What was the first institution of higher learning in American history?

?Which was the first institution of higher learning in American history?

At the end of the 15th century, after Columbus opened up the Atlantic route from Europe to the Americas, Europeans traveled across the oceans to the Americas. At the beginning of the 17th century, the first batch of British immigrants arrived in North America, where they opened up their own Garden of Eden, New England. There were more than 100 Puritans among the immigrants who had received classical higher education at Oxford and Cambridge universities. In order to allow their descendants to receive this kind of education in their new homeland, they established a college on the banks of the Charles River in Massachusetts in 1636. The first institution of learning in American history? Harvard College. In 1780, the fourth year after the founding of the United States, Harvard College, which had a history of more than 140 years, was upgraded to Harvard University.

The founder of Harvard College transplanted the model from Cambridge University, and the college was initially named "Cambridge College". In 1639, in order to commemorate John Harverd, the founder of the college and the main donor of the school's construction costs, the Massachusetts Assembly passed a resolution to rename the college "Harvard College".

On the Harvard University emblem, which has been used since the Harvard College era, the word VERITAS is written in Latin, which means "truth". The original text of Harvard University's motto is also written in Latin, which means: "Have Plato as your friend, Aristotle as your friend, and more importantly, truth as your friend." The words in the school emblem and motto clearly indicate the purpose of Harvard University - seeking truth and advocating truth.

The famous American educator Conant, who served as the president of Harvard University for 20 years (1933-1953), once said: The honor of a university does not lie in its campus and number of people, but in its generation. The quality of a generation?. It is precisely by adhering to high standards and quality in selecting teachers and educating people that Harvard University has become a first-class famous university with a gathering of elites and talents, which has had a significant impact on the economy, politics, culture, science and higher education of American society. , has great appeal to knowledge seekers from all over the world. Compete first in the competition

In 1693, the second college in North America, the College of William and Mary (the first college of the University of Virginia today), was born. In 1701, Yale College (the first college of today's Yale University) was founded. The emergence of these two colleges gave Harvard College partners and competitors. In the second half of the 18th century, 9 colleges were built in North America. Although the new colleges still generally followed the model of the old British universities, after all, times have changed. Influenced by the European Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution, mathematics and natural sciences gradually squeezed in. The teaching areas of these colleges. Harvard College, which is deeply influenced by the tradition of ancient British universities, faces powerful challenges. In 1727, Harvard College established professorial chairs of mathematics and natural philosophy, which was a revolutionary move in line with the times. At this time, the momentum of the industrial revolution in North America was rising, and the emerging industrial and commercial demands for applied sciences made Harvard face a major choice: either stick to the old rules, which would lose its leadership position among North American institutions of higher learning; or innovate in order to continue to dominate North America. The leader of the academy. Harvard chose the latter path.

After the establishment of professorial lectures on mathematics and natural philosophy, Harvard College also equipped a number of scientific instruments and equipment, and professors used experimental methods to teach astronomy, physics and chemistry to students. Within the field of mathematics, technical subjects such as surveying and navigation were established. In 1780, the Chair of Professors of Medicine was established, which promoted the study of botany and chemistry. Professors conduct a variety of scientific research and publish their research results in academic journals in North America and the United Kingdom. Natural sciences have finally established a solid position at Harvard and have an impact on other schools.

From 1775 to 1783, the War of Independence against British colonial rule broke out in 13 British colonies in North America. Harvard College followed the trend and sided with sympathy and support for the just cause of the Revolutionary War. In Massachusetts, almost all famous revolutionaries were Harvard graduates, including John Adams, one of the drafters of the Declaration of Independence and the second president of the United States. On July 3, 1775, George Washington took office as the commander-in-chief of the North American Revolutionary War Army in Cambridge, where Harvard College is located. His headquarters was also located in Cambridge for a time.

After the birth of the United States of America in 1776, Harvard College gave the major leaders of the Revolutionary War, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson (the main drafter of the Declaration of Independence, the third president of the United States), and John Jay (the first chief justice of the United States Supreme Court) ), Alexander Hamilton (the first Secretary of the Treasury of the United States Federal Government) and others were awarded honorary doctorates in law.

By 1780, Harvard College had successively established professorships in theology, mathematics, natural philosophy, and medicine, and the college was upgraded to a university. According to the tradition of European medieval universities, there must be a union of three colleges to be qualified as a university. At that time, the Massachusetts General Assembly made an exception and recognized Harvard College's upgrade to a university. This was both a favor and a spur. Harvard University continued to pay close attention to its own construction. It established the Divinity School in 1816 and the Law School in 1817. Together with the original Harvard College, which focused on liberal arts and sciences, it now had three colleges and became a university worthy of its name. . In the first half of the 19th century, Harvard University's influence extended beyond Massachusetts to the central and southern United States.

