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In this month's issue, SOAP features the return of SOA's Lunchtime Concert series
and the May activities and achievements of SOA staff and students. 
Message from the Dean 

As we settle into the endemic phase, our campus has seen renewed livelihood with the return of physical events. Our pre-pandemic Lunchtime Concert event series also made its return this month, and we look forward to bringing back more events in the semester!
 
- Prof. Matthew Marshall,
Dean of the School of Arts

 
(Photo source: Prof Matthew Marshall)
Onto the Next Step: Project MoDo 

Previously in SOAP’s March issue, we talked about Project MoDo, where ten BA (Hons) Digital Film Production (DFP) students were selected to shoot documentaries on climate change in Helsinki, Finland. This month, together with Head of Department Associate Professor Dr. Adrian Lee, lecturer Roger Liew, and DFP Programme Leader Azmyl Yunor, the students had a successful week-long trip where they used three to four days to film mobile documentaries with their Finnish student counterparts. We will be welcoming the Finnish students to Sunway in October for their turn to film their documentaries. This is a very exciting project for the SOA, and we are excited to see the documentaries these students will produce!
(Photo source: School of Arts Facebook)
Shortlisting for the Sunway-Oxbridge Essay Competition 2022
 
The Sunway-Oxbridge Essay Competition is a project organised by Sunway Group, Sunway Education Group, Jeffrey Cheah Foundation, Oxford and Cambridge Society Malaysia endorsed by the Ministry of Education Malaysia in partnership with Sunway Pals. This year being the 9th consecutive year that the competition has been organised, once again sees our 2nd and 3rd year students from the Department of Communication in action as preliminary judges to select the top entries from Category A (13-15 years). Customarily, all judges are required to attend a briefing session on marking standardisation organised by Ms. Priyadharshini Ahrumugam, DOC and the Marketing Department of Sunway Education Group prior to the shortlisting.

This year the shortlisting took place on Tuesday, 17 May 2022, 9am – 5pm at the Library Instructional whereby, our judges had picked the top 200 essays from a total of 1104 entries!This phenomenal feat was achieved by our group of dedicated students, namely: Anbreene Bilkis Mungroo, Natasja Rosa Cornelia Maria Hagen, Meescha Li-Ann Andrew, Peter Jambai Anak Albert Bangau, Sitambuli Nachamba Christine, Qarlene Rishiqa Dharminder, Vassundhra Balakrishnan, Ophelia Chua Shiying, Lim Dee Ying, Yao Kan Sing, Khoi Liang Yee and Jothi A/P Sakthi Velu. 


(Photo: Taken during the briefing given on marking standardisation by Ms.Priyadharshini Ahrumugam from Department of Communication. Picture courtesy of Marketing Department, SEG)

Lunchtime Concerts are Back!

This semester saw the return of our Lunchtime Concerts, a series of musical performances that went on hiatus during the 2 years of lockdown. This time at the SOA View Gallery, we have held 3 Lunchtime Concerts so far
The Anjung Trio
 
The Anjung Trio draws its name from a sense that music-making is as enjoyable on the porch as a concert hall. The ensemble explores both music for trio and various duo combinations, and has commissioned new music. Its members, violinist Mabel Wong, pianist Robin Lee, and violist/violinist Andrew Filmer (from our Department of Film and Performing Arts) are dedicated educators aiming to share knowledge and nurture new ideas in their students. The Lunchtime Concert on 28th April included works of Bach, Mozart, Kreisler, and New Zealand composer Anthony Ritchie.
 
(Photo source: Andrew Filmer)
New Bridges: Music for Violin and Viola 
 
The month of May kicked off with our Lunchtime Concert: “New Bridges: Music for Violin and Viola” on 5th May. With a return to international bridges of musical collaborations, Singaporean violinist Gabriel Lee joined violist Andrew Filmer, with the help of Samuel Tan on piano. A feature of this recital was the rare reconstruction of a concerto for violin and viola by JS Bach, based on music from St Matthew Passion, by the late Robert Bridges. Also on the programme was the aptly timed Hari Raya composition for solo violin by Singaporean composer Wang Chenwei for solo violin. After the concert, Gabriel conducted a masterclass with students from BA (Hons) Music Performance programme.
 
