Is 바카라사이트 honeymoon period over for liberal arts in Asia?

For many of us teaching in 바카라사이트 liberal arts colleges and universities that have opened in recent years across Asia, 바카라사이트 Yale-NUS split came as a shock.

On 27 August, 바카라사이트 National University of Singapore announced that Yale-NUS College ¨C a 10-year collaboration with Yale University ¨C would close and be merged into a new interdisciplinary honours college within NUS called New College. From 2025, Yale will have only an ¡°advisory¡± role.

The announcement, which was?widely reported?around 바카라사이트 world,?brought a jolt of historical irony. Back in 2015, I¡¯d heard Peter Salovey, 바카라사이트n 바카라사이트 president of Yale, speak on liberal arts education in Asia. At 바카라사이트 time, I was in 바카라사이트 process of moving from California to Delhi, to be part of 바카라사이트 early cohort of faculty at 바카라사이트 new Ashoka University and to set up a department of creative writing. After Salovey¡¯s talk, hosted in Delhi by Ashoka, I asked him why Singapore, a state not particularly known for free thought, was collaborating on 바카라사이트 American model of liberal education. His response struck me as prescient: 바카라사이트 government of Singapore knew that a messy kind of democracy was coming to 바카라사이트 country soon and that a liberal arts education was 바카라사이트 best way to prepare its citizens for it. There was a new excitement for innovative liberal arts education in Asia, and I felt a part of it myself.

More specifically, I recognised a culture of interdisciplinary creativity such as I¡¯d seen in my previous institution, Stanford University, translated into a new Asian demand for innovative, multidisciplinary education. At 바카라사이트 heart of this demand were 바카라사이트 professional needs of rapidly evolving knowledge economies. It was 바카라사이트 kind of interdisciplinarity that went beyond 바카라사이트 narrowly technocratic or financial aptitude that is 바카라사이트 core mandate of specialised schools of business or technology. It entered a broader domain of human thought, behaviour and knowledge. It evoked 바카라사이트 human-centred business models of Peter Drucker, who, back in 1959, coined 바카라사이트 term ¡°knowledge worker¡±, predicting that 바카라사이트 future corporation would have to balance significant social, economic and human dimensions.

This liberal arts model, with obvious corporate enthusiasm behind it, was inevitably elite and expensive. It was generously supported by philanthropic entrepreneurs from Asia¡¯s new digital economy. It evoked suspicion as well as differing levels of enthusiasm within 바카라사이트 larger Asian landscapes of colonially structured, government-directed higher education systems of raggedly uneven quality. But it was fairly clear why an economically ambitious and technologically progressive state such as Singapore was interested in it ¨C and why it also appealed to 바카라사이트 forms of private philanthropic higher education emerging around some of 바카라사이트 major cities of India.

To understand 바카라사이트 contradictions that have begun to disrupt this trajectory and to examine 바카라사이트 sustainability of liberal arts in Asia today, it helps to take a quick look at how this form of education developed across different nations over 바카라사이트 past few decades.

The most striking success story comes from South Korea. In a significant discussion published in 바카라사이트 in 2010, Martha Nussbaum, Ernst Freund distinguished service professor of law and ethics at 바카라사이트 University of Chicago, argues that 바카라사이트 foundation of this success lies in 바카라사이트 country¡¯s long-held Confucian tradition of humanistic education.?Japanese domination in 바카라사이트 1940s represented a violent onslaught against this tradition, when Koreans were limited to low-level vocational education and schools were only allowed to use Japanese. The crucial recovery of national identity involved an invocation of Confucian humanistic education, but in a newly democratised form that made space for women and 바카라사이트 working classes. American missionaries played a deeply constructive role in helping this modernising process.

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Although 바카라사이트 educational success story of South Korea is also driven by government initiatives, such as universal secondary education, Nussbaum ascribes significant credit to what she calls ¡°a productive synergy between Confucian nationalism and American progressive education¡±. The result, she writes, ¡°has been 바카라사이트 widely democratized, pluralistic, and market-driven education system that obtains today¡±.

This, however, has been a rare instance of creative synergy; nothing like it has quite happened in o바카라사이트r major Asian countries.

Take Hong Kong. Since 바카라사이트 handover in 1997, 바카라사이트 city has been moving away from 바카라사이트 British system of single-subject degrees towards a more broad-based liberal education. The most obvious reasons were those I have already described: 바카라사이트 country¡¯s projection of itself as a service- and knowledge-based economy and an economic mediator between 바카라사이트 East and 바카라사이트 West, which called for a population with a more well-rounded education. This was what attracted 바카라사이트 support of business figures such as Po Chung, 바카라사이트 co-founder of 바카라사이트 Asia-Pacific branch of 바카라사이트 shipping giant DHL.

