哈佛大學(xué)的“人文敎育”是什么？為什么鼓勵學(xué)生參加社會活動和社會服務(wù)

今天的這段對話，在討論人文敎育，
 
哈佛大學(xué)的“人文敎育”是什么？為什么鼓勵學(xué)生參加社會活動和社會服務(wù)
 
來聽今天的講解:
 
A: Li, a question shot my brain just now, but I forgot it soon after you began to pour out your complaints.
 
李，剛才有個問題在我腦子里一閃而過，你一開始訴苦我就忘了。
 
B: Aren’t you a little too young for menopause？
 
你應(yīng)該還沒到更年期吧？
 
A: What?
 
什么？
 
B: Ha! Han, I confess I have a notoriously dry sense of humor.
 
哈！韓，我承認(rèn)我的笑話很冷，眾所周知。
 
A: We’re a million miles away from the point.
 
我們離題十萬八千里了。
 
B: Fine, let’s get back on track. Do you remember your question now?
 
好啦，回到正題，你現(xiàn)在記得你的問題了嗎？
 
A: Yes. Are you still learning history in university? Isn’t it a subject in high school? Universities are supposed to train specialized talents.
 
嗯，你在大學(xué)里還學(xué)歷史？那不是高中的課程嗎？大學(xué)應(yīng)該培養(yǎng)專業(yè)人才。
 
B: We have a field of concentration, but it’s not enough. You know what? Harvard has been promoting the development of “liberal arts education”.
 
我們有專業(yè)，但這不夠。你知道嗎,哈佛一直在推動“人文敎育"的發(fā)展。
 
A: What’s that?
 
那是什么？
 
B: An education whose aim is to cultivate people with balanced personalities. As the new Harvard president Faust said “ a university is not about results in the next quarter; it is not even about who a student has become by graduation. It is about learning that molds a lifetime, learning that transmits the heritage of millennia; learning that shapes the future”.
 
一種旨在培養(yǎng)人格和諧發(fā)展的教育。就像哈佛的新校長福斯特說的一樣，"大學(xué)不關(guān)乎未來幾個月的結(jié)果，也不關(guān)乎學(xué)生畢業(yè)時成為什么人。它關(guān)乎影響終生的學(xué)問，一種傳承千年傳統(tǒng)的學(xué)問，一種創(chuàng)造未來的學(xué)問”。
 
A: Wow, your memory is amazing.
 
哇，你記憶力驚人啊。
 
B: These words are frequently citied.
 
這些話經(jīng)常被人引用。
 
A: They’re really illuminating.
 
確實(shí)很有啟發(fā)性。
 
B: So at Harvard, we have to learn many courses that cover a variety of fields.
 
所以在哈佛，我們要學(xué)很多領(lǐng)域的課程。
 
A: That’s quite necessary. If we only specialize in one field, our horizons will become more and more narrow.
 
那很有必要。如果我們只專注一個領(lǐng)域，我們的視野就會變得越來越窄。
 
B: You bet! So Harvard offers an education that prepares students not for a career or something, but for their whole life.
 
說得對！所以哈佛的教育不是為某個職業(yè)什么的做準(zhǔn)備，而是為一生做準(zhǔn)備的。
 
A: I think a lot of American colleges pay much attention to such a liberal education.
 
我想很多美國大學(xué)都很注重人文敎育吧。
 
B: Right. Every year, a criteria for ranking schools is “liberal arts college". Students who graduate from liberal arts colleges are like hot cakes for which most famous graduate schools battle.
 
對，每年學(xué)校排名的一項(xiàng)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)就是"人文大學(xué)”。從這些人文大學(xué)畢業(yè)的學(xué)生會成為名牌研究生學(xué)校的搶手貨。
 
A: Really?
 
真的嗎？
 
B: Of course. It is the liberal education that ensures the high qualified education of most colleges and graduate schools.
 
當(dāng)然，人文教育保證了很多大學(xué)和研究生學(xué)校的高教育質(zhì)量。
 
A: I’ve heard of a lot stories telling that some students in China are not be admitted by any university, but they are enrolled by famous colleges in the U.S.,
 
我聽過很多學(xué)生在國內(nèi)沒有被任何大學(xué)錄取卻被美國知名大學(xué)錄取。
 
B: A Harvard education is not to produce bookworms, but a real person. Moreover, a Harvard education aims to produce useful people for the society. Therefore, in addition to the various subjects we learn at school, we are encouraged to go out of school and participate in social activities and social services.
 
哈佛教育不是培養(yǎng)書呆子，而是培養(yǎng)真正的人。另外，哈佛教育旨在為社會培養(yǎng)有用的人才。所以，除了在學(xué)校學(xué)習(xí)各種科目，學(xué)校還鼓勵我們走出學(xué)校，參加社會活動和社會服務(wù)。
 
A: What do you often do?
 
你們都做什么？
 
B: Such as going to the nursing home to tend elderly people, nursing patients at hospitals, helping new immigrants with immigration laws, or even being assistants of congressmen and senators.
 
比如去養(yǎng)老院照顧老人；到醫(yī)院看護(hù)病人；給新移民輔導(dǎo)移民法；甚至去紿議員做助手。
 
A: But didn’t you say that Harvard worships truth rather than utility very much?
 
但你不是說哈佛崇尚真理，而不是追求功利嗎？
 
B: The purpose of these activities or services is to cultivate students' sense of responsibility, to let them know that they’re from society and have to go back to society. In China, we also advocate serving people, but we seldom put it into practice.
 
這些活動或服務(wù)的目的就是培養(yǎng)學(xué)生的責(zé)任感，讓他們知道他們來自社會，要回歸社會。在中國，我們也提倡服務(wù)人民，但卻很少付諸實(shí)踐。
 
A: That’s ironic. I thought American people are selfish. It only turns out that I was wrong.
 
很諷刺啊，我以為美國人很自私呢，看來我錯了。
 
B: We are often informed that some Chinese teenagers win the gold or silver medals in some international mathematics competitions. Where are they when they grow up? Do they become great scientists?
 
我們經(jīng)常聽說某些中國青少車在某些國際數(shù)學(xué)比賽中得金獎、銀獎了，他們長大后去哪了？成為偉大的科學(xué)家了嗎？
 
A:You hit the nail on the head. Some students are only trained to be memory machines. But when they grow up, they’ll find they can hardly blend into society.
 
切中要害。一些學(xué)生被培養(yǎng)成記憶機(jī)器，但長大后卻發(fā)現(xiàn)自己很難融入社會。
 
B: That’s why a liberal education is so important.
 
這就是為什么人文教育這么重要。