ABSTRACT
General education (GE), also known as the “common core” or the baccalaureate core, as a curricular movement, started in the United States in the 1920s. Over recent years, universities in the greater China area (Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China) have launched their own GE programs. Most of them have modeled their curricula after the American system, especially the so-called Harvard “core curriculum.” As a relatively recent development in the greater China region, there has been little English-language scholarly publication on China-based practices and contexts of general education. Most of the published works on general education are monographs, teaching anthologies or guidebooks published in the United States, including series and booklets coming from the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U). Although these are significant works that have made contributions to the development of general education, there is an urgent need for a book that explores the specific local or indigenous practices and varied contexts of general education in Hong Kong, Taiwan and the Chinese mainland. Indeed, while sharing some common features, the concept, history, design, practices and administration of general education vary significantly from university to university and region to region because of their different social, cultural, and educational systems.
