Some people say every good university is an old university. Paris, Oxford, Cambridge, Heidelberg, Moscow--the top universities in each country all seem to be those with the longest traditions.
Like Oxford and Cambridge, Harvard was originally founded to train men of the cloth. But in 1636 most of New England was still untamed wilderness, Boston itself having been founded just ten years earlier, and Harvard was an unprepossessing little school without even a formal name. In 1637 a graduate of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, named John Harvard came to America and set out to make something of the school He died the next year at the age of thirty, but he left the school his library and half his estate, and the authorities named it after him in his honor.
Harvard University not only has a long history, it expresses its respect for historical figures in manifest fashion. Almost all of the university's hundreds of buildings, large or small, are named after personages connected with the institution in some way.
Emphasizing history as it does, Harvard naturally cherishes the heritage of its mother school, Cambridge. Although the collegiate and tutorial system of the aristocratic Oxbridge tradition, sparing no expense and centered completely on the students, has vanished, traces of it remain in the undergraduate section.
The first thing to realize is that what Harvard really prides itself on is not its ten graduate schools, where a third of the students are foreigners, but its undergraduate program.
The more than 6,000 undergraduates, most of whom pay their own way, are the university's bread and butter and have to be carefully coddled. As a result, incoming freshmen are housed their first year right on Harvard Yard, the campus center, and take their meals in the university dining hall. The facilities may not be luxurious, but the students are looked after by proctors, and having the entire freshmen body live together day and night enables them to cultivate a Harvard mentality and to broaden their mutual understanding.
Sophomores are assigned by lottery to one of thirteen residential houses (equivalent to the colleges at Cambridge and Oxford), which become their place of residency for their remaining three years. Most of the houses are situated along the scenic banks of the Charles River, each with a different color cupola: glittering gold, bright green, vermilion . . . a truly charming sight when seen from a distance.
The system of instruction at Harvard is particularly distinctive. Rather than concentrating on a single department, incoming freshmen select courses from the core curriculum, which is designed to provide an awareness of the methods and fundamental assumptions of the major fields of study.
The core curriculum covers the five areas of literature and arts, historical study, social analysis and moral reasoning, science, and foreign cultures. Introduced in 1978, the plan created an immediate stir in Western academic circles by breaking through traditional departmental categories.
In their sophomore year, students can select from more than forty different categories in choosing a field of concentration. Harvard students feel a sense of accomplishment designing a personalized course of study that suits their own inclinations, and if they don't know where to start they can turn to their tutor for help.
Not being divided into departments, the college forms a complete entity unto itself, and the undergraduates--whether strumming guitars and singing in Harvard Square, engaged in late-night discussions in coffeeshops or bakeries, or tooling along the banks of the Charles in expensive sports cars--are the most conspicuous members of the university: "heaven's favored children."
The ten graduate schools, which form the real academic core of Harvard, appear much less colorful in comparison. Yet each enjoys an awesome reputation. The only field missing is engineering, where Harvard stands in the shadow of neighboring MIT.
As long as a field is included in its curriculum, however, Harvard seeks perfection, no matter how obscure or out of the way the subject may be. Hung Chin-fu, a researcher in the Department of History and Languages at Academia Sinica and an expert in Yuan dynasty history, came to fully appreciate the breadth and detail of the university's academic offerings during his five years of study there. Yuan dynasty history "is such an unpopular field that hardly anyone in Taiwan pays attention to it, but at Harvard there are not only professors who can teach it and students who want to study it but complete reference materials in all the various languages as well. You can't help being amazed!" he exclaims.
Lu Yun, an assistant researcher at the Academia's Institute of Economics who spent a year at Harvard as a visiting scholar, says that offering so many out-of-the-way subjects is the best way for a well-heeled private university like Harvard to contribute to the academic world. "Most public and state universities have to put first priority on meeting the needs of the great majority of students, so many fields that are worth researching but have little practical value get dropped," he explains, stressing the significance of Harvard's willingness to invest in unpopular, out-of-the-way fields.
To broaden the students' horizons, Harvard often invites important figures to lecture at the university in person. And thanks to the school's first-rate reputation, willing takers are not hard to come by. They include personages of all stripes: not only leaders and officials of various foreign governments but exiled oppositionists as well, such as Benigno Aquino of the Philippines and Kim Dae Jung of South Korea.
