Recently, Dædalus, the open access Journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, published a commentary by Jiang Mianheng, Chair of the University Governing Board and Founding President of ShanghaiTech University, in its latest Spring 2024 issue. The article provides an in-depth elucidation of ShanghaiTech University’s educational philosophy, highlighting the significance of liberal education for student development. This issue of Dædalus expands around the theme of “Advances and Challenges in International Higher Education,” featuring over 20 articles from various higher education institutions worldwide.

The article traces the ancient Chinese educational legacy of the “six arts” and reviews the development of higher education in modern China. It emphasizes the importance of general and liberal education in cultivating well-rounded students in contemporary Chinese higher education. Since the founding of ShanghaiTech, the university has had a tradition of implementing systematic innovations in undergraduate general education. In terms of curriculum development, the university places great importance on humanities courses and has explored the crediting mechanism, whereby students are expected to achieve a better balance between learning STEM knowledge and liberal arts education.

Discussing the practices to response to the current challenges facing Chinese education, the article notes that ShanghaiTech’s undergraduate education promotes diversity and offers students more freedom of choice, therefore fostering students’ cultural literacy with knowledge of world history and cultures. As specific examples of this educational philosophy, the article highlights a new course titled “Chinese Civilization” and the residential college system that emphasizes students’ innovative practice. These initiatives reflect ShanghaiTech’s commitment to a “whole-person” education model, aiming to enhance the humanistic qualities, cultivate humanistic sentiments, and nurture cultural appreciation.

Jiang’s invitation by Harvard University to publish an article in Dædalus not only showcases ShanghaiTech’s educational philosophy but also represents a profound reflection and forward-looking vision for the reform of Chinese higher education. This may inspire more higher education institutions to innovate and reform their education models.

Yu Jingyi, Vice Provost and Executive Dean of the School of Information Science and Technology, Hong Jie, Director of the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning, and Zou Yu, Professor at the Institute of Humanities, contributed valuable suggestions to this commentary.

Dædalus was founded in 1955 and established as a quarterly in 1958. The journal’s namesake was renowned in ancient Greece as an inventor, scientist, and unriddler of riddles. Its emblem, a maze seen from above, symbolizes the aspiration of its founders to “lift each of us above his cell in the labyrinth of learning in order that he may see the entire structure as if from above, where each separate part loses its comfortable separateness.”