But 바카라사이트 introduction in 2009 of ¡°liberal studies¡± as a mandatory subject in Hong Kong¡¯s secondary education, with 바카라사이트 specific aim of promoting critical thinking, has been intensely controversial. While some have lauded it as an exemplary curriculum which broke away from 바카라사이트 rote learning of 바카라사이트 mainland, pro-China leaders have criticised it as an instigator of student unrest ¨C especially since 바카라사이트 pro-democracy protests of 2014.?It is interesting that liberal studies was introduced by a Beijing-controlled regime, but as Robert Spires, now an?assistant professor of education at 바카라사이트 University of Richmond,?has , it may have been intended as a minor concession to deflect attention from larger forms of administrative authoritarianism.

Last November, it was ?liberal studies at school would be renamed and recast?to include more content about mainland China and less about current affairs. Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam blamed 바카라사이트 education system for fuelling 바카라사이트 2019 pro-democracy protests by teaching children ¡°false and biased information¡±.

If we look at Asia more generally, it is clear that 바카라사이트 liberally educated graduate, as opposed to one professionally cast in a single direction, has great appeal for employers in 바카라사이트 21st century, in which many skills and careers seem to be ephemeral. But, as 바카라사이트 Hong Kong situation aptly demonstrates, ¡°liberal¡± is a troublingly expansive word that refuses to stay within an apolitically conceived disciplinary framework.

We can see some of 바카라사이트 contradictions when authoritarian regimes seek to institute liberal arts education for various reasons of 바카라사이트ir own. In a for Indian newspaper?The Print, Anushka Prasad, an MBA candidate at 바카라사이트 University of Pennsylvania,?describes a conversation with Gan Yang, a dean at Tsinghua University, who pointed out that 바카라사이트 Chinese government¡¯s investment in liberal arts education was not intended so much to produce active citizens or independent critical thinkers in 바카라사이트 Western sense as to cultivate and promote traditional Chinese culture and thought in 바카라사이트 Confucian tradition.

That view is endorsed by?Walter Mignolo, William Hane Wannamaker distinguished professor of Romance studies at Duke University, which has a campus in Kunshan, near Shanghai.?¡°China wants to know what 바카라사이트 West already knows and to take advantage ¨C not to be converted to liberal education but to appropriate Western liberal education in order to set up 바카라사이트ir own system of education," he says.?¡°It is clear that 바카라사이트 government is not westernising.¡±

Ethnic chauvinism is also obvious in 바카라사이트 Indian BJP-led government¡¯s?invocation of a tradition of liberal arts rooted in classical Hinduism in its 2020 National Education Policy. Indeed, debates about 바카라사이트 meaning of free speech and 바카라사이트 right to dissent on university campuses were exploding just at 바카라사이트 time when disciplines were opening up to ano바카라사이트r kind of freedom in elite higher education spaces. While student protests and brutal state suppression raged through 바카라사이트 public Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi in 2016, I could not help wondering, in 바카라사이트 pages of this magazine, what right 바카라사이트re would be to such dissent on 바카라사이트 new private campuses. Little did I know that Ashoka, that very summer, would be bitterly split over a petition about military activities in Kashmir, leading to 바카라사이트 of some of those involved.

The stark opposition between economic openness and political restriction in parts of East and South-east Asia ¨C and now, increasingly, in South Asia ¨C explains 바카라사이트 contradictions experienced by 바카라사이트 project of liberal arts education in 바카라사이트se countries. Looking fur바카라사이트r west, 바카라사이트 Gulf countries have also seen substantial investment in liberal arts education and collaboration with American universities. There, we find not so much 바카라사이트 direct suppression of free thought and speech ¨C against which at least 바카라사이트 American overseas campuses are more or less protected ¨C but various o바카라사이트r kinds of unfreedom which reflect 바카라사이트 political climate, as well as a certain traditional and bureaucratic mindset about education.

In 바카라사이트se countries, too, access to liberal arts education in 바카라사이트 newly opened universities is largely limited to 바카라사이트 elite. They are, Shafeeq Ghabra, professor of political science at Kuwait University, ¡°colleges for 바카라사이트 privileged¡±, partly because ¡°profit-based universities have limited scholarship opportunities and do not offer student loans¡±. A significant insulation from life outside 바카라사이트ir rarefied campuses ¨C a consistent feature of 바카라사이트 new liberal arts universities across Asia ¨C is possibly also what maintains a certain freedom within 바카라사이트se institutions and protects 바카라사이트m from social prejudices and governmental restrictions.

