General Education and the Development of Global Citizenship in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Mainland China

Not Merely Icing on the Cake

General Education has taken center stage in the greater China area (Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China) because of a number of important developments. First, globalization has created both opportunities and challenges for college students. When they graduate and enter the real world, they must have the cultural sensitivities and social skills, in addition to their professional training, to compete in a knowledge-based global economy. Equally significant for institutions of higher education, pressing global problems challenge traditional disciplines and demand new forms of learning that reshapes the boundaries of knowledge. In response to those rapidly changing dynamics, general education has taken an increasingly important role in undergraduate education. As the first English publication on the subject, this anthology brings together a distinguished group of General Education scholars and teachers from Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China.