Events

This public lecture presents some of the key research findings discussed in Dr Sharon Quah’s newly published book, Perspectives on Marital Dissolution: Divorce Biographies in Singapore (2015, Springer). Using Singaporean divorcees’ narrative accounts, her study explores how divorcees shape and construct what she refers to as a divorce biography to end their unsatisfying marriage, cope with the crisis, negotiate the associated risks, organise post-divorce personal communities and make future plans. Her research discusses how the experience of divorce might not be all debilitating but on the contrary, could provide opportunities for productivity, self-responsibility and relationship formation. At the same time, through uncovering how divorcees navigate their divorce biographies within the economic, policy and social contexts they are located in, her work examines the conditions that facilitate or hinder the pursuit of productivity in different aspects of their post-divorce lives. Far from a standard story of divorce, her book presents the diversity and complexity of Singaporean divorce biographies.

Dr Sharon Quah is a sociologist whose research focuses on divorce, family, personal relationships, transnational and alternative intimacies, individualisation and gender. She is a Research Fellow with the Changing Family in Asia research cluster at the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore. She is currently conducting a new research project on transnational divorce in Singapore as the Principal Investigator with a research grant awarded by the Ministry of Social and Family Development.

REGISTRATION

Admission is free, and seats are available on a first come, first served basis. We would greatly appreciate if you register your interest in attending to Ms Valerie Yeo via email: valerie.yeo@nus.edu.sg.

ARI ASIA TRENDS 2015 SERIES

ASIA TRENDS is an ARI flagship public outreach event. This annual series of public lectures showcase the work of ARI’s research clusters, highlights the relevance of ARI’s research to Singapore, and relates Singapore to the rest of Asia from the perspective of significant trends in the region. It is an opportunity for ARI to connect with the larger Singapore community through sharing and interacting with various public sectors (citizenry, government), civil society organizations, businesses, universities and colleges, by presenting cutting edge research on major trends in Asia. Some trends examined in the past include “Migration and Construction Work in Asia,” “Love and Money: Parenting after Divorce,” “China’s Leap from the Work’s Work Bench: Tech, Entertainment and the Quest for Soft Power,” “Creating Centralities” and “What is Sinophone World Literature?: China, Southeast Asia, and the Global 60s”. Each ARI research cluster hosts an evening talk, during which usually an overseas speaker, who is a prominent researcher or scholar, is invited to examine an emergent trend in that research field; a Singapore-based researcher then provides comments on local development with regard to the trend in question. Past seminars have witnessed interesting interaction between speakers and commentators and lively audience participation in the discussions.