The Humanities Day is the triannual one-day event organised by the Centre for Bioethics and Humanities, IMU. The 11th Humanities Day took place on 24 March 2021. This is the first time the Humanities Day was conducted virtually. Humanities Day explores the different aspects of our human society and culture, making this a special occasion to provide students with the opportunity to showcase their creativity and ingenuity through their active participation in different modules that aim to strengthen their communication, critical thinking, creativity, and teamwork skills. For this Day, students who enrolled in various Mata Pelajaran Pengajian Umum (MPU) modules were involved in activities that ranged from synchronous presentations of projects to pre-recorded virtual plays. The 11th Humanities Day saw students from the MPU3262 Academic Communication module, facilitated by Wan Nurul Ezzati, participated in a Socratic Seminar to discuss and analyse current medical issues.
| Some of the Current Medical Issues Discussed: | |
|---|---|
| Organ Trafficking | Legalisation of Drugs |
| Animal Experimentation | Euthanasia |
According to one student, “As nerve-wracking as it was, it was extremely successful and all of us had immense fun hearing the different views and perspectives of students from the given articles.”
Students from another MPU module, MPU3212 Thinking Critically and Creatively, guided by Dr Arlini Alias, exhibited presentations on the theme of ‘Health Solutions: 21st Century Innovation’, where students worked on a concept plan and designed specification for health-related management issues of stress, sleep depression, diabetes, as well as food waste.
Meanwhile, the MPU3252 Arts Appreciation and MPU3272 Art Fundamentals modules offered students who were keen on literature and visual arts to have a better understanding of these expressive forms. The Arts Appreciation project, guided by Dr Sheba D. Mani, was on a journey of self-discovery. Students explored themes of independence, care, maturity, change, and persistence, all related to the angst of growing up.
The project sets the pace for realizing that the arts are valuable in understanding humanity, as one student aptly said, “I would like to continue creating my own poetry or song as I enjoyed being able to express my thoughts and feelings through these mediums.”
Whereas the Art Fundamentals Project, facilitated by Priscilla Philip, pivoted towards presentations of portrait artists from various regions. Among these were Amrita Sher Gil from India, Amy Sherald from America, and Esiri Erheriene-Essi from Nigeria. The important messages in these artists’ works revealed women’s rights, marginalized groups, racial differences, psychological struggles, and modernity. These themes broadened students’ understanding of the dynamics of the world and how art is utilised to capture the essence of life. Finally, students from the MPU3242 History of Medicine facilitated by Siti Dahliah Mohd Nasir presented on ‘Global Pandemics: From the Black Death to Covid-19’, which provided an overview of pandemics that occurred worldwide and how the world has progressed since then to face the current Covid-19 pandemic.
While on a lighter note, students from the MPU 3292 Introduction to Drama, guided by Carol Chin Koon Poh, entertained everyone with virtual adaptations of famous works of fiction such as Romeo and Juliet, Trifles, Frozen, and Mulan. The 11th Humanities Day was successfully conducted virtually this year and many are looking forward to the 12th Humanities Day here at IMU!
