Taught by: Dr Leung Wing Sze
Name: Fang Yiyang (@fangyiyang)
Content (Structure/Organization): 4
Well-structured, split into five units (although the fifth is short and basically an extension of the fourth) that begins with the history and ideological justifications of colonialism, and then contemporary language education, multiracialism and national identity. The idea, I suppose, is to draw a continuity from colonial ideology to its legacies. The first few units are fine - they do a good job at establishing the origins of colonialism and scientific racism, with a reasonable (but still inadequate) coverage of ideologies jusitfying colonialism. The last two or three units dealing with contemporary issues, however, struggle to show the link to colonial ideology specifically - and more often than not descend into general social issues rather than the legacy of colonial ideologies per se. That being said, on the whole the course content covers a range of issues across a wide time span, such that you almost certainly can find something you are interested in. However, the research essay is placed mid-term, meaning you can pretty much engage in the first two units of the course material.
Manageability of Workload: 3
Moderate amount of readings (~40-50 pages a week), though Prof Wing does try to make it manageable especially around exam season. Occassionally, there are movies you have to watch or plays you have to watch/read in their entirety, but you can get by with skimming. On the whole, be prepared to commit some time and effort, but it is not overwhelming.
Like most NUSC courses, [there are] a lot of low-weightage assignments (reading responses, class facilitation, reflections...) that can be annoying, but generally do not require extraordinary commitment.
Ease/Difficulty of Attaining Grades:
Hard to give an answer to this - to be fully honest I did not put in full effort [into] most assignments and the grades tended to reflect that. However, Prof Wing has a tendency to not give substantive feedback, which makes it hard to gauge what the problem is. But my general impression is that getting a good grade does require some effort, but is not insurmountable, especially given the number of low-commitment assignments (e.g. reflections, reading responses). As a side note, I felt that she commented (and perhaps graded) the essays the way she would [for] an NTW course (since she also teaches NTW) - more focus on the style of writing than [on] the substantive ideas. Make what you want of it.
Learning Value/Recommendation: 2
The readings are interesting and the films/plays as well, but the classes themselves have zero to negative (owing to opportunity cost) utility - mostly "discussions" where everyone throws out random ideas, with no attempt to systematically develop a stronger grasp of the course material. Prof Wing does give a short (~10min) "lecture" at the beginning of most classes, which is helpful. but beyond that everything is usually pointless discussion activities.
About the Instructor:
Prof Wing is kind and approachable, makes a good effort to let everyone be heard, generally friendly.
Prof Wing is generally knowledgeable of the course content, but did not give me the impression of someone deeply familiar with the topic - for instance, when posed with more advanced questions on the readings, she is often either unwilling or unable to answer. Although she does have an interesting ~10min 'lecture' at the start of each class, most of the time is spent on meaningless class discussions. While Prof Wing makes a good effort at letting everyone speak, it is precisely this approach that holds her back from actually teaching the course material, correcting misinterpretations, drawing links between readings, offering greater contextualisation and critiques, etc. As a result there is very little value-add to her teaching.
Additional Remarks:
Additionally, though the course is titled "colonial ideology and its legacies" it is probably not for those who want to delve very deeply into colonial ideology and its legacies, e.g. if you want to read Gayatri Spivak, Franz Fanon, Jose Rizal, Syed Hussain Alatas, Immanuel Wallerstein would be sorely disappointed (inexplicably, none are in the syllabus), while Edward Said is only read once (and very limited extracts). If you are really interested in the topic, read the syllabus first before making your choice.
Content (Structure/Organization): 4
Clear structure and reasonably understandable flow, but towards the end the connection between the subject matter and the concept of colonialism becomes more dubious. The class follows the direction of the professor and any class discussion is driven by the prof towards the intended outcome.
Manageability of Workload: 4
Workload is manageable, just has peak periods before the submissions (mid-term essay, presentation, etc)
Ease/Difficulty of Attaining Grades:
Students with strong argumentative skills (essay writing, class discussions, etc) and can make and argue their point well will do well in this class. Bonus points if you are somewhat familiar with the concepts already.
Learning Value/Recommendation: 2
I already knew a majority of the content and the theoretical concepts covered were those surface-level [concepts]; I had been hoping to learn more in-depth. Personally I did not learn anything new, but I already knew basic colonialisation theories.
About the Instructor:
Prof Wing is knowledgeable on matters within the syllabus but tends to deflect questions if they are outside the main topics of the class (e.g. colonialism in colonies not focused on in class). But within the subject domain of the class, she is an effective teacher.
Additional Remarks:
If you’re confident in your argumentative skills and don’t mind the topic, this is an easy-to-score and relatively manageable mod. Worth it if you are doing other mods that are more difficult and you need the MCs without the difficulty.