In the early years of the American Revolutionary War, Harvard College’s fund, including the rent on the property, was less than 1,700 pounds. After the war, in 1793, Harvard's endowment exceeded $182,000. By the 19th century, thanks to alumni sponsorship, Harvard University's endowment steadily increased, reaching US$242,000 in 1800 and US$2.25 million in 1869.

During this period, Harvard University’s curriculum underwent major changes. In 1790, Harvard University offered Latin, Greek, mathematics (including astronomy), English composition, philosophy (including metaphysics, morality and politics), theology, natural sciences, and students could choose one of Hebrew and French. division. The changes in Harvard University's curriculum are largely due to the influence of German higher education reforms. During this period, the famous German educator Wilhelm Humboldt put forward three famous principles for the reform of university education: independence; the principle of the unity of freedom and cooperation; the principle of the unity of education and research, and the principle of the unity of science. Humboldt not only put forward the ideal of university reform, but also put it into practice in the University of Berlin he founded. He advocated academic freedom and the integration of education and scientific research. The University of Berlin became a model for new German universities. Some young professors who teach at Harvard University have studied in Germany and were influenced by German universities. They demand to change the model of British universities and instead use Germany as their teacher and imitate the system of German universities. In 1825, four young professors jointly proposed four reform suggestions: reducing the proportion of classical literature courses; emphasizing the study of modern foreign literature; establishing a postgraduate degree system; and dividing teaching into classes according to students' abilities. These four opinions were not adopted at that time.

In 1829, J. Quincy became the president of Harvard University. He took drastic measures, tried his best to reverse the direction of Harvard University, and vigorously advocated the emphasis on science teaching. He served for 16 years (1829-1845), established the School of Science at Harvard University, and established an observatory. In the 18th and 19th centuries, with the development of Harvard University, the scope of school curriculum expanded, the focus shifted, and natural science received great attention.

From 1869 to 1909, chemist Charles. William Eliot served as the president of Harvard University. He served for 40 years and built Harvard University into a large-scale modern university. He revitalized the law school and medical school, and established the new School of Business Management, School of Dentistry, and School of Arts and Sciences. The number of registered students increased from 1,000 to 3,000, the number of teaching staff increased from 49 to 278, and the school fund increased from 2,300 million to $225 million.

From 1909 to 1933, Abbott Lwrence Lowell served as the president of Harvard University. He re-formulated the undergraduate course plan and implemented a system of combining course concentration and distribution in order to enable students to receive Good basic education. The mentorship system implemented by Lowell is still used by Harvard University today. Lowell's most prominent contribution is the implementation of the residential system at Harvard University. The implementation of this system allows undergraduates in large comprehensive universities to have a small college environment, and freshmen live on the Harvard campus in their first year after admission. or nearby dormitories. A year later, students lived in 12 dormitories, and a 13th dormitory was set up for a small number of day students.

Each dormitory building has a resident teacher and a tutor group to guide students' study and life. In addition, each dormitory building also has a restaurant and library. Various interesting sports, social and cultural activities are often carried out in the dormitory area.

Several presidents in recent years, including James Bryant Conant, Nathan Marsh Pusey, Derek Bok, and current president Neil L Rudenstine, have all expressed their appreciation for Harvard. Great efforts have been made in the construction of the university. On the one hand, they are doing everything possible to improve the quality of undergraduate and graduate education, and at the same time, they are also trying their best to leverage Harvard University's outstanding role as a research institution.

Conant served as professor, department chair, and president of the Department of Chemistry at Harvard University from 1919 to 1953. He implemented an off-campus special committee system at Harvard University and used this organization to evaluate the qualifications and tenure of school teachers. He also created a general education program that offered all undergraduates a broad range of areas of study in addition to their major courses.

From 1953 to 1971, Pusey served as president. Under his auspices, Harvard University conducted the largest fundraising event in the history of American higher education, raising US$825 million for Harvard. This event increased It increased the salaries of Harvard University teachers, expanded funding for students, established new professorships, and enriched teaching equipment.

As president since 1971, Bock carefully addressed some of the major issues in higher education, including administration, educational opportunities for minorities and women, and the transfer of technology between academia and industry. In order to solve the problem, President Bock also reorganized the management structure of Harvard University and introduced modern management methods and procedures to various graduate schools and departments of Harvard University.

In 1991, Lu Tengting became the 26th president. As part of his efforts to better coordinate the relationship between colleges and faculty, he created a centralized school-wide academic plan to identify Harvard's most important and The priority part. In addition, Lu Dengting also emphasized the responsibilities of universities: excellent undergraduate education, the door of universities is always open to people from different economic classes, how research universities can adapt to the era of rapid information growth and severe financial constraints, and meet the challenges in a society of free expression .

Continuous reform and update of the curriculum

Harvard University’s 360-year history is a history of mutual advancement of development and change.