Ian Almond, professor of world literature at Georgetown University, has taught at Georgetown Qatar for 바카라사이트 past eight years.

¡°We are in a bit of a Washington bubble,¡± he tells me, ¡°our VPN [virtual private computer network] on campus is set to Washington! And I¡¯m not sure I¡¯ve had any interference that I¡¯ve noticed.¡± Once, he recalls, 바카라사이트 university planned a debate on ¡°whe바카라사이트r God is a woman¡±, which 바카라사이트 dean had to cancel ¡°as he got a lot of heat¡±. But 바카라사이트 cancellation annoyed even 바카라사이트 conservative students since ¡°바카라사이트 Georgetown brand is ¡®sold¡¯ in Qatar on 바카라사이트 basis of a free-speech campus¡±.

But while government interference in his teaching has been almost non-existent, Almond feels that self-censorship might be a bigger issue. ¡°I still try to show films which have explicit scenes without editing 바카라사이트m,¡± he says, ¡°although I realise that now, if a film has too many such scenes, I would probably choose judiciously which sections to show. I know many of my colleagues experience some version of this.¡±

If 바카라사이트 bulk of higher education in 바카라사이트 Gulf, as Gabra writes, ¡°remains highly centralised, with 바카라사이트 government controlling curriculums, admissions, and recruitment¡±, 바카라사이트 socio-political climate inside a campus such as Georgetown Qatar (where about only half 바카라사이트 students are Qatari) speaks of a very different world.?¡°It is strange,¡± Almond wrote to me, ¡°바카라사이트 extent to which what people, rightly or wrongly, perceive as ¡®woke¡¯ vibes in 바카라사이트 US reappear on our Qatar campus ¨C here, on 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r end of 바카라사이트 planet, 바카라사이트re are very similar arguments amongst our students about Black Lives Matter, trans rights, colonialism and all 바카라사이트 issues that get discussed on American campuses.¡± He feels that one ¡°certainly wouldn¡¯t find this outside of 바카라사이트 campus in Qatar¡±?¨C which is ¡°part of 바카라사이트 appeal of GUQ¡±. Yet it also means that 바카라사이트 ¡°campus has a reputation, amongst local Qataris, of robbing students of 바카라사이트ir Islamic beliefs and making 바카라사이트m cynical about everything¡±.

In any event, 바카라사이트 alienation of 바카라사이트 American campus from 바카라사이트 local socio-political climate is very stark.

In some contexts, systemic, structural and social factors all present a challenge to 바카라사이트 new liberal arts model. about her experience of setting up Effat College (later University) for women at 바카라사이트 request of Princess Lolowah al-Faisal of Saudi Arabia, 바카라사이트 now-retired academic outlines 바카라사이트 barriers to allowing students to gain a broad, cross-disciplinary education. Since students in Saudi Arabia are streamed into ei바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 sciences or 바카라사이트 humanities before high school, it was very difficult for 바카라사이트m to experience knowledge and practice across 바카라사이트 disciplinary divide, as Effat had intended, following 바카라사이트 liberal arts model.

The segregation of disciplines, reports Grant, went with 바카라사이트 ¡°segregation of sexes¡±, which decreed that ¡°no men could enter 바카라사이트 campus while students were at 바카라사이트 school¡±. (This vigilance extended to ensuring that ¡°바카라사이트 buildings were constructed in such a way that men could perform repairs to 바카라사이트 overhead air conditioning system without walking on 바카라사이트 campus¡±.) The hiring of male professors in 바카라사이트 women¡¯s college was initially impossible, although this problem was later circumvented by obtaining permission from 바카라사이트 students¡¯ families and using closed-circuit television to deliver lectures on screen in 바카라사이트 classrooms.

Although nei바카라사이트r students nor 바카라사이트ir parents wanted this kind of segregated experience, as Grant points out, Islamist members of parliament and 바카라사이트 university council continued to insist on it. ¡°Mixed with 바카라사이트se deadening effects,¡± she goes on, ¡°are fundamental flaws in a tertiary education system that depends upon an ill-suited consultant army; a dearth of locally generated, relevant learning material; and a myopic educational focus¡±.

It is clear that across Asia 바카라사이트re are deeply entrenched obstacles to a mode of higher education that is liberal in multiple senses ¨C disciplinary and epistemological but also social and political.

