singaporean

Why Urban Studies?
Cities, with their dynamism and transience, are endlessly fascinating to me, so I chose to major in Urban Studies to better understand what makes cities work and tick, and to better grasp my place within the city. Every Urban Studies class I’ve taken has taught me to read a different layer of the city: its transportation systems, its architecture, its social relationships manifested in space. I also appreciate how the broad nature of Urban Studies allows me to explore the city’s intersection with my other areas of interest, such as agriculture and contemporary art!
What is your most memorable experience in the major to date?
When Professor Nick Smith wore his “LMAO” shirt to our Urbanisation in China class — I’ll let you figure out the joke.
What are your other interests?
Photography, exploring Singapore and discovering new places, visiting contemporary art museums, reading, urban agriculture, Korean music (not just Kpop, but K-indie and K-hip hop too!).
What are the first things you notice about a city?
I first try to get a feel of the city’s layout through its subway map, and then observe the architecture, the presence of public spaces and the ways in which these spaces are activated, the speed of the city, and its people – you learn a lot about a city through observing how its citizens engage with and navigate through it.
Rachel Lim Wan Shuen
Class of 2018
Singaporean

Why Urban Studies?
Coming from a background in Fine Arts, urban space-- the visual manmade landscape and its ability to influence behaviour and the human psyche really fascinated me. I always knew that human creation had an immense potential to engage with society and produce real outcomes; Urban Studies helped to solidify those beliefs. I fell in love with the social side of physical space and the way people ascribe personal meanings to spaces when I read the book The Image of the City by Kevin Lynch back in 2011.
What is your most memorable experience in the major to date?
My most enjoyable moments being an Urban Studies major have always been during the summer and winter holidays when I am able to see the cities I visit through a new lens. Manhattan's grid pattern and its streets and underground tunnels teeming with the life of people getting by through informality while the biggest corporations and banks in the world literally rest on top of them. A summer later I'm in Kyoto, a city suspended in time by their traditions and crafts. Compared to New York, the built landscape looks much more welcoming and accessible but it contains a society immensely difficult to break into and come to know-- the Japanese cultural elite that maintain a level of exclusivity and isolation.
What are your other interests?
I am a printmaker specialising in woodblock prints, a craft I have personally pursued since my high school days. In many ways my passion for traditional craftsmanship and objects of nostalgia is also reflected in my area of interest in Urban Studies which tends to fall along the lines of conservation and social reclamation of urban spaces.
What are the first things you notice about a city?
The buildings and architecture grab my attention first. They set the tone for a city's general aesthetic, the typology is also informative of the geographical context of the city, social situations and demographic of neighbourhoods and sometimes outlines a historical trajectory. I recently visited the cities of Brisbane and Melbourne consecutively and it was so thoroughly satisfying to draw comparisons and theorise the roots of their distinct typologies.
Lim Se Ern
Class of 2018
Singaporean

Why Urban Studies?
I grew up feeling that Singapore was both endearing home as well as alienating global capital. I was told many things about what a city should strive for, how it should look like and why it is necessary. Urban Studies is more than an academic practice that allows me to understand this experimental city-state, it is also a personal exercise in interpreting my experiences in a city and questioning my own normative assumptions.
What is your most memorable experience in the major to date?
We had this field trip in the Introduction to Urban Studies class to Batam. It was an "aha" moment to me, to see how interconnected Singapore’s economy was to the rest of the region and just how much our own city had influenced (for better or worse) the growth of a nearby city. It taught me in a very visceral way to think about Singapore beyond our own country.
What are your other interests?
Migrant populations in Singapore, Photography
What are the first things you notice about a city?
Details unique to each city. Such as the laundry-drying poles in Singapore's HDBs or the iconic fire escapes in New York.
Timothy Chua
Class of 2017
Singaporean

Why Urban Studies?
I grew up in a city and believe that a better understanding of the city will help me to understand people and the future better.
What is Urban Studies to you?
Urban Studies is more than the study of cities, but also of places and people outside of cities but affect by it. It entails understanding and confronting the diversities, tensions and aspirations of the urban life.
What are your other interests?
Filmmaking, Soccer and Going to Cool Places.
What city best represents you and why?
I guess it would be Singapore, my home city. It is still finding its identity and authenticity, full of dynamism and contradictions, and always striving for the better. There's a bit of me in all of that. While I greatly admired the precision of Singapore's urban planning, I sometimes lament the rate of change of the urban environment. Stumbling upon this place made me realise that there are still adventures to be experienced in Singapore - that if you look, Singapore can still be a rather mysterious and surprising place to be in.
Laureen Hollge
Class of 2017
I have a Czech and German passport but my heart definitely belongs to Czech.

