Terence Heng
Terence Heng received his PhD in Visual Sociology from Goldsmiths, University of London. Working on the intersections between creative practice and sociological research, he investigates the making of ethnic identities amongst Chinese individuals through everyday rituals and geographies. His research has been featured in The Sociological Review, Geographical Review and Cultural Geographies. In 2015, he was also winner of the International Visual Sociology Association’s Prosser Award.
Biography
Terence Heng is a photographer and sociologist. He is currently an Assistant Professor and Deputy Programme Director at the Singapore Institute of Technology.Terence graduated from the University of Oxford with an MSc in Management Research and a PhD in Visual Sociology from Goldsmiths, University of London. Working on intersections between creative practice and sociological research, he investigates the making of ethnic identities amongst Chinese individuals through everyday rituals and geographies. His research has been featured in journals like The Sociological Review, Cultural Geographies, Visual Communication and Sociological Research Online. In 2015, he was the inaugural winner of the International Visual Sociology Association’s Prosser Award for outstanding work by beginning scholars in visual methodologies.
His artistic practice seeks to combine different genres into multi-textured performances and pieces. He has published two books of poetry and/or photography, Live a Manic Existence with a Cup of Sanity in Your Hand (1997) and From Where I'm Standing (2004). His poetry/ photography has been exhibited in Going Places (The Arts House at the Old Parliament, Singapore) and Picture This: Approaches to Visual Research (Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences 2016, Canada).
Education
-
PhD Visual Sociology, Goldsmiths, University of London
MSc Management Research, University of Oxford
BSc (Hons) Economics, University of Nottingham
Areas of Research / Professional Expertise
-
• Racial and Spiritual Spatialities
• Visual Methodologies
• Research Communication Design
• Diasporic Ethnicities
• Urban Photography
• Creative Writing in Sociological Study
Websites
Books
Articles
Making “Unofficial” Sacred Space: Spirit Mediums and House Temples in Singapore
Published: Feb 09, 2016 by Geographical Review
Authors: Terence Heng
Subjects:
Geography , Sociology
In this paper, I will show how spirit mediums operate within “unofficially sacred” spaces, specifically house temples that subvert and resist functionalist policies of the Singapore state.
An appropriation of ashes
Published: Jan 27, 2015 by The Sociological Review
Authors: Terence Heng
Subjects:
Sociology, Asian Studies
In this paper I consider the material ways in which individuals overlay an imaginary, ethnicized secondspace in the form of a spiritual realm onto their state-defined, lived firstspaces.