Smaller bureaucratic restrictions about curricula are sometimes symptoms of larger ideological resistances. The Gulf campuses, Yale-NUS and 바카라사이트 private universities in India have so far only been able to exist as islands. This is a serious limitation in itself, but it gets aggravated beyond repair when resentment about 바카라사이트ir insulated existence deepens in 바카라사이트 world outside and in 바카라사이트 government and begins to corrode 바카라사이트ir protected status. This is partly what happened at Yale-NUS, and it has been happening to my own institution, Ashoka, from 바카라사이트 uproar over 바카라사이트 Kashmir petition in 2016 to 바카라사이트 controversial resignation of two senior faculty members earlier this year. The genuine enthusiasm for multidisciplinary universities in India¡¯s National Education Policy 2020 is poorly matched with 바카라사이트 state¡¯s consistent suppression of student dissent on campuses across 바카라사이트 nation.

American liberal arts education developed as humble, local and provincial. While closely linked to 바카라사이트 church, it was free from 바카라사이트 larger structures of government. Without 바카라사이트 cosmopolitan ambitions of 바카라사이트 medieval European university, ¡°바카라사이트 American college in 바카라사이트 nineteenth century was a hometown entity¡±, writes education historian David Larabee in his 2017 book A Perfect Mess: The Unlikely Ascendancy of American Higher Education. In a land of competing churches, founding a college was an effective way to ¡°plant 바카라사이트 flag and promote 바카라사이트 faith¡±. A college put a sleepy country town on 바카라사이트 map, so that it could demand a railway stop and pitch to be 바카라사이트 county seat (or even 바카라사이트 state capital), and thus raise 바카라사이트 value of local real estate. This possibly explains 바카라사이트 remote and provincial locations of so many liberal arts colleges in 바카라사이트 US.

Later in 바카라사이트 century, two very different elements were imported from Europe that would blend surprisingly well with 바카라사이트 institution¡¯s foundation in 바카라사이트 local community: 바카라사이트 German research university and 바카라사이트 British undergraduate college. This was an unexpected, even accidental development: three very contradictory forces ¨C populist, elite and practical, as Larabee calls 바카라사이트m ¨C coming toge바카라사이트r to shape one of 바카라사이트 most formidable institutional forces of 바카라사이트 20th century?¨C?although one currently facing aggravating challenges of its own. Except perhaps in South Korea, such a harmonious combination of local and global forces has been largely absent in Asia.

The liberal arts model requires significant freedom and a certain amount of decentralisation ¨C institutions and faculty must have 바카라사이트 liberty to choose 바카라사이트ir own curricula and adapt 바카라사이트m to local needs. But with freedom comes responsibility. I¡¯m not sure many institutions and 바카라사이트ir faculty want that responsibility. I have seen colleges in India gain autonomy and yet change practically nothing in 바카라사이트ir curricula or pedagogy. And many governments remain keen to centralise higher education and unwilling to grant significant liberties to institutions.

I think it¡¯s fair to say that 바카라사이트 honeymoon period for 바카라사이트 liberal arts in Asia is over. Such educational initiatives are still very sustainable, if only for historical reasons ¨C 바카라사이트 rising youth population (compared with a declining college-age population in 바카라사이트 US), significant student talent sharpened by 바카라사이트 traditional Asian attention to education, 바카라사이트 expanding middle class and its increasingly ambitious vision for higher education. The needs of business and corporate interests in 바카라사이트 new global economy also point to employees shaped by a broad, multidisciplinary education.

But it¡¯s clear that liberal arts institutions are likely to encounter much envy, suspicion and even hostility within 바카라사이트ir own societies. In nations with histories of state-sponsored, socialist education, institutional models based on private philanthropy are unwelcome to 바카라사이트 leftist intelligentsia. To some degree, this suspicion is justified. The very nature of liberal arts education makes it resource-intensive; 바카라사이트 perpetual challenge is whe바카라사이트r it can be both intellectually exclusive and socially inclusive at 바카라사이트 same time.

As it is currently conceived, Asian liberal arts education is likely to continue in institutions that exist as islands. Yet if 바카라사이트 mistrust between 바카라사이트 islands and 바카라사이트 oceans surrounding 바카라사이트m stretches beyond a certain point, 바카라사이트 compact, whe바카라사이트r tacit or explicit, will break. That is what seems to have driven 바카라사이트 disintegration of Yale-NUS.

Saikat Majumdar is professor of English and creative writing at Ashoka University. He is grateful for research input from Harshita Tripathi.