Events of 2010/2011
1. Welcome Tea
The Society organised a welcome tea at the start of the semester, with the aim of reaching out to students interested in History. It also aimed to act as a platform for students with an interest in History to come together and discuss issues pertaining to History.
2. History Festival
The NUS History Society proudly presented History Festival 2011 – “Recalling Ourselves: Exploring the Relationship between Memory and Identity”, in partnership with National Museum of Singapore. The Festival aimed to explore the connections between the themes of memory and identity, and also considers film as a medium in the act of remembering. The Festival comprised of two segments, History Seminar, an annual seminar organised by our Society, and the all-new Voices of the Past, an oral history video-making competition open to all secondary schools and junior colleges.
History Seminar
The first segment, the History Seminar, acted as an inter-disciplinary platform for academics, researchers and filmmakers to interact with the audience on the interplay of memory and identity. There were two sessions; session 1 dealt with the theme “Recalling Ourselves: Exploring the Relationship between Memory and Identity” while session 2 was about “Remembering Ourselves: The Power of Film in Memory.” By means of personal stories, ethnographic anecdotes, and the use of film as well as research findings, the alluring process of how past recollections can create and shape the outcome of individual lives is brought into the open for discussion. Participants in this seminar were able to engage in active dialogue with the speakers and gain insights into a meaningful, interactive encounter with past and present.
The society invited a number of speakers to the event, bearing in mind the seminar’s function as an inter-disciplinary platform for discussion on the interplay of memory and identity. The speakers included:
Dr. Kevin Blackburn, Associate Professor in History, Humanities and Social Studies Education, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
Dr. Roxana Waterson, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, National University of Singapore
Mr. Leong Kar Yen, PhD candidate, Department of Southeast Asian Studies, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, National University of Singapore
Mr. Boo Jun Feng, Filmmaker
The seminar was a roaring success. It was met with a full-house turnout, and many fruitful discussions were generated.
History Video-making Competition
The second segment was an oral history video-making competition called “Voices of the Past”. It had two categories: (1) School and (2) Open categories. The Schools category was open to all Secondary Schools, Junior Colleges, and students from tertiary institutions, including polytechnic students. The Open category then comprised of any other group made up from individuals from members of the public between the age of 25 – 85 who are not representing an educational institution.
Participants were form groups and submit a video no longer than 10 minutes with the following question in mind, “Since memory can be directly equated with identity, how does the memory, collective or otherwise of a person/place/event contribute to one’s personal identity?” With the category of Arts and Entertainment in mind, participants will have to choose between People, Places or Events (past or present) and work out a video of not more than 10 minutes from one of the three aspects. Bearing in mind the importance of oral records in History, each entry had to comprise of at least three (3) oral history records, to be included in the final video submission.
The video-making reception was met with a phenomenal response, especially from the school category. The society was deeply impressed at the quality of videos submitted.
The Winning Video from SOTA can be viewed HERE.
Overall, the History Festival was a phenomenal success, a success the society hopes to repeat in the following years.
3. History Welfare Day
History Welfare Day was organised with the aim of engaging fellow History majors as well as to update them of upcoming events. All History majors were entitled to a welfare pack, consisting of stationery and snacks. The event was met with an overwhelming response by History majors.
4. History Welfare Retreats
In addition to all these events, the society held a number of welfare retreats to Arab Street, and various museums to encourage the discussion of future activities as well as to enhance the relationships between the exco and sub-committee members.
Check out other past events here.
NUS History Society 