(Photo source: Gabriel Lee)
Azmyl Yunor

On 19th May, Azmyl Yunor from the Department of Film and Performing Arts performed selected original songs from his albums “Jon Bangi Blues” and “Wilayah”.

He offered a few comments on his shows: 

 
(Photo source: Azmyl Yunor)
"I often banter in my live shows that I am a 'country' singer because my songs are 'all about my country — Malaysia. While I am indeed a fan of country music (I count Hank Williams and Johnny Cash amongst my influences as a singer-songwriter), I am also aware that some of my regional singer-songwriter heroes like Iwan Fals from Indonesia have also been labelled as ‘country’ singers. I'm just filling up the gap in Malaysian music which I find lacking amongst my peers. Writing songs that takes a closer look at ourselves in the mirror as a nation, warts and all. This is the duty of the folk singer."
Check out more content by Azmyl on his Youtube and Instagram! 
Azmyl's Youtube Azmyl's Youtube
Azmyl's Instagram Azmyl's Instagram
Dr June Joseph Joins the SOA as Post-Doctoral Research Fellow
The ElastiCities Research Cluster and SOA warmly welcomed Dr. June Joseph who will be working as a postdoctoral fellow with Prof. Sabine Chaouche and Dr. Jolyne Khor Kuan Siew (SUBS) on two projects — Emotions and the City, which involves migrants; and Collaborative consumption and the sharing economy.

Dr. June is a medical anthropologist and qualitative international humanitarian health researcher, having researched maternal and child health nutritional disparities in the context of migration, forced displacement and western resettlement amongst Southeast Asian communities in Queensland, Australia.

 
She has undergone prominent research training in Yale, Harvard and Princeton, shared engagements with prominent UK-based humanitarian researchers and has engaged in policy discussions with the United Nations, International Organization for Migration and the World Health Organization.

As a social scientist and expert in ecological social theories, she is also a budding health system researcher with interest in intersectional analysis and gender justice in communities that are facing poverty, scarcity and exclusion in urban slums and the surrounding geographies/ environments (African continent & Southeast Asia), and delving into strength-based community networks, healthcare and service access, WASH (water, sanitization, hygiene), innovative arts-based community engagement methods and participatory domains that aim to foster community empowerment, inclusion and justice.

(Photo source: Dr June Joseph)

ElastiCities Seminar with Prof Nick Dunn (Lancaster University)
 
On the 25th of May, the ElastiCities Research Cluster and Brasenose College, Oxford, co-organised a seminar with Prof Nick Dunn of Lancaster University. Professor Nick Dunn is Executive Director of ImaginationLancaster where he is also Professor of Urban Design. He is also a Senior Fellow of the Institute for Social Futures, examining the insights that the arts and humanities can bring to the ways we think, envision, and analyse the futures of people, places, and the planet. His research into urban futures has been funded by the EPSRC, the UK’s Government Office for Science and the Ministry of Defence. 

The talk explored the potential of the nocturnal city to recalibrate our emotions in urban places as a form of sense making, examining the use of autoethnography as a way to map the ongoing entanglements between space and emotion; city and memory; time and materiality; writing and place.
Guest Lectures for Communication Students: An Insight into the Industry by Natasja Hagen

In April 2022, Dr Catherine Lee invited two very knowledgeable guest speakers to share insightful tips and tricks on content creation with her Year 2 Communication students of Sunway University, as well as experiences in Public Relations (PR) cases. On the 21st of April, Amanda Low, our very own alumni who is currently the Content and Community Executive at Crunch by Nuffnang, gave a virtual talk entitled “Content Creation 101: Tips and Tricks.” The following week, Mr. Hardip Singh from Taylor’s University, who is often referred to as a 'full stack PR Guy,' provided an insightful glimpse into three of his many thrilling encounters as a PR practitioner!
(Photos from: Natasja Hagen)
Thank you for reading the May 2022 issue of the
School of Arts Press Newsletter.

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