My memorable time at the Sunway Campus
Associate Prof. Gil-Soo Han
Out for a walkabout (2018). ▶
At the time of my arrival at the Sunway campus, I had
a fair understanding of what a performing School of
Arts should be like in the university context. However,
taking up the role of a Head of Arts at the campus
was a challenge as I was not sure how I would work
with my new colleagues in a new cultural context.
Yet, I was convinced as to what kind of leadership I
wanted to manifest: listening to my colleagues and
ploughing through the tasks with them. Within a few
weeks of my arrival, I noticed a pool of highly talented
academics and their serious dedication to research
and teaching. What more could I expect from my
colleagues?
The only programs offered at the time of my
arrival were the Bachelor of Communication and a
Communication Honours. Several important tasks
needed to be carried through. We were able to work
together to start a coursework Master of Cultural
Studies and Communication as well as research
Masters and PhD degrees. Further, we introduced
a Bachelor of Arts with majors in Communication,
International Studies and Writing, as well as a BA
Honours. Thanks to my colleagues’ service and
dedication, it was my particular privilege to initiate the
Outside Studies Program to which my colleagues had
no access mainly due to limited resources at the time.
All my colleagues worked to their full capacity and
I often wished there were more resources to recruit
more staff than we were able to. My colleagues were
rapidly developing their scholarly reputation. During
my tenure of three years (2005-2007), the Arts staff
increased from six to eleven.
I also had a privilege to lead an international research
project on the digital economy in rural Malaysia
supported by the Malaysian government’s Ministry
of Science, Technology and Innovation. As part
of the project, I had opportunities to visit the rural
communities producing palm oil since its industry was
looking into effective digital communications for their
production, distribution and marketing.
In addition to my research and administrative roles,
I co-taught a class. Teaching a class at the Malaysia
campus was highly rewarding as the students worked
diligently and displayed their academic curiosity. I was
fortunate to be selected for the Pro-Vice Chancellor’s
award, ‘Good Practice in Teaching’.
It became quickly clear that the Communication
programme was not adequately representing
the expertise of my colleagues. They included
Communications and Media Studies, Literature,
Anthropology, Gender Studies, Journalism, Film
Studies and International Relations. It was felt that the
programme needed to ‘grow out’ of the School of Arts
and Sciences and into an independent school on its
own.
17
Today, I feel
my tenure at
the Malaysian
campus has
been a most
rewarding
and satisfying
period of my
academic
career as
I was able
to facilitate
a lot of
changes and
development
on the
campus.
My journey as a sociologist at Monash University
started with my appointment at the School of Rural
Health in December 1999. I delved into many
scholarly activities such as leading a research group,
establishing research Masters and PhD programs, and
building up my research projects on overseas-trained
health professionals and their integration into the rural
communities. My job also involved working closely
with my counterparts at the Victorian Universities
Rural Health Consortium. Following the unexpected
invitation to apply for the post of Head of Arts, I made
a visit to the Monash University Malaysia campus. All
the meetings held there were positive, but the tasks
ahead of me seemed challenging. Nevertheless, my
family and I decided to take the challenging journey to
an unknown life in Kuala Lumpur.