Harvard College, a century and a half after its founding, has always been based on the two universities of Oxford and Cambridge in the UK. It aims to train priests, lawyers and officials and focuses on the humanities. Students are not free to choose courses. At the beginning of the 19th century, the clarion call for higher education curriculum reform was sounded at Harvard, advocating "academic freedom" and "freedom of teaching." The old framework of "fixed academic year" and "fixed courses" has been impacted, and the system of free elective courses has gradually emerged. Some people at Harvard College also advocated the implementation of a course elective system. This innovative request was opposed by traditional conservative forces, and the initiative was not realized at Harvard.

However, there are growing calls for higher education to adapt to the needs of social development and to adapt to students’ personalities. In 1839, Harvard University launched another curriculum reform. In 1841, Harvard officially implemented a course-optation system, but it soon retreated due to opposition from conservative forces.

In the 1860s, the Civil War broke out in the United States. The Civil War opened the way for the development of American capitalism. Productivity increased by leaps and bounds. The status of scientific and technical workers gradually improved. Engineers, natural scientists and industrial technicians were able to keep pace with lawyers and officials. The change in the situation is very beneficial to the curriculum reform of colleges and universities. The elective system is on the rise again, and Harvard is once again at the forefront of the reform.

In 1869, Elliott, who was only 35 years old, served as president of Harvard University. He served as president for 40 years and was the main leader in promoting the course selection system. Under his leadership and promotion, Harvard University fully implemented Elective system. By 1895, only English and modern foreign languages ??were still compulsory courses, while the others were electives. Many colleges and universities in the United States have followed Harvard University's footsteps, reducing or abolishing required courses and increasing elective courses.

According to the requirements of the free elective system, there are 16 elective courses for students to study for a degree. As long as they meet the requirements, they can obtain the corresponding degree.

This method breaks the fixed four-year academic system, and those with excellent grades can obtain the corresponding degree within three years. It can be called "reducing talents according to one type". Thanks to Elliott's efforts, Harvard University recruited famous scholars to teach, and offered more elective courses than other universities. Students' knowledge expanded and their learning potential was fully utilized. Elliott's educational thoughts and curriculum reforms had a profound impact on the development of higher education in the United States. He emphasized that colleges and universities should give students three magic weapons: first, to give students the freedom to choose their studies; second, to enable students to excel in the subjects they are good at. There are opportunities to display talents; the third is to transform students' learning from passive behavior to autonomous behavior, so that students can be liberated from dependence and subordination on teachers.

In 1909, Lowell became the principal. While retaining the advantages of the free course selection system, he proposed a new education reform plan. From 1914, the "centralization and distribution" system was implemented. The so-called "concentration" means that from the 16 optional courses, 6 professional courses of the department must be taken to ensure the focus; the so-called "distribution" means that the other 6 courses are taken from 3 different knowledge areas. Choose two subjects each to ensure that students have a relatively broad range of knowledge. The remaining classes are left to students to choose freely. This system not only ensures the depth of professional course learning, but also expands students' horizons and leaves appropriate room for students' personal hobbies.

Harvard University is the first institution of higher learning in American history. Its headquarters is located in Cambridge, a famous historical and cultural city in Boston, and its medical school and business school are located in downtown Boston

The first university in the United States? Harvard College

At the end of the 15th century, it opened from Europe to After the Atlantic sea lanes of America were opened by Columbus, Europeans traveled across the oceans to the Americas. At the beginning of the 17th century, the first batch of British immigrants arrived in North America, where they opened up their own Garden of Eden, New England. There were more than 100 Puritans among the immigrants who had received classical higher education at Oxford and Cambridge universities. In order to allow their descendants to receive this kind of education in their new homeland, they established a college on the banks of the Charles River in Massachusetts in 1636. The first institution of learning in American history? Harvard College. In 1780, the fourth year after the founding of the United States, Harvard College, which had a history of more than 140 years, was upgraded to Harvard University.

The founder of Harvard College transplanted the model from Cambridge University, and the college was initially named "Cambridge College". In 1639, in order to commemorate John Harverd, the founder of the college and the main donor of the school's construction funds, the Massachusetts Assembly passed a resolution to rename the college "Harvard College".

On the Harvard University emblem, which has been used since the Harvard College era, the word VERITAS is written in Latin, which means "truth". The original text of Harvard University's motto is also written in Latin, which means: "Have Plato as your friend, Aristotle as your friend, and more importantly, truth as your friend." The words in the school emblem and motto clearly indicate the purpose of Harvard University - seeking truth and advocating truth.

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The famous American educator Conant, who served as the president of Harvard University for 20 years (1933-1953), once said: The honor of a university does not lie in its The school building and the number of people, but the quality of its generations? It is precisely by adhering to high standards and quality in selecting teachers and educating people that Harvard University has become a first-class famous university with a gathering of elites and talents, which has had a significant impact on the economy, politics, culture, science and higher education of American society. , has great appeal to knowledge seekers from all over the world.