20 1 1 In late April, Harvard University announced that in order to celebrate its 375th anniversary, it would hold a one-year commemorative event to review the history and highlight Harvard's outstanding achievements in teaching, innovation and research in the past 300 years. On the afternoon of May 26th, during the rehearsal of Harvard University's graduation ceremony, Harvard President Foster announced the related activity plan. On the same day, the website of Harvard's 375th anniversary was launched, and various information and activities related to the anniversary will be released one after another.
Foster said: "through the commemoration of the school anniversary, we should not only review the past, but also make great strides forward." The school will recall Harvard's rich history and past traditions and miss the famous teachers who once taught at Harvard. At the same time, it will focus its energy and attention on the issues that determine the present and future of Harvard. "
To this end, Harvard will organize a series of activities with alumni, teachers and students on campus and around the world to commemorate this historic event. The activities will include various artistic and cultural activities, academic lectures and discussions, and a series of special commemorative activities, such as "Harvard Story"-exploring inside and outside the Harvard campus, Harvard campus mobile tour-online virtual tour and so on.
The celebration of the school anniversary
Harvard announced that the official celebration activities will be arranged in June+10/October 65438+April, and thereafter, the activities will last until the end of May 20 12. On the evening of June+10/October 65438+April, Harvard will hold a dormitory dinner first, and then alumni, teachers and students will gather in the Centennial Theatre to participate in a series of activities, including parades, song and dance performances and concerts by China's famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Celebration chef, Harvard 199 1 graduate Joanna? Zhang will also make a birthday cake especially for his alma mater. Of course, the celebration planning committee is also coordinating other activities during the celebration.
Coincidentally,1June 14 coincides with the annual recruitment activities of Harvard Alumni Association, Harvard College Foundation and admission interviewers. It is said that about 700 volunteers will participate in related activities that day.
According to the website of Harvard's anniversary, information about the anniversary will be released one after another, calling on people to remember the date of the anniversary, join the Harvard family and participate in various activities that last for one year to commemorate this important day in the history of Harvard's development.
The school representative expressed the hope that through the celebration on June+10 in 5438, all Harvard people would be encouraged to look back on the history of Harvard and pay more attention to its future.
It is reported that various colleges and research institutions of Harvard will hold various commemorative activities to highlight their achievements.
Looking back on the four great achievements of the past 375 years.
While celebrating its 375th anniversary, Harvard highlighted its achievements in four main fields: science, public service, diversity and art.
In the early days of Harvard's establishment and more than 100 years after its establishment, classic education has always been the mainstay, and scientific knowledge is basically not involved. Therefore, when Volwiler, a French journalist, visited Harvard on 1788, he was very surprised that the university did not attach importance to scientific knowledge. It took about half a century for Harvard to open the School of Science, which is the predecessor of the present Harvard Department of Engineering and Physical Science. Today, there are 10 Nobel Prize winners in Harvard Physics Department alone. In 2007, when Harvard President Foster took office, he proposed that higher education should be responsible for the future. To this end, Harvard's mission includes taking ideas out of the laboratory and introducing them into the market. From 2006 to 20 10, Harvard founded 39 companies, applied for 2 16 patents, and teachers invented as many as 1270. Harvard has also set up a technical development office and other corresponding institutions to help public services.
Eliot, the former president of Harvard, said in his memoir 1923 that one of the core of Harvard tradition is the spirit of serving the public. The origin of this idea can be traced back to the American Civil War, when many Harvard students chose to fight for their country. The self-sacrifice spirit of Harvard University, including joining the army, has continued to this day. 20 1 1 in March, 2008, after a lapse of 40 years, Harvard took the lead in restoring the ROTC system established to train officers for the future army. In recent years, there are more and more public service projects in Harvard. Take law school as an example, all students must complete 40 hours of free service to obtain graduation qualification; The Kennedy School of Politics takes social service as its core mission. In the eyes of Harvard people, helping others can change their lives.
Looking back at history, the early Harvard was small in scale and narrow in vision, and now Harvard has become a world-class university. Some historians say that the age of this great change should be 1936. At that time, Harvard celebrated its 300th anniversary, aiming at facing the world and stepping onto a brighter stage. That summer, 70 thousand tourists came to Harvard campus; The riverside lighting party held in September attracted 300 thousand people to watch; A two-week academic seminar was held at the opening ceremony in autumn. About 654.38+0.5 million people attended the last day of activities, and representatives from 502 universities and academic groups from all over the world gathered at Harvard's 300th anniversary. 1904 Roosevelt, who graduated from Harvard and was then president of the United States, happily sat in the torrential rain and delivered an enthusiastic speech. This year's celebration is regarded as a major change in the history of Harvard, which has made Harvard a modern university and an international university.
Now, Harvard has more than 4,300 international students from 30 countries around the world, accounting for one-fifth of the registered students. Statistics show that about 1500 teachers from Harvard University's undergraduate college went to 1004 countries for research and other activities last year. This year, teachers of Harvard Summer School are engaged in 28 foreign research projects in 18 countries. In Harvard's view, in the digital age, ideas have no boundaries. Foster, president of Harvard University, said: "The new knowledge economy has been globalized, and the tentacles of universities must also be globalized."
