Introduction
The Center for General Education was formerly named the Branch of Humanities and was upgraded as a departmental unit under the College of Humanities and Education in 1999. We believe that general education is a means to achieving the goal of holistic education. Therefore, the mission of the Center is to promote General Education courses and activities and to assist in educating our students as a whole person, a person who is balanced in body, mind, and spirit.
The center offers a great variety of courses. Currently, there are 18 full-time faculty members in General Education. They are all professionals and experts in the fields, such as Philosophy, Literature, History, Education, Psychology, Law, Sociology, Political Science, Physics, Family Studies, Music, and Religious Studies.
The courses offered by the General Education Center are divided into four areas: the Creator, Humanity, the Entire Creation, and the Individual Self. A major characteristic of the curriculum is to provide balanced course selections to guide students to acquire general knowledge. More importantly, this curriculum design can accommodate to the needs of the students and social change at any time.
To qualify for graduation, students are required to complete 34 credits from the Center. The purpose is for students to strike a balance between their profession and general knowledge. Recently, the Center started several cross-disciplinary programs, including Digital Music Program, The Program of Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Humanity. The programs are offered to provide students with different options in their career paths, and/or to enhance their life and job skills.
In addition to helping students acquire general knowledge, the Center for General Education also organizes a variety of educational activities to support course implementation for students’ continued exploration general education subjects. In other words, it aims to enhance students’ learning in and beyond the classroom. Students are encouraged to participate in a wide variety of events, including speeches on different topics, musical performances, Film festivals, dramas, and dances. These activities are given to help students to broaden their knowledge in general education, to emphasize the concept of humanism, as well as to broaden their vision. Notably, the activities have always been the most highly acknowledged events by faculty and students at CYCU.
Mission
The General Education Center aims to provide our students a holistic education and to balance students’ bodies, minds, and spirits. The General Education Center continues to promote the knowledge in general education and to achieve one of its goals to construct of a sense of community at the school. The educators in the General Education Center aim to enhance their teaching skills and pedagogical tools to ensure students’ learning outcome. The General Education Center strives to design better integrated curriculum and diverse learning activities while keeping in mind the four areas: the Creator, Humanity, the Entire Creation, and the Individual Self. The General Education Center endeavors to hold diverse activities and various academic seminars aimed at providing students with a comprehensive learning environment and campus life, in addition to required courses. The General Education Center attempts to share the resources (e.g., activities and teaching resources) with schools and residents in the vicinity.
Objectives
The General Education Center intends to provide our students a holistic education and to balance students’ bodies, minds, and spirits. The General Education Center attempts to assist students to achieve a better balance between their professional knowledge and their knowledge in general education. The General Education Center strives to design better integrated curriculum while keeping in mind the four areas: the Creator, Humanity, the Entire Creation, and the Individual Self. The General Education Center endeavors to hold diverse activities and various academic seminars aimed at providing students with a comprehensive learning environment and campus life, in addition to required courses. The General Education Center aims to magnify its influence to other schools in Taiwan and other countries.
Future Prospects
Because of the hard work and excellent planning of its predecessors, the Center has a very solid foundation. In the future, the Center will continue in the following direction.
1. The Center will not only continue to develop quality curriculum, but also to better integrate the curriculum across platforms.
2. The Center will seek to offer a wide range of courses and learning activities as well as to collaborate with other departments in order to better cultivate students’ fundamental knowledge and skills.
3. The Center will continue to maintain the excellent quality of events held and may modify them for the betterment.
4. The Center will be able to help students gain a broader base of knowledge and a greater potential for development through interdisciplinary curriculum.
5. The Center attempts to share its resources with high schools in the vicinity and residents in the neighborhood.
Undergraduate
The curriculum is separated into four areas: the Creator, Humanity, the Entire Creation, and the Individual Self. More than 130 courses comprising more than 300 classes are regularly held each semester. To qualify for graduation, students are required to complete 34 credits from the Center. In every category, students must have two to four course credits in the required courses and take at least two extended, elective courses from courses in each area.
Area 1: “ the Creator ”
Students study topics focused on the “meaning of life” and “value judgment”. Specifically, the topics cover faith and religion, spiritual nourishment, the meaning of life, and valuable judgment, and courses in other areas (e.g., religious philosophy, life philosophy, valuable judgment and analysis, and models for life and character).
Area 2: “Humanity ”
Students gain an understanding of group phenomenon and the interactive principles of human social behavior. The courses show a concern for fundamental concepts, such as civic literacy, social care, historical thinking, and multiculturalism with courses covering topics in life sociology, contemporary human rights issues, legal and modern living, and cultural history of ideas.
Area 3: “ the Entire Creation ”
Classes focus on individual scientific capacity for critical thought and sustained care. The classes emphasize the fundamental concepts of nature and science, and science and civilization, with courses such as Introduction to Natural Science, Interdisciplinary Technology, and Sustainable Development.
Area 4: “ the Individual Self ”
In the category on the Individual Self, students’ individual subjective experience contributes to the development of a deep meaning in life. We are committed to affection, aesthetic emotions, communication, and expression. This category includes a variety of courses, such as literary classics reading, language and rhetoric, art appreciation, and self-management.
