In July 1999, the first phase of the core curriculum will be in place at NUS. The core curriculum is a set of multidisciplinary courses designed to broaden our undergraduates’ knowledge, skills and habits of thought in areas beyond their academic specialisation.

We hope that requiring students to read core curriculum modules together with a major or concentration in one or more subjects will produce graduates with the cultural and intellectual capability to manage complexity, uncertainty and change. We want our students to acquire the maturity and understanding to form enduring relationships that support interdependence in an increasingly interconnected world community.

How will the core curriculum influence the form, content and style of teaching and learning at NUS? I believe the answer lies in the people. NUS is a community of scholars comprising faculty and students. To thrive, its members must feel they can communicate effectively with each other and this is where the core curriculum has a pivotal role to play: to provide a platform for dialogue that transcends the boundaries of age, position and discipline.

When the dean of Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Science, Professor Jeremy R. Knowles, visited NUS in August 1997, he made the comment that: “The core curriculum is an attempt to create a common discourse about society [and] how we might wish society to change.”

This is the essence of what we hope to accomplish with the core curriculum. Singapore is on the threshold of becoming a knowledge society and economy. I am convinced that NUS can contribute significantly to nurturing diverse talents for leadership in a knowledge society, and that the core curriculum is one way we can do this.

Currently, we plan to mount five modules in the next academic year: writing, history, biology, human relations, and scientific thinking and methodology. Other areas under consideration are social and economic analysis, science literacy, literature and the arts, moral reasoning, and culture and contemporary societies. The core curriculum will constitute one-fourth of the total undergraduate curriculum.

The writing module will promote critical thinking and the effective communication of complex issues. The biology module will prepare students for the biomolecular revolution taking place now. The scientific thinking and methodology module will inculcate the ability to think quantitatively, logically and imaginatively on real-world data. Modules on history and human relations will help students acquire contextual knowledge and skills to better understand and anticipate changes in the next century.

The core curriculum will be a quality programme for students with high aspirations, taught by the best teachers at NUS. It will introduce innovative content, promote innovative teaching and pioneer innovative assessment that expands the frontiers of learning and develops inquiring minds. Faculties and students will provide the diversity, vitality and vibrancy that prevails in a distinguished community of scholars that remains closely connected to society and public life. This is our challenge.