As early as the17th century, in Harvard, a college founded by Puritans, artistic creation was regarded as an act of subversion and rebellion. Nowadays, at Harvard, the exploration of various artistic forces is regarded as an unusual spiritual journey. Greenblatt, a professor of humanities at Harvard University, said that the role of artistic creation in the cognitive life of Harvard and the world has already penetrated into Harvard's core values, and art has already become an important part of Harvard's intellectual life. Megan, director of Harvard Art Office, said that artistic creation is a cognitive way, which is related to how to understand the world around us. Harvard believes that cognition and creation complement each other. In April this year, the Harvard Art Office and the Music Department jointly held the 40th Anniversary Celebration of Sir Harvard. The opening ceremony of June 65438+ 10 this year will focus on music, highlighting Harvard's artistic mission.
It is worth mentioning that in the academic year celebrating the anniversary, the College of Arts and Sciences will hold a series of symposiums for young teachers with the theme of "the future of knowledge".
The College of Arts and Sciences is the largest branch of Harvard, including Harvard undergraduate college and graduate school of arts and sciences, which mainly covers undergraduate and graduate education. It also includes the College of Engineering and Practical Sciences and the College of Continuing Education, covering distance education and summer schools. The College of Arts and Sciences also manages libraries, museums and other campus resources as well as sports equipment.
The reason for holding the symposium for young teachers is that young teachers are the backbone of Harvard's teaching, learning and research in the next 25 years, and they will influence the dissemination of knowledge in the future.
Smith, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said that devoting oneself to intellectual research and great teaching career is the cornerstone of Harvard University's success in the past 375 years. The purpose of holding such a symposium for young teachers is to further explore practical and academic issues, promote the development of knowledge and academics, and help us redefine humanities education in the 2 1 century.
Harmontz, dean of Harvard University's undergraduate college, said: "For 375 years, Harvard University's undergraduate college has been at the core of the university. This anniversary will give us an opportunity to review and highlight the contributions made by all Harvard graduates to the country and the world, and at the same time, we can once again clarify the important role of higher education in cultivating the next generation. "
Overseas alumni hold various activities at the same time
As the oldest university in America, Harvard has alumni all over the world. On the occasion of the 375th anniversary, Harvard alumni organizations around the world will hold various celebrations. The Harvard Alumni Association on the West Coast will gather 500 alumni to celebrate the birthday of their alma mater. The Harvard Alumni Association in Boston will hold similar activities. Harvard Alumni Association and its 190 clubs around the world will hold annual meetings, speeches or other activities to celebrate the 375th anniversary of Harvard.
For alumni, the story that happened on Harvard campus is unforgettable and a vivid record of everyone's youth. Harvard will launch "The Story of Harvard" during the celebration, and all Harvard people can share their experiences with each other and tell the influence of their Harvard era on the future.
Exploring the Inside and Outside of Harvard Campus records the 375-year history of Harvard by using the precious materials in Harvard archives and photos with captions taken by Harvard employees, trying to restore the past lives of Harvard spirit.
Harvard has also made a campus tour in the style of personal smart phone, which can not only visit Harvard campus virtually online, but also help people who visit Harvard on the spot. According to photos, texts or videos, people can easily find all the important scenic spots on the Harvard campus.
As President Foster of Harvard said, from the series of symposiums to the story of Harvard, to the exploration of Harvard's image and spirit, the 375th anniversary celebration will be an excellent opportunity for people to gather together to review the past and think about the future.
Advocate the concept of "one university"
At the graduation ceremony of 20 1 1, Foster put forward the concept of "a university". "The meaning is very clear, that is, to surpass the unparalleled strength of various colleges and their respective fields, from the initial stage of the educational process to the advanced stage with outstanding achievements, and gradually understand how to link the various factors of knowledge innovation with those that cross disciplinary boundaries, just as we want to cross national boundaries. Once this happens, our work will be more efficient than ever. " Take Harvard University School of Global Health as an example, connecting 250 faculty members to solve the problem of reducing cardiovascular diseases in developing countries after the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile. In this college, Harvard established the second professional field of global health system undergraduates, and more than 65,438+0,000 undergraduates participated in this course or corresponding academic activities. At the same time, Harvard Environmental Research Center attracts graduate and undergraduate students, as well as hundreds of teachers in law, history, earth sciences, medicine, health policy and business to comprehensively study carbon recovery and storage or how to control the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Foster said that universities must meet all kinds of viewpoints and opportunities from the world, and at the same time promote the understanding and integration of differences between different cultures, histories and languages.
Foster's idea is to require all colleges to be interdisciplinary, strengthen cooperation and exchanges, and solve social problems that need to be solved urgently. This idea has undoubtedly been recognized and positively responded by Harvard teachers and students.
O 'Neill, a representative of Harvard University, said that the activities during the celebration will highlight the concept and achievements of "one university". MINO, Dean of Harvard Law School, said that we are very happy to celebrate the history of Harvard together with the school, and we also agree with President Foster's view on "one university".