Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

Bangi, Malaysia

Available Courses

This course will introduce students to a variety of genres by Malaysian writers writing in English. Translated works in Malay and vernacular languages will also be highlighted. Emphasis will be given to the cultural, social, and political aspects highlighted in this literature in line with the post-colonial context. This course paves the way to expose Malaysian literature on a wider scale and to provide opportunities to learn about and
interact with local writers. Writers that will be studied include Lloyd Fernando, K.S. Maniam, Muhammad Haji Salleh, Hillary Tham, Shirley Lim

This course aims to provide an understanding of the theory and basic concepts in the international economy that covers topics in international trade and international finance. The discussion of topics in this course will cover the foundation of early and modern international trade theory, tariff and non-tariff barriers, economic integration, international factor movements, the balance of payments and foreign exchange markets, and the world financial system. At the end of this course, students should be able to discuss the relevance of international economic theory with real-world issues and related policies.

This course focuses on an appreciation of activities of daily living, such as gardening, recycling, cooking, appreciating art, and others. Students will identify and expand their individual interests in any of the suggested activities or any that they themselves bring to the table.

This course is designed to help students majoring in English Language Studies improve their pronunciation, oral proficiency, and their ability to communicate in various social settings. Students will learn the basic principles of the English sound system, with special emphasis on the segmental and suprasegmental aspects of the language. Students will be able to sharpen their oral skills through various activities including learning to use International Phonetics Alphabet (IPA) symbols and pronunciation dictionaries; speech analysis software; remedial exercises; oral presentations; interactive drills; and projects.

This course introduces psychology as a scientific discipline and covered the
major concepts and principles of psychology. Students will have the opportunity to discuss psychology schools of thought and theoretical approaches, methods of research, behavior and physiological aspect, human development, sensation and perception, learning and cognition, social behavior, personality, motivation and emotion, and abnormal behavior and
treatment. Students finally will be able to practice the theoretical principles of psychology in their daily actions.

This course discusses theories that have been formulated by renowned
psychologists such as Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Erich Fromm, Albert Bandura, Abraham Maslow, Erik Erikson, Carl Rogers, Raymond Cattel, and a few others regarding the nature and the development of an individual personality. It aims to provide an understanding of the contributory factors that lead to the formation and development of human characters and to answer the question of why humans behave the way they do. It also discusses the unique features of an individual personality together with the traits and characters that are being universally shared by people all over the world. This course is tailored to specifically focus on the history of personality study, the definitions and methods used to study personality, as well as personality that is being discussed in the psychoanalytic, neo-psychoanalytic, humanistic, traits approach, social learning theory, life-span development, and interpersonal theory. This course is conducted via lectures and discussions.

This course uses storytelling as a learning tool to encourage students to explore the language and heighten the students’ ability to communicate thoughts and feelings in an articulate and confident manner. These benefits will give them the experience and exposure to support daily life skills and remind them that their spoken words are powerful and that effective communication is essential. Students will select a story and learn how to tell it. They will learn the components of effective communication including visualization, summarization, identification of emotions and mood, the addition of voice and gestures, and connection to real life. As they present their story, the art of listening becomes a two-way communication. By using good eye contact and ‘reading’ body language storytellers communicate with their audience. The activities and skills that they learn will be used across the curriculum and throughout life.

This course aims to introduce entrepreneurship to all students. Its main objective is to provide basic knowledge of entrepreneurship to the students and to encourage them to choose business as their career option. The concepts and theory of entrepreneurship include team building (teaming) and leadership, strategy and management, marketing and market research, finance, manufacturing or production, and oral presentation will be taught. Students will apply the link between various business components taught in the course individually and in groups. Students will also have discussions and present a business plan.

The 21st century has been dubbed as the era of biotechnology with immense developments worldwide and in Malaysia.  Unknown to many, biotechnology products are already in the markets. 

Intercultural communication is a symbolic process that involves interaction between people from differing cultural perceptions. It is the process of sharing meanings that is complex and dynamic, characterized by particular norms and practices within a historical, economic, political, and social context. This course introduces a conceptual framework, identifies challenges of interaction in everyday life, and explores contemporary intercultural communication issues at national and international levels. At the end of the course, students will be able to distinguish the similarities and differences between cultures, and the challenges at the local and global levels, as well as improve their intercultural interaction skills.

This course will introduce legal mechanisms related to the environment from historical development, and sources of law to basic principles of environmental law. In addition, environmental problems will be reviewed will include various types of pollution such as noise, air/atmosphere, water, soil, and waste as well as threats to flora and fauna. There is also a discussion on environmental impact assessment (EIA). For each of these topics, the definition, sources, and effects of the problem, national legislation, key organizations, international legislation, and challenges in terms of climate change shall also be observed.

This course discusses the relationship between tourism and Malay culture, especially with cultural products. Discussion about tourism and its development including concepts, types, infrastructure, policy, and role of government and private agencies. Cultural products which are discussed include daily culture, stage culture, and craft. The production and infrastructure and marketing of the product were also discussed.

The course aims to equip students with advanced academic writing skills
required at the university level. For this purpose, two approaches will be
used i.e. the process approach and the genre-based approach. Through
this course, the students will be exposed to a myriad of academic
writing such as summary writing and synthesizing information, abstract
writing, and report writing. The students will learn the techniques and
strategies on how to summarize and synthesize ideas and information,
arrange and apply ideas and information and substantiate their writing with valid and relevant facts. At the end of the course, students should be able to
produce various types of academic writing which are suitable and
effective for their academic needs.

This course discusses family economics planning to improve their welfare and well-being. It covers aspects of consumption, debt, savings, time allocation, and wealth creation of a family. The basic discussion in this course covers how to choose optimal consumption patterns to improve family welfare. This course also discusses how to manage finances well
so as not to create a debt burden, but to increase family savings. In addition, there will also be an emphasis on the optimal allocation of time between various activities including activities at home and activities in the market to generate family wealth. Teaching and learning will be implemented in the form of sharing learning experiences, problem-based and case-based
learning, as well as outcome-based learning.

This course covers the relationship between the field of philosophy and the National Education Philosophy as well as Rukun Negara. This course aims to enable students to understand the field of philosophy as a tool to harmonize cultures of thinking about life through the arts and ways of thinking as well as through the concepts of insan (Malay for ‘human’). The main topics in philosophy epistemology, metaphysics, and ethics are discussed in the context of current issues. Emphasis is given to philosophy as a basis for intercultural dialogue and to foster common values. Discussions on current issues are made through a comparative perspective between philosophy, science, and civilization.