Most of us don’t really like to talk about our social class, but we live class every day through our interactions, education, and careers. In this interactive lecture, Yen Yen will draw on her own experience, research, and creative media to tackle the awkwardness of discussing class head-on. She will explore why it is so important to bridge these social gaps and how she uses her work to hold space for dialogue between people from different backgrounds. This lecture is an opportunity to think critically about the unspoken rules of class and to learn how to build a more understanding and open society.
Speaker Biography
Associate Professor Woo Yen
Yen is the Programme Leader of the MA Arts Pedagogy and Practice Programme at
LASALLE College of the Arts, University of the Arts Singapore. Beyond her
academic role, she is a versatile creative who has directed media such as
Singapore Dreaming, edtech projects like Dim Sum Warriors, and festivals
including Kampung Halloween. Her film work has won international awards and has
been showcased on platforms such as Netflix and HBO. Her stage musical has
toured 26 cities in China. She currently hosts the docu-dramedy food podcast,
Eat by Ear, and can be found on Instagram @wooyenyen.
Moderator BiographyEmily Soon is a Senior
Lecturer of English Literature at Singapore Management University. Her research
focuses on cross-cultural literary exchange between Asia and Europe in the
premodern and modern eras, with a particular emphasis on Southeast Asia. Her
work has been published in venues including Shakespeare Survey
(Cambridge University Press) and Modern Philology (University of Chicago
Press). Her current book project examines English poetic and dramatic
interpretations of the East Indies during Shakespeare’s era. She teaches
literature modules on Asia, ethnicity, gender, and Orientalism, and is
developing a new module on how technology is changing literature.