About the Series

While the majority of Southeast Asian student groups in Brown Unviersity have focused on promoting the cultural aspects of our region, little attention has been paid to socio-political developments, especially in light of the current America-dominant political and cultural arena.

The Singaporean community in Brown is attempting to breach this gap by organising our annual Singapore Lecture Series. It is a forum that focuses on international relations and democratisation, in which prominent, self-motivated Singaporeans are invited to discuss today’s major issues with Singaporean students from the North-eastern USA, as well as other non-Singaporean students in Brown.

Our inaugural Lecture Series was held last year, on April 16th. Entitled “Crossroads: Direction and Disjunction in Singapore Society”, it included prominent speakers such as Francis Seow, Colin Goh, Woo Yen Yen and Woon-Ping Chin. It was featured very favourably in the Straits Times of Singapore, and the article may be accessed here.

Our Mission

1. To increase both the intensity and quality of debate amongst both Singaporean students and the larger Brown community regarding political developments in Southeast Asia.

2. To challenge assumptions about the universality of American-style democracy.

3. To view current American socio-political debates, such as democracy, freedom and Islam, through the Singaporean perspective and context.