FASS majors

Hello everyone!

im a year one student in FASS, still deciding which major to go for! i'd love to know more about psychology, sociology and CNM in particular, but any advice about other majors would also be greatly appreciated! haha anything i should look out for or stay away from?? for example, does psych become very science/math-based later on even though it's an arts subject?

thanks!

cheers,
Su

Hi suling!

psych in general is pretty content heavy and yes there is Bio and math stuff! haha Three of the core modules are biological psych, statistics 1 & 2, and these are compulsory. However, if bio and math are not your areas of interest, you can always avoid the elective modules that build upon knowledge from these areas.

FYI, you have to get at least a B- in both stats 1 and the exposure mod (PL1101E)to major in psychology so plan your modules well if you wanna major in psych!

Hope that helps
sophia

Hi,

I'm still a J2 student and I quite confused as to how ARTS work.

I know that we don't have to decide our major in Year 1. So when do we need to decide? Can we still change our major after deciding? How do I know which major will be suitable for me because I'm afraid what I expect from a major might be different from what is actually taught! Right??

Hi kuehlapis,

i think it is preferred that you decide your major by end of year 1 or latest year 2 sem 1! this is because u will need to plan the modules to take for future semesters in order to graduate on time. haha.
i believe you can still change your major after you first decide but some procedures might be required - which im not sure about. ANYONE??

as to which major to choose, you need to know yourself well! take different kinds of modules you are interested in in your year 1 so that you have a better range of choices. if it helps, this is the link to the various majors FASS offers!

http://www.fas.nus.edu.sg/acad/subjects/index.html http://www.fas.nus.edu.sg/acad/subjects/index.html

To add on to what Tzelinnn has said, I think it's pretty hard to change majors if you've already taken too many mods in another subject. You will need to map your mods very very carefully, or do extra semesters, like summer school or delay your graduation. Think you have to go to the admin office to change your majors, can't do it online. Minors, on the other hand, can be changed online through this portal called GAPS.

Anyway, I saw that Suling asked about Sociology above. Soci is a pretty heavy subject. A LOT of reading!! Majority of the assignments and projects are essays. The good thing is that profs often let you choose your own proj groupmates, or you are also given the option of doing the project alone. Doing it alone may sound like a lot of work, but trust me, it's WAY more convenient sometimes to just do the project by yourself, no need to wait for others, no need to argue with your friends haha! My one piece of advice for people taking sociology mods is: consult, consult, consult!! Always just go and ask your tutor or prof for help. Find out exactly what they're looking for in essays or what to expect in exam questions. Past year exam qns are also available online for majority of Soci mods, so you should go and do practice essays and then consult your tutor and see if you're on the right track.

Hope that helps!

Hey guys, thanks for all the help!! (: Much appreciated. Like what tzelinnn said, I'm taking all kinds of mods to see what I'm interested in, but the level 1 subjects can only tell you so much. Really helps to have seniors provide insight (:

Anyone have info on CNM or English Language as a major?? hahaha.

Cheers,
Su

Hey suling!

i'm a CNM major! in my year 4 now!
im not very sure what you wanna know about CNM but i'll just share with you my experience!

1. it's a really fun major! there are modules like advertising, sequential art (comic design), storytelling, game design, etc etc if you are interested in the design-y stuff. it's not like those very theory based draining modules whereby you just memorizeeeee and then go for exam and regurgitate everything. so CNM is rather fun! hehe.

2. the staff and profs are really friendly and enthusiastic. they really help you whenever u have probs! like recently, i had some admin problems with submission of some docs, the cnm staff was really helpful and help me in every ways she could! very heart-warming ya!

3. CNM provides you with different paths you can take. we have students specializing in journalism, public relations and advertising and of course, if you want a mixture of everything, you could do that as well. it's very flexible and you really can choose the path you wanna take according to what you really like!

4. good prospects! with the different paths available in CNM, you actually have more job opportunities cos you are exposed to more things than other majors, that focuses only on one general path. and even if you do not follow the paths and work in related fields, the stuff u learn will always be useful! things like communication skills, use of new media for certain purposes etc, are all very relevant in today's society and in almost all workplaces! you will have a wider choice of jobs when u graduate from CNM!

so yes, CNM is a great major. come join us!!! Haha!

Hi Suling I'm an English Language major. Most people perceive of EL majors as English teachers and people who study grammar with a view of becoming teachers. This is definitely not the case. Rather than English Language, a more accurate name for the department would be English Language and Linguistics. All of the Professors in our department look at language using linguistic theories and approaches, with the English Language as a starting point. Occasionally, some Professors would encourage you to apply theories and approaches learnt in the analysis of other languages as well. We are concerned with the nature of language, with language in this sense referring to language as both a cognitive AND social phenomenon. As such, you may find upper level modules dealing with how language is represented and made sense of in the mind through approaches grounded in psychological and formal theories, how languages are learnt from both a cognitive and social viewpoint as well as how language is used and how language use varies in society. There are specific modules dealing with the notion of Englishes in the plural, as we also explore how English has been transplanted in areas outside of the Anglo-phone world and how such transplantation has led to changes in the structure of English and ultimately giving rise to new Englishes that are valued and used differently. Singapore is a prime example, and the Singlish that people are often quick to denigrate is in fact one of the prime areas of research for many of the Professors in the department.

From my experience, many new students are put off by the technical aspect of dealing with the sound system (phonetics and phonology) as well as phrase structure grammar of English in EL1101E. But I assure you that is not the only focus of upper level modules. If you do intend to major in EL, you will find that upper level modules deal with a wider range of language related phenomena and there is a wide range of modules dealing with language in a more inter-disciplinary way that utilizes sociological, anthropological, psychological, historical and political perspectives. At the EL department, there are no modules that are mandatory and you are pretty much free to choose what areas you would like to focus on. Overall, if your interest is in language as a cognitive and social phenomenon and not just in named language varieties like English, Mandarin, Japanese, Korean etc, and if you have a particular interest in Singlish, EL would be the major for you.

Hope this helps!