Festival Committee
The Ideas Festival is co-organised by seven partner universities in Singapore, namely the National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore Management University (SMU), Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS), Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) and University of the Arts Singapore (UAS).
The Festival is supported by the Social Science Research Council (SSRC), which promotes and supports social science and humanities research in areas of strategic relevance to Singapore and the region.
2026 Festival Committee
[SMU] Prof Kenneth Benoit
Ken is Dean and Professor of Computational Social Science at the School of Social Sciences, Singapore Management University. His research focuses on computational, quantitative methods for processing large amounts of textual data, mainly political texts and social media.
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[SMU] Assoc Prof Hannah H. Chang
Hannah is Associate Professor of Marketing at the Lee Kong Chian School
of Business, Singapore Management University. She studies consumer behaviour
and digital technologies, focusing on how consumers engage with products
and services across digital platforms to inform marketing practice and
policy.
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[SMU] Assoc Prof Q Forrest Zhang
Forrest is Associate Professor of Sociology and Lee Kong Chian Fellow at the School of Social Sciences, Singapore Management University. His research focuses on China’s agrarian political economy and rural development.
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[NTU] Prof Nick Powdthavee
Nick is Professor of Economics at Nanyang Technological University and
a Fellow of the Royal Economic Society specializing in behavioral economics
and happiness research.
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[NTU] Assoc Prof Xu Hong
Xu Hong is Associate Professor of Psychology at School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University. Her research studies neural mechanisms of visual perception and cognition and its application to human-computer interaction (HCI).
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[NUS] Assoc Prof Jack Chia
Jack Meng-Tat Chia is Foo Hai Associate Professor in Buddhist Studies
at the National University of Singapore, where he serves as Assistant Dean
of Research in FASS. He is a historian of religion focusing on Buddhism
and Chinese religions in Southeast Asia.
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[NUS] Assoc Prof Joelle Fong
Joelle is Associate Professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, NUS. Her broad research agenda focuses on the economic and health aspects of population aging, and their implications for policy. Her research interests include pension economics, insurance, financial literacy and retirement.
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[NUS] Assoc Prof Selina Ho
Selina is Dean’s Chair Associate Professor in International Affairs and
Vice-Dean (Research and Development) at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public
Policy, NUS. She is a leading expert on how China wields power and influence
via infrastructure and water resource capture in Asia.
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[SIT] Assoc Prof Ingrid Wilson
Ingrid is Associate Professor at the Singapore Institute of Technology. Her interests lie in gender issues, with a focus on women’s health and empowerment. Her research specialises in preventing family violence and elder abuse, and improving the quality of intimate relationships.
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[SUSS] Assoc Prof Jennifer Ang
Jennifer is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the S R Nathan School
of Human Development, SUSS. She is the author of Sartre and the Moral Limits
of War and Terrorism, and a forthcoming book Unforgiveness towards Injustice.
Her recent projects examine ethics, AI, time and space
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[SUSS] Dr Nathanael Ong
Nathanael is the Provost’s Chair and Lecturer at the College of Interdisciplinary & Experiential Learning, SUSS. His expertise is in the field of sport and performance psychology and has published more than 15 journal articles in areas such as competitive anxiety, burnout, and smartphone addiction.
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[SUTD] Assoc Prof Alastair Gornall
Alastair is Associate Professor of History and Religion and Associate
Head in the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences at SUTD. He gained his
PhD in Asian Studies from the University of Cambridge in 2013. He has published
many articles and a book, Rewriting Buddhism (UCL, 2020).
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[SUTD] Dr Cai Yanjun
Yanjun Cai is Research Fellow at the Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities. Her research focuses on climate resilience and urban sustainability in the face of digital transformation, paying additional attention to disadvantaged populations.
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