Freedom And Mission

As the oldest and most famous university of America, Harvard University holds aunique position in the American society. It is usually said that Harvard University wasborn before the foundation of the United States, which is not only the truth, but areflection of Harvard’s special position in the eyes of American people as well. SinceCharles Eliot’s reform of the elective system achieved Harvard’s historictransformation from a local college into a modern university, the development ofHarvard University has always been the best representative of the development andbrilliance of the American university. The undergraduate curricular reform is the mainline of the Harvard’s development, because it is the curriculum that is the decidingfactor in the student’s growth. And the student’s growth must be the core of auniversity, which is a fundamental matter of what kind of person to train. This studyfocuses upon the common idea of Harvard’s curricular reforms and concludes theleading characteristics embodied in a modern university so as to provide somereferences for the higher education at home.Harvard’s overall curricular reform started from Charles Eliot’s election as thepresident. Eliot endowed all the subjects with equal positions and all the teachers andstudents with complete academic freedom, thus smashing the chains of the traditionalunchanged curriculum and thoroughly overthrowing the mental enclosure of theAmerican university. It geared to the social needs of freedom, opening and democracyby deeply rooting the American university in American social customs and politicalenvironments, which created the unique characteristics of the American university andopened up the modernized and democratic times of the American university.On the other hand, however, Eliot’s free elective system was too overcorrect, soPresident Lowell made necessary corrections on it by creating the system ofconcentration and distribution, which emphasized responsibility as well as freedomand reached a proper balance between required and elective courses. Since then,Harvard University has keenly sensed the trend of the times and carried on timelyundergraduate curricular reforms in order to better the free development of every individual and the progress of the whole nation. In the1940s, Harvard Universitydelivered the report General Education in a Free Society, which linked the universityeducation with the education in primary and middle schools by general education;accordingly, more universal significance was vested in general education. The reportattached great value on western cultural heritages and development with the times.The conception of general education struck root in people’s hearts ever since. In the1970s, the reform of the core course was initiated in Harvard, which redefined generaleducation according to the times and aimed at the training of “an educated person”.Harvard University once again shouldered its responsibility and mission to advocateindividual’s value and duty. At the beginning of the21stcentury, Harvard Universitystarted its new reform of undergraduate curriculum and decided to foster “globalcitizens”, which reflected Harvard’s high standing and far insight again.This study has six chapters. Before each chapter is the introduction. Chapter Oneis about President Eliot and the elective system. Charles Eliot was the crucial figure inboth Harvard University and even the whole American higher education. This chapterillustrates in detail four parts: first, the early development of the elective system in theUnited States is analyzed in detail to bring in Eliot’s free elective system and its greathistoric significance; and then Eliot’s election as President of Harvard University, thefree elective system, and Eliot’s efforts to create the American university as well ashis reform idea are discussed. Chapter Two is entitled as Lowell and the System of“Concentration and Distribution”. President Lowell made necessary corrections onEliot’s free elective system, balancing freedom and duty. What’s more, he made everyeffort to protect and defend academic freedom to free Harvard from outsidedisturbances and keep it in a free academic atmosphere. The basis of Harvard’sundergraduate curriculum was hence formed with Lowell’s balance between freedomand duty. Chapter Three, General Education and “Free Society”, discusses Harvard’sreform of general education led by President Conant and its idea and historicsignificance. Chapter Four, The Core Curriculum and “An Educated Person”, studiesHarvard’s plan of the core curriculum and its educational aim led by Dean Rosovsky,together with a brief introduction of Harvard’s curricular reform in the new century. Chapter Five is about the key ideas and their relationship embodied in Harvard’scurricular reforms: freedom and mission. The last chapter brings forward themeanings of this study to the university at home.From this study, we will more deeply realize how significant FREEDOM is to auniversity. Because, without freedom, a university cannot be energetic, let alone tofulfill its unique mission to the nation well.