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(2 Mar) Failing Forward: What the Humanities and Social Sciences Teach Us About Resilience

Date: 2 March 2026

Time: 2.00pm – 5:00pm

Venue: NTU Innovation Port at Wee Cho Yaw Plaza

Theme: Resilience and Mental Wellbeing

What if failure isn't the opposite of success, but a crucial stepping stone toward it?

Across the humanities and social sciences, scholars have long studied how setbacks shape human behavior, innovation, and growth. Yet in achievement-oriented societies, failure remains stigmatized—something to hide rather than harness.

This panel discussion brings together diverse disciplinary perspectives to reframe failure as a learning opportunity. Discover how psychologists understand resilience-building, how historians trace innovation born from setbacks, and how sociologists examine cultural attitudes toward "failing forward."

Whether you're navigating career challenges, academic pressures, or personal growth, you'll leave with practical strategies to build grit, embrace productive failure, and transform obstacles into opportunities. Learn why your biggest setbacks might become your greatest assets.

Speaker Profiles

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Prof Jon Wilson

Jon Wilson is Dean of CoHASS and Professor in the Schools of Humanities and Social Sciences at NTU. His research focuses on the politics, governance, and political economy of modern South Asia on a regional and global scale, often challenging stories political institutions tell about themselves.

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Asst Prof Lisa Walsh

Lisa Walsh is Assistant Professor of Psychology at NTU. Her research explores the who, what, where, when, why, and how of happiness. She investigates the architecture of subjective well-being, including its outcomes, predictors, mediators, moderators, and downstream consequences.

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Asst Prof Paul Patinadan

Paul Patinadan is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at NTU and a Health Professions Educator with NHG. His research spans the breadth of community health and wellbeing; with a focus on end-of-life care, grief, and bereavement.

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Assoc Prof Joyce Pang

Joyce is associate professor of psychology at the School of Social Sciences in NTU. She is a personality psychologist who specializes in assessing and understanding how motivation affects important personal and social outcomes such as well-being, health psychology, performance & decision-making.

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Assoc Prof Kay Kim

Hye Kyung “Kay” Kim is an Associate Professor in the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information at NTU. Her work develops evidence-based strategies to improve health behaviors and public understanding of health risks.

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Assoc Prof Sulfikar Amir

Sulfikar Amir is Associate Professor of Science, Technology, and Society and faculty in Sociology at NTU. His research examines institutional, political, and epistemological dimensions of science and technology, spanning technological nationalism, risk and disaster, resilience, and more.

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