"On the one hand it represents Harvard's tradition of concern for international politics and economics, and on the other it gives students a chance to analyze an issue from all different angles," says Lai Ing-chao, who earned a doctorate in law from Harvard and is now vice minister of political affairs in the Ministry for Financial Affairs. Even more importantly, being able to discuss issues with noted figures face to face greatly raises students' self-assurance and their sense of participation in history.
For a similar reason, Harvard is willing to shell out what it takes to engage former administration officials and retired CEOs as professors. They may not have much of a foundation in academic theory, but they know the ropes and how to get things done. In return, they are more than willing to use their powerful influence in helping to raise money.
Harvard does indeed have a thick smell of the cashbox about it. Beginning right with the application form, it constantly reminds you about "money, money, money!"
Tuition and fees this year have climbed to more than US$14,000, and the cost of living in Boston is high. If you don't have US$25,000 to US$30,000 on hand and still want to stay at Harvard for a year, you'll probably end up spending more time worrying about money than studying!
And although university authorities claim that 85 percent of graduate students receive some form of financial assistance, many are they who exhaust the family savings to come up with a Harvard degree.
In a large-scale review of the current state of higher education in America conducted by U.S. News and World Report, one college president was quoted as saying: "Those schools that are less well endowed or lack the ability to raise funds will spend the next decade losing ground to the strong institutions."
True enough. Harvard exudes such a materialistic air simply because it is doing its best to attract the most notable professors, to provide the best facilities, and to offer a completely free academic environment in which students and teachers can find what they want and develop to the best of their abilities.
Ironically, according to most rankings of American universities during the past several years, Harvard has dropped to second place behind up-and-coming Stanford University on the West Coast.
Lu Yun offers an economic theory as to that. Harvard's development has always been closely related to the expansion of U.S. national power. Before World War Ⅱ Harvard was just a famous American university. It was not until the expansion of American power after the war that Harvard's reputation spread worldwide. Now the United States is gradually being overtaken by the countries of Asia and the Pacific, led by Japan. Stanford is just an ocean away from Asia, so of course Harvard's days are numbered!
True or false? Only time will tell.
[Picture Caption]
A statue reputed to represent founder John Harvard.
The scene of the GREs held at Harvard.
The architecture at Harvard, stretching across many eras, presents a complex mix. This old building has a medieval air.
This row of buildings in Harvard Yard, all Harvard Crimson in color, stands at the cradle of American colleges.
Boston winters are famous for being dreary and overcast, so the occasional sunny day makes people especially happy.
This building houses the Harvard School of Design, where the famous Chinese-born architect I. M. Pei got his start.
The lovely banks of the Charles River are crowded with strollers whenever the weather is nice. (photo courtesy of Kan Teh-hsing)
In line with Oxford and Cambridge tradition, the crew race between Harvard and Yale is a big annual event, and the practice for it goes on year round. (photo courtesy of Kan Teh-hsing)
This stone marker, located in Harvard Yard, was donated by the Harvard Chinese Alumni Association in commemoration of the school's tricentennial.
A close look reveals the beauty of Harvard every-where. Doesn't the little flag waving on top of this cupola have a charm all its own?
A statue reputed to represent founder John Harvard.
The architecture at Harvard, stretching across many eras, presents a complex mix. This old building has a medieval air.
The scene of the GREs held at Harvard.
This row of buildings in Harvard Yard, all Harvard Crimson in color, stands at the cradle of American colleges.
Boston winters are famous for being dreary and overcast, so the occasional sunny day makes people especially happy.
This building houses the Harvard School of Design, where the famous Chinese-born architect I. M. Pei got his start.
The lovely banks of the Charles River are crowded with strollers whenever the weather is nice. （photo courtesy of Kan Teh-hsing）
In line with Oxford and Cambridge tradition, the crew race between Harvard and Yale is a big annual event, and the practice for it goes on year round. （photo courtesy of Kan Teh-hsing）
This stone marker, located in Harvard Yard, was donated by the Harvard Chinese Alumni Association in commemoration of the school's tricentennial.
A close look reveals the beauty of Harvard every-where. Doesn't the little flag waving on top of this cupola have a charm all its own?
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