Nanyang Technological University’s denial of tenure to Dr. Cherian George raises important concerns regarding the place of Singapore’s universities in fostering independent discourse in and about our society.
It’s hard to see how Dr. George’s teaching and research record don’t meet international standards for tenure. He won NTU’s premier Nanyang Award in 2009 for his teaching. He has published numerous articles in top tier journals and authored two important academic books, Contentious Journalism and the Internet (2006) with the University of Washington Press and NUS Press, and Freedom from The Press (2012) with NUS Press.
While we cannot fathom how Dr. George’s output does not meet existing international standards, we would also like to take this occasion to query whether NTU's stated criteria are the only ones we need for our universities. Full letter
