NUS launches College of Humanities and Sciences with a shared core curriculum

The National University of Singapore (NUS) announced on December 8, 2020 the creation of the College of Humanities and Sciences, a new undergraduate college that brings together its Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and its Faculty of Science. The first students were to be admitted in the 2021/2022 academic year.

According to the university, the college enrolls more than 2,000 undergraduates a year, drawn from both faculties. All of them take a common curriculum of 13 modules, about one third of the degree. It is made up of five integrated modules covering Asian studies, the social sciences, the humanities and scientific inquiry; six general education modules, including new ones on design thinking, artificial intelligence and community engagement; and two interdisciplinary modules. Students can then take one major, combine two majors, or specialize deeply in a single field, choosing from more than 1,000 modules across the two faculties. Graduates receive a Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Social Sciences or Bachelor of Science.

The college is led jointly by the deans of the two faculties. NUS presented the change as a way to deliver interdisciplinary education at scale, pairing a broad foundation in the humanities and sciences with flexibility over how far each student specializes.