Dr Margaret Tan

Director of Programmes Tembusu College National University of Singapore
Fellow Tembusu College National University of Singapore

Dr Margaret Tan is Senior Lecturer and Director of Programmes at Tembusu College, where she oversees the Tembusu Forum, Master’s Tea, Formal Dinners, and other ad hoc events and workshops. She is also Co-director of the NUS Art/Science Residency Programme, and was a Research Fellow at Asia Research Institute’s Science, Technology and Society (STS) Cluster from 2012 to 2020. As an educator, Margaret believes education should be transformative, both for students and society at large. She encourages students to be creative, to see things beyond the surface level and from multiple perspectives. She also creates innovative opportunities in and out of the classroom for students to engage in interdisciplinary enquiry, both through an STS focus and through the arts.

Margaret holds a PhD from the Communications and New Media Department, National University of Singapore, an MA in Interactive Media and Critical Theory from Goldsmiths College, University of London, and a BFA from RMIT/Lasalle College of the Arts. Her PhD dissertation involves a critical analysis of the visions and discourses surrounding pervasive computing and Singapore’s IT Masterplan called “Intelligent Nation 2015” (iN2015). Her artworks investigate the intersections of body with space, technology, and culture from a feminist perspective, and have been showcased both locally and internationally.

Awards: 

  1. 2022 National Day Awards (Commendation Medal) 

Modules

Murals: Expressions from/on the Walls
Asia Now! The Archaeology of the Future City
Singapore as "Model" City?

Awards

AY16/17 Residential Colleges Teaching Excellence Award
The Tembusu (Fagraea fragrans) is a large evergreen tree in the family Gentianaceae. It is native to Southeast Asia. Its trunk is dark brown, with deeply fissured bark, looking somewhat like a bittergourd. It grows in an irregular shape from 10 to 25m high. Its leaves are light green and oval in shape. Its yellowish flowers have a distinct fragrance and the fruits of the tree are bitter tasting red berries, which are eaten by birds and fruit bats.