China University, the liberal arts are disappearing？

Original discovery of high-quality soft subjects in higher education

"What’s the use of studying this major?"

This question goes hand in hand, plaguing every student who enters the field of liberal arts. The answer to this question, they often can only be speechless, only laugh at themselves "the arts are useless."

On October 8th, official website, University of Science and Technology China, issued the Announcement on the Proposed Cancellation of Six Undergraduate Majors, including English. As soon as the news came out, the topic of "liberal arts" once again rushed to the hot search. Undoubtedly, this put a sword of Damocles on the already war-torn liberal arts students.

Coincidentally, in recent years, Tsinghua University stopped recruiting undergraduate students in journalism and accounting, and then reduced the scale of doctoral students in liberal arts. The weathervanes of these two universities of science and engineering, whose liberal arts have lost weight frequently in recent years, are undoubtedly a "deep-water bomb", which has triggered various speculations about the construction of humanities and social sciences.

Revocation of liberal arts has become a general trend?

"Useless" liberal arts, colleges and universities stop!

A number of liberal arts majors were stopped!

According to official website, the Ministry of Education, liberal arts in China has covered philosophy, economics, law, education, literature, history, management and art, with a total of 8 disciplines. In the first half of this year, the Ministry of Education issued the "Record and Approval Results of Undergraduate Majors in Ordinary Colleges and Universities in 2022", and decided to cancel 925 undergraduate majors, and the number of cancelled majors reached a record high. Among them, the number of cancellations of liberal arts majors such as public utility management, information management and information system, marketing, social work, administrative management, Japanese, education and so on is in the forefront.

The liberal arts were withdrawn and staged repeatedly.

However, these revoked liberal arts majors are not innocent.

In March, the Ministry of Education and other five departments issued the "Reform Plan for Adjustment and Optimization of Discipline and Specialty Settings in General Higher Education" to make arrangements for adjusting and optimizing the discipline and specialty settings in higher education. It is clear that by 2025, about 20% of disciplines and majors in colleges and universities will be optimized and adjusted, and a number of disciplines and majors that adapt to new technologies, new industries, new formats and new models will be established, and disciplines and majors that do not adapt to economic and social development will be eliminated.

As early as 2021, the State Council mentioned this optimization reform in the Notice on Printing and Distributing the Employment Promotion Plan during the 14th Five-Year Plan, demanding that the layout of disciplines and specialties in colleges and universities be optimized, so as to reduce and cancel those specialties that do not meet the market demand in time.

The cancellation of the University of Science and Technology of China is precisely to answer the needs of the times, constantly optimize disciplines and specialties, and strive to create a China paradigm of higher education.

At the same time, a large number of liberal arts institutions can not escape the fate of being cleaned up!

Recently, Three Gorges University issued the Notice on Adjusting and Optimizing University-level Humanities and Social Sciences Research Institutions, and decided to cancel 13 humanities and social sciences research institutions. Prior to this, the trend of cleaning up liberal arts institutions rose frequently in Zhengzhou University, Zhejiang University, Hubei University, Guizhou University, Changsha University of Science and Technology, Changzhou University, Yanshan University, Northwest University, university of international business and economics, Guilin University of Technology, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications and other universities.

Colleges and universities take advantage of the opportunity of rectification and clean-up, eliminate the advantages of redundancy and focus, and "shoot" those "zombie" institutions that exist in name only; Give resource support to "potential stocks" and make every effort to build a highland for humanities and social sciences research.

Revoking majors and cleaning up institutions is not only a wake-up call for some "useless liberal arts", but also a powerful response to the need for "revitalization of liberal arts" in the new era. A revolution about liberal arts is getting worse.

Revitalize the liberal arts, colleges and universities make efforts!

New liberal arts, coming!

In November 2020, the Ministry of Education issued the Declaration on the Construction of New Liberal Arts, which made a comprehensive arrangement for the construction of new liberal arts. The declaration emphasizes that liberal arts accounts for two-thirds of the disciplines, accounting for half of the professional categories and the number of students in school. The revitalization of liberal arts education is related to the revitalization of higher education. It is urgent to strengthen liberal arts education, promote the construction of a powerful country in higher education and accelerate the modernization of education.

Source: Shandong University

In this context, many colleges and universities seize the opportunity and stride forward on the road of new liberal arts construction.

Adjust departments and reshape the pattern.

Some are established and some are revoked. In September, Harbin Institute of Technology announced the establishment of a department of humanities and social sciences, making efforts to "new liberal arts", optimizing the layout of disciplines, strengthening the integration of resources, and improving the cross-education model of "literature, arts and literature". In July, another Dalian University of Technology, which is good at science and engineering, announced the abolition of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, the establishment of the School of Humanities and Public Administration, and the independent establishment of the Institute of Higher Education to help the prosperity and development of philosophy and social sciences.

Source: Dalian University of Technology

From discipline to college. In December 2022, Zhejiang University held the fifth liberal arts conference, announcing the establishment of Zhejiang University’s College of Arts, School of History and School of Philosophy. Previously, the three colleges were only the three major disciplines under the original Zhejiang University School of Humanities.

Withdraw institutions and build departments. In October, 2022, Chongqing University optimized and adjusted its liberal arts institutions, decided to cancel the original literature and culture research center, history research center and philosophy research center, and formally established China Language and Literature Department, History Department and Philosophy Department. In April this year, on the basis of the 10th anniversary of the establishment of Boya College, Chongqing University upgraded and established Boya College, marking a new milestone in the training of basic liberal arts talents in Chongqing University.

