LKCNHM Thursday Talk Shop Season 4
[Update: Our Thursday Talk Shop Season 4 series have ended. You may check out our Online Resources page to watch the recordings, along with past seasons of the series.]
The well-loved Thursday Talk Shop series is back for its 4th season! Join our Outreach and Education Unit (OEU) over Zoom as this season, they discuss food history, marine life and sustainability with colleagues and special guests. Free for all to join!
Keep an eye out for updates to this page and our social media platforms for the latest registration details!
Completed Sessions
Session 1: What’s in a Ray? Cultural Histories of the Stingray in Singapore
Watch the recording of this session here.
Mention “stingray”, and most people in Singapore would immediately think of the stingingly fragrant and intensely flavourful hawker dish known as sambal stingray.
A slab of barbecued ray meat on a charred banana leaf, slathered with a layer of rich sambal, adorned with onion slices and a side of cincalok—the iconic flavours of sambal stingray is defined by its condiments. But what do we know about the stingray itself?
As word on the street goes, sambal stingray first appeared in our region during the early 1980s. However, this isn’t the earliest presence of stingrays on our plates or in other cultural spheres. In this session, oral historian Ms Kathy Poh will discuss some culinary and cultural histories of the stingray in Singapore. Through this, she hopes to arrive at some new cultural understandings of rays in a local context.
About the Speaker:
Kathy is a researcher whose interests lie at the intersections of visual culture and natural history. She graduated from Yale-NUS College in 2020 with a specialization in Art History and is currently an oral historian at the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum.
Image Credit: Kathy Poh
Session 2: The Hungry City: Singapore and our Food Fishes
Watch the recording of this session here.
From wild to farmed, terubok to tilapia; join Professor Anthony D. Medrano in this session of Thursday Talk Shop as he explores the history of Singapore through our food fishes. As we chronicle the history behind the fishes that fed our hungry city, we uncover a wide-ranging and interconnected tale of species, cultures, and ecologies.
About the Speaker:
Anthony D. Medrano is the Presidential Young Professor of Environmental Studies at Yale-NUS College; he teaches modules that explore the cultural, economic, and ecological history of Singapore and Southeast Asia. He also holds appointments in NUS’s Department of History, the Asia Research Institute, and the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum. Mr Medrano is the principal investigator of the SSRTG-funded project “Linking the Digital Humanities to Biodiversity History in Singapore and Southeast Asia“. He is completing his first book with Yale University Press titled The Edible Ocean: Science, Industry, and the Rise of Urban Southeast Asia.
Image Credit: Singapore Food Agency
Session 3: Becoming Conservationists
Watch the recording of this session here.
Meet divers turned conservationists—Thomas Knudsen and Kathlyn Tan—the couple behind Rumah Foundation’s ocean protection portfolio. In addition to impact investments and non-profit work, the co-founders of not-for-profit ‘Coastal Natives’ hope to contribute towards inspiring new ocean lovers and conservationists. If you’re interested in how to get started in conservation or learning about strategies for impact, this session of Thursday Talk Shop is for you! Look forward to a casual conversation with the duo and uncover how a passion for the ocean can turn into a lifelong commitment.
About the Speakers:
Kathlyn and Thomas met at sea and share a passion for ocean protection and business sustainability. A certified divemaster and freediving athlete, Kathlyn is also a sustainability practitioner in the built environment sector. Thomas, on the other hand, is a supply chain expert and certified diving instructor with more than two thousand dives under his belt. Together, as Directors of Rumah Foundation, they work to contribute to a clean and vibrant ocean through embracing a total portfolio approach.