This past week the GE Fulbright group visited United International College (UIC) in Zhuhai on the China mainland. It is affiliated with the Hong Kong Baptist University, has a unique partnership with the Minnesota Private College Council, and is the first university in China not under strict government control. It is an experiment in liberal education and curriculum in a communist country.
The gathering brought together people from Asian universities, Hong Kong representatives, the Fulbrights, presidents from the Minnesota colleges, and faculty and administrators at UIC. The university was established in 2005 and the challenges they face are enormous, but all universities on the mainland are watching closely.
It would make for a fascinating case study of institution building and organizational change under very special and significant constraints (this is how I am approaching my observations and study of General Education in Hong Kong universities, but the challenges facing Zhuhai are greater by a factor of many).
As China emerges as a global power, there will be pressures to reform the educational system just as their are pressures to reform the political system. The success or failure of UIC will have an impact on the direction and pace of this change in the higher education sector.
I return to Zhuhai in the spring to give a lecture in a class on “American Identity”.
fascinating stuff; is the tuition structure different from UIC than "mainland" universities? Admissions requirements any different? Student body more international?
ReplyDeleteWould that be the hipster American Identity?
ReplyDeleteWhat kinds of courses and in what disciplines are they considering in liberal education? Western Philosophy, Austrian economics, etc.
ReplyDeleteThe vast majority of students come from Mainland China. I do not believe the admission requirements or tuition are significantly different at UIC.
ReplyDeleteThe have adopted the "whole person education" philosophy which further reinforces the liberal education emphasis.