Why Urban Studies?
I am intrigued by the multi-disciplinarity of Urban Studies. The mixture of Anthropology, policy making, Environmental Studies, and Arts (my favourite fields of study), combined all together to make environments inspire us to be better, is why I chose the Urban Studies major.
What is Urban Studies to you?
Study of systems that shape human behaviour.
What are your other interests?
Education, writing, European Studies, interculturalism… there are too many.
What city best represents you and why?
I would say there are parts of more cities which I can identify myself with. I believe Berlin has been very inspiring in creating my taste – I enjoy its darkness and feeling of freedom I always search for. Prague (my home town) has shaped my interest for the underground world and public participation. Having now spent a month in Buenos Aires, I felt like its values were the most in accordance with mine – it's a city where humanity is the most visible actor, it is colourful, full of dances and music, dedicated to enjoying its life.
Clarissa Leong
Class of 2017
Singaporean

Why Urban Studies?
Having lived in the dynamic city of Singapore all my life, I have been intrigued by the built and organic components of the city, and how these different parts interact or clash with each other. The constantly evolving nature of cities also makes the study very exciting!
What is Urban Studies to you?
People, Infrastructure, Policies, Society
What are your other interests?
I like the outdoors and exploring places I have not been to before in Singapore or abroad. I am also into sports and most forms of physical activity.
What city best represents you and why?
Singapore! I think the values of rationality, diversity and discipline that the city is built upon are closely aligned with my personal values. Contrary to the popular belief that Singapore is a boring place, I think there is a lot more to the nooks and crannies of this interesting city than meets the eye!
Diamanta Vania Lavi
Class of 2017
Indonesian

Why Urban Studies?
I grew up in densely-populated, highly-congested Jakarta. When I moved to Singapore at the age of 14, the stark contrast between the two cities was just mind-boggling. I experienced first-hand how proper planning can really affect people’s lifestyle and pace of living. Since then, I have been very curious about cities, and when it was time for me to declare a major, Urban Studies just seemed to be a natural choice.
What is Urban Studies to you?
Urban studies is a truly multi-disciplinary field that allows me to explore everything that is related to cities and is affected by cities. This broad spectrum of fields I can choose from is highly liberating, and the common denominator of the urban really helps to tie these different fields together. It is highly complex yet also very exciting!
What are your other interests?
I really enjoy modern literature, art history, physical geography and anything francophonic. I also bake and do yoga on my free time. I just started trying my hand at short film-making lately!
What city best represents you and why?
I think the city that would best represent me is Jakarta. It may appear disorderly and chaotic, but beneath these chaos people have found innovative way to create orderly systems to go about their daily lives! The pace of life might seem really fast as well, but at the end of the day, people know how to slow down for late night conversations and a cup of warm jasmine tea. This mix of disorder- and orderliness, as well as dynamism and tranquillity, best represent me as a person. My favourite place of the city would have to be any patch of grass where I can lie down to read, have picnic, or just enjoy the sun. Sometimes, being in a city with skyscrapers can get really claustrophobic, and it’s nice to just be able to escape from that density.
Subhas Nair
Class of 2017
Singaporean

Why Urban Studies?
I am interested to learn about future cities and how these living spaces can be diverse, sustainable and human-centric.

What is Urban Studies to you?
Urban studies is the study of how we have changed the world and the spaces we depend on.
What are your other interests?
Spirituality, Poetry and Athletics.
What city best represents you and why?
The abandoned truss bridge over Sunset Way, Clementi (Singapore). It is one of the remnants of the old Jurong line which the Malaysian KTM railway used to run on - now, a rusty reminder of early efforts to increase accessibility within the region. It is my favourite (not-so) secret spot in the city, and always reminds me of home - as I grew up on Sunset Way.
Elson Ong
Class of 2017
Singaporean

Why Urban Studies?
I am interested in learning about global cities and about the migration of people across different cities, what are the reasons for doing so and what are the impacts of migration on the host and home city?
What is Urban Studies to you?
Urban studies is the study of how cities and the spatial area within it have evolved. It is also about how to create future cities that are sustainable, liveable, diverse, and human-centric.
What are your other interests?
Finance and Banking, Fashion, Theatre, Mentoring
What city best represents you and why?
Perhaps a future city that has not existed yet because I believe in constantly improving myself and striving for. This is a photo of the iconic Taipei 101 and this is my favourite place because this superstructure is an engineering marvel! No matter where you are in Taipei, this building is within sight and also, its ability to withstand typhoon and earthquake is simply genius! This building reminds me that as cities undergo urbanisation, it is important to ensure that all the skyscrapers built are safe and are able to withstand natural disasters.
Reuben Su
Class of 2017
Singaporean

Why Urban Studies?
I am interested in fashion and style as expressions of urban identity!
What is Urban Studies to you?
A celebration of the city and urban life!
What are your other interests?
Fashion, Popular Culture and Zumba
What city best represents you and why?
The Creative City

Navigate with arrow keys. Press 'ESC' to exit.

Urban Studies

Our Students

Sean Cham

Rebecca Yuqi Huang

Gertie Ma

Al Lim

Lam Sze Ching

Look Woon Wei

Ly Nguyen

Teo ZhiXin

Holly Apsley

Kavya Gopal

Elizabeth Heng

Rachel Lim Wan Shuen

Lim Se Ern

Timothy Chua

Laureen Hollge

Clarissa Leong

Diamanta Vania Lavi

Subhas Nair

Elson Ong

Reuben Su

Sean Cham

Rebecca Yuqi Huang

Gertie Ma

Al Lim

Lam Sze Ching

Look Woon Wei

Ly Nguyen

Teo ZhiXin

Holly Apsley

Kavya Gopal

Elizabeth Heng

Rachel Lim Wan Shuen

Lim Se Ern

Timothy Chua

Laureen Hollge

Clarissa Leong

Diamanta Vania Lavi

Subhas Nair

Elson Ong

Reuben Su

Our People