Infiltration of arts and sciences, taking advantage of each other’s strengths

New liberal arts, where is the new? The intersection of arts and sciences is the answer.

With the tide of new science and technology and industrial revolution, the boundary between arts and sciences is gradually breaking down, and interdisciplinary integration has gradually become the general trend. More and more colleges and universities integrate new technologies into courses such as philosophy, literature and language to provide students with comprehensive interdisciplinary learning.

Shandong University, as the supporting university of the national new liberal arts education research center, has continuously explored new fields such as financial science and technology, scientific archaeology, social informatics, computational law, etc., and created one liberal arts "Golden Specialist" after another. From the perspective of "digital humanities", Nanjing University has added a digital economy undergraduate major, established a double bachelor’s degree program in computer and financial engineering and a double bachelor’s degree program in German law, becoming the first approved double bachelor’s degree program in Jiangsu Province.

China University of Science and Technology, which cancelled its English major, became a "liberal arts killer" in people’s minds for a time. As everyone knows, as early as May this year, the school held a seminar on the development of science and technology humanities, established the Institute of Advanced Studies in Science and Technology Humanities and the Research Center for Scientific and Technological Innovation in the New Era, and adhered to the characteristic liberal arts development path with the word "science" as the head. This is the most powerful response to the construction of new liberal arts in China University of Science and Technology.

Source: China University of Science and Technology

All lines cross new paths, paving the way for the new liberal arts.

Alliance highland, leading Wenfeng

In the process of building a "new liberal arts", it is also a step of mutual benefit and common progress for major universities to "embrace each other".

In April, 2023, nine creative writing institutions in Peking University, Beijing Normal University, Fudan University, East China Normal University, Nanjing University, Tsinghua University, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Tongji University and China Renmin University initiated the establishment of the Creative Writing Alliance of China University, with Professor Peking University Cao Wenxuan as the chairman. The establishment of the alliance has become an important milestone in the history of the development of liberal arts education in China.

Source: Peking University

In fact, in 2020, 17 universities, including China Renmin University, China University of Political Science and Law, Peking University, Tsinghua University, East China University of Political Science and Law, Wuhan University, Southwest University of Political Science and Law, University of International Business and Economics, Jilin University, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Nanjing University, Zhejiang University, Xiamen University, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, Shandong University, Nankai University and Tianjin University, jointly initiated the establishment of the legal education innovation alliance, which became a "new" university in China.

Alliance has highland, talent has peak. In recent years, the call for the establishment of "liberal arts academicians" is growing. Although the system of "academician of liberal arts" has not been established in China at present, many famous schools have successively implemented the system of senior professors of liberal arts. As the highest honorary title of teachers in Nevenko, the treatment is equal to that of academicians.

Take measures at the same time, the horn of "prospering liberal arts" has already sounded!

So, are liberal arts useless? No, the liberal arts are extremely powerful.

So, did the liberal arts disappear? No, the liberal arts are thriving.

"The elders who seek wood must consolidate their roots; Those who want to flow far away must dig their fountains. " Without the embellishment of humanistic background, the cultivated people will lose some foundation and origin. Culture, value and spirit, which seem to have nothing to do with money, market and income, are actually the foundation of nourishing a person, a nation and a country. This is not only required by the educational mission of universities, but also the significance of China’s adherence to cultural self-confidence.

I hope that the east wind of the construction of "new liberal arts" can help major universities to ride the wind and waves and open up new routes for liberal arts education!

[1] Notice of the Ministry of Education and other five departments on Printing and Distributing the Reform Plan for Adjusting and Optimizing the Specialty Settings of General Higher Education http://www.moe.gov.cn/srcsite/A08/S7056/202304/T20230404 _ 1054230.html.

[2] The new liberal arts construction meeting will be held in Shandong University http://www.moe.gov.cn/jyb _ xwfb/gzdt _ gzdt/S5987/202011/T20201103 _ 498067.html.

[3] Some thoughts on further promoting the construction of new liberal arts https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/GT-LflWDIoapJN0qMVGHiA

[4] Nanjing University: Cross-integration and innovation to promote the reform and innovation of new liberal arts undergraduate talent training https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/JjbnFVQ1TikUb69mZ9D95Q

[5] China University of Science and Technology held a seminar on the development of science and technology humanities in https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/rmvzpj6CrsETFUJilFbrDA.

[6] China University Creative Writing Alliance was established at https://news.pku.edu.cn/xwzh/10D786529A934584a8456686DF7F153.htm.

[7] Zhang Tianshu, Zhang Xiaoyue, Cui Xiangjie. The scale, structure and characteristics of the setting and adjustment of liberal arts majors in the new era-based on the analysis of the data of the Ministry of Education from 2013 to 2021 [J]. The theory and practice of new liberal arts, 2023 (02): 110-124+128. DOI: 10.20066/J.

[8] Cross-border joint and customized training, Donghua University School of Excellence Engineers was established! https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/hPyGM9ATB5oYxXGLYR0vKg

[9] Strive to make the philosophy and social sciences with China characteristics truly stand in the academic forest of the world —— A summary of the development achievements of philosophy and social sciences in colleges and universities since the 18th CPC National Congress http://www.moe.gov.cn/JYB _ xWFB/S5147/202207/T20220707 _ 644040.html.

Original title: "China University, are liberal arts disappearing? 》

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