HSS: Globalizing Knowledge Meets in Singapore

"Globalizing knowledge refers to the process by which distant regions' knowledgeabilities are implicated in the particular cultures fusing those understandings. The form of globalizing knowledge will vary given the different historical and institutional contexts that shape such learning. Globalizing knowledge is, therefore, relationally composed. The sociology of globalizing knowledge concerns the conditions, manners, and implications of that fusion." (Kennedy 2015:9) The challenges of American universities figure prominently in my book's project, but how do those American issues travel globally? Much of my work has been defined in relation to Europe and Eurasia, but it could speak to issues I understand to be prominent in Singapore. In this presentation, I consider how interdisciplinarity, public engagement, and regional references shape the mission, and contradictions, of the quest to be recognized as world class universities. I am especially interested to consider how Singapore might develop additional distinction around knowledge cultural holes, especially in the comparative analysis of global flows, theoretically rich area studies and global public knowledge in environmental transformations.