Liberal Arts and Sciences Innovation in China: Six Recommendations to Shape the Future

Abstract

In June, 2017, twenty-five university leaders and scholars gathered at Duke Kunshan University (DKU) to assess obstacles to and opportunities for China’s new LAS initiatives. Representing 20 different institutions, attendees came from leading universities in Mainland China as well as Singapore, Hong Kong, the US, and Canada. The report makes six distinct recommendations (published in English and Chinese by the Center for International Higher Education in its Perspective Series). Participants further concluded that the real opportunity for China in implementing these initiatives goes beyond reforming its own universities. If China can implement and expand these programs in innovative and culturally relevant ways, it will shape education reform throughout the world. The liberal arts and sciences in China are thus at a pivotal moment. The report includes four background papers prepared by Yong Zhao, William Kirby, Gerald Postiglione, Y Ma, and Alice Te, and Qiang Zha