On March 22, leading experts in higher education from top Chinese universities including Tsinghua University, Renmin University of China, Wuhan University, Tongji University, Beijing Normal University, Shandong University and Southeast University gathered in Kunshan for a curricular consultation conference co-hosted by Duke Kunshan University and Duke University. The conference featured discussions on the latest trends in liberal arts education in the US and China; the discussions were designed to provide insights for the curricular development of Duke Kunshan’s undergraduate degree program.
Denis Simon, Executive Vice-Chancellor at Duke Kunshan University, provided an introductory overview in which he indicated that Duke University is hoping to launch a truly innovative, interdisciplinary curriculum for Duke Kunshan’s new undergraduate program. He tasked the members of the review committee with the task of making sure the new curriculum is implementable in a Chinese context.
Noah Pickus, associate provost at Duke University and Chair of Liberal Arts in China Committee, gave a comprehensive introduction to the proposed new Duke Kunshan undergraduate curriculum. He elaborated on the structure, core components, additional components and several distinct advantages of the curriculum.
11 Chinese experts including Qian Yingyi, dean of the School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University, Qu Zhenyuan, chairman of the Chinese Association of Higher Education, and Jiang Bo, vice president of Tongji University and chairman of Commission on Chinese-foreign Cooperation in Education, China Education Association for International Exchange, drew on their experiences to offer advice on developing undergraduate curriculum in the Chinese context.
‘It is an innovative curriculum, not only in China but also in the U.S., and not only in content but also in pedagogy. It has inherited Duke’s tradition in higher education, and has taken the advantage of being a green field project, which has freed itself from many constraints,’ said Qian Yingyi, dean of the School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University. ‘The student-centered, problem-oriented liberal arts curriculum is a brave attempt at addressing the need of undergraduate education for the 21st century.’
The group prepared a full report endorsing the curriculum, promising to stay engaged to witness Duke Kunshan University’s experience with the overall curriculum launch.
