A Study Of The Citizenship And Moral Education In Contemporary American Universities

The history of citizenship and moral education of American universities has more thantwo hundred years. The thesis studies citizenship and moral education of Americanuniversities from two perspectives. One is horizontal, the other is vertical. The thesis exploresthe history of citizenship and moral education in American universities from verticalperspective. The aims and contents, ways and methods of the citizenship and moral educationin contemporary American universities are analyzed from horizontal perspective.The exploration of the history of citizenship and moral education in Americanuniversities is the premise of the research on the citizenship and moral education of Americanuniversities. In the process of the development of citizenship and moral education inAmerican universities, the twentieth century was full of changes. It experienced the coursefrom prosperity to decline and then revival.The author explores the process from prosperity to decline in Chapter One. Theprosperous period of citizenship and moral education in American universities is fromeighteenth century to the end of nineteenth century. The citizenship and moral education inAmerican universities was ignored gradually in the first half of the twentieth century. In factin the middle of twentieth century it had already stepped into decline. The author studies therevival of citizenship and moral education of American universities in Chapter Two. Arenewed interest in practical ethics emerged in the late 60's of twentieth century andcontinues today. Practical ethics stands for the revival of citizenship and moral education inAmerican universities. The excessive individualism, disdain for civic engagement, andpolitical disaffection are the contributing factors to the revival. In Chapter Three, the authoranalyzes the goals and contents of the citizenship and moral education in Americancontemporary universities. The author has takes the practice of twelve diversified universitiesas examples to examine the ways and approaches of citizenship and moral education inAmerican universities in Chapter Four. The approaches are examined from campus culture,curriculum and extra-curriculum. In Chapter Five the thesis tries to draw some experiencesfor citizenship and moral education in our universities.