A Study On The Humanities Education In Yale University

As a distinguished university famous for its humanities education, since it was established in 1701, the Yale University has formed its own perspective,tradition and experience, taking light and truth as its school motto,insisting on orthodox academic and the independence of academic ,valued highly of intellectual tradition,training the students' intelligence,morality ,civic responsibilities and creativity by thinking training and social experience training,and Yale University is also universally acknowledged that for its tremendous achievement on humanities.Through its 300-year-long running process, Yale University has cultivate many outstanding graduates in the spirit of humanism , the researching of Yale's humanity education means a lot to our higher education reform. Based on the first-hand historical records, this thesis studies the history and characteristics of humanities education in Yale. The humanities education in Yale is deeply enrooted in European tradition. It is influenced by the Protestant idea of humanities education in Britain and the reformation of superior education in Germany. Through the interaction with the political and economic situation in America, it gradually forms its uniqueness. The author suggests that the history of humanities education in Yale can be divided into three stages: (1) from 1701 to 1776, the year of American independence. This is the stage of emerging, in which the idea of humanities education was transplanted from Oxford and Cambridge, and was characterized with theological education.(2)from 1776 to 1945, the end of World War II. In this stage Yale developed its science education, established the institutes. The Yale Report was published in 1828, the college was built in 1886. Till the restructuring in 1919, Yale realized its educational system, in which science education and humanities education coexist, and the undergraduate education is matched with that of graduate. This is a stage of development, and can be further divided into two periods: 1776-1886, when the humanities education was in dominance; 1886-1945, when the science education was in equal status with the humanities education. (3) from 1945, the end of World War II to the present. Faced with the rapid development of technology, Yale promotes the humanities education by developing its science education. Whitney humanity center was established, which aimed to develop the interdisciplinary studies, to guide the growth of human knowledge, to cultivate the leaders, and to build an international university. This is a stage of transformation.Through its 300-year-long running process, Yale formed its unique humanistic tradition, which pursues the eternal value of knowledge, the independence of thought, and critical thinking. This thesis also analyzes the experiences accumulated in the history of education, which covers the following aspects- the cultivation of humanistic spirit, the relation between humanities education and science education, the emphasis on undergraduate education, the independence of the university, and discusses what we can learn from in the reformation of superior education in China.