Research On The Reform Of Undergraduate Talent Cultivation Model In The Context Of New Liberal Arts

At present,the new technological and industrial revolutions are reshaping people’s ways of production,life and thinking,and the new technologies are bringing shocks and challenges to the traditional liberal arts.According to Burton Clark’s principle of the matrix structure of disciplines and specialities and the basic characteristics of profound learning,the intellectual logic of traditional liberal arts is a kind of advanced specialisation,i.e.it is oriented towards subdivided disciplines and specialities,thus the traditional liberal arts education and personnel training has a single and narrow character,which can hardly adapt to the new demand for complex liberal arts talents in social development.With the emergence of the new liberal arts,which is dedicated to breaking down the barriers of disciplines and specialties,the reform of talent cultivation mode under the background of the construction of new liberal arts is also springing up in various universities.In view of this,it is of great theoretical and practical significance to study the reform of undergraduate talent cultivation mode in the context of new liberal arts,and to analyze and reveal the logic of a kind of theory of knowledge embodied behind it.Firstly,based on the two core concepts of “new liberal arts” and “talent cultivation mode”,this paper takes three theories as the supporting framework: the first theory is the basic attributes of the university and the existence of the university as a cultural institution,which embodies the intellectual logic behind the university;the second theory is Burton Clark’s principle of the matrix structure of subject specialities and the basic characteristics of profound learning,which embodies the logic of the intellectual“division” of the university;the third theory is the principle of relativity in Whitehead’s process philosophy and its relational conception of the disciplines,which embodies the logic of the intellectual “integration” of the university.It also provides theoretical support for university intellectual theory to move from the logic of “division” to the logic of “union”.Secondly,this paper puts forward an analytical framework based on Newman’s view of knowledge,which specifically includes four dimensions: one is the dimension of the universality and abstraction of knowledge and the specificity and concreteness of knowledge;the other is the dimension of the totality,universal connection and indivisibility of knowledge and the specialization and singularity of knowledge;the third is the dimension of the rational value of knowledge and the practical and utilitarian value of knowledge;the fourth is the dimension of virtuous truth and rational truth.The first two dimensions are divided in terms of the characteristic properties of knowledge,while the latter two dimensions are divided in terms of the value properties of knowledge,each of which in turn forms two opposing poles.Again,based on these four dimensions of the theory of knowledge,the historical development stages of China’s university talent cultivation mode and its characteristics are examined,including: the generalist education mode and its stage characteristics,the specialist education mode and its stage characteristics,the combined generalist education mode with a broadened professional calibre and its stage characteristics,and the composite talent education mode and its stage characteristics.Finally,the reform of the “Nishan Academy” of Shandong University and the“International Class of Modern Philosophy” of Wuhan University are used as examples to reveal the logic of university knowledge theory behind them,that is,to shift from one end of the spectrum which favours the universality and abstraction of knowledge to another which takes into account the specificity and concrete nature of knowledge.It is to shift from emphasizing the universality and abstraction of knowledge to taking into account the specificity and concreteness of knowledge,from emphasizing the specialisation and singularity of knowledge to taking into account the totality,universal connection and indivisibility of knowledge,from emphasizing the rational value of knowledge to taking into account the practical and utilitarian value of knowledge,from emphasizing the rational truth to taking into account the virtuous truth,and finally to seek a relative balance at the two ends of these four dimensions.On the whole,the reform of undergraduate talent training mode in the context of the new liberal arts reflects a basic trend of in the logic of the theory of knowledge,that is,“After a long period of division,there will always be mergers.”...