The Great Civilized Conversation: Education for a World Community

Description

Having spent decades teaching and researching the humanities, Wm. Theodore de Bary is well-positioned to speak on its merits and reform. Believing a classical liberal education is more necessary than ever, he outlines in these essays a plan to update existing core curricula, incorporating classics from both Eastern and Western traditions to bring the philosophy and moral values of Asian civilizations to American students, and vice versa. The author establishes a concrete link between teaching the classics of world civilizations and furthering global humanism. Selecting texts that share many of the same values and educational purposes, he joins Islamic, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, and Western sources into a revised curriculum that privileges humanity and civility. He also explores the tradition of education in China and its reflection of Confucian and Neo-Confucian beliefs. He reflects on history's great scholar-teachers and what their methods can teach us today, and he dedicates three essays to the power of "The Analects of Confucius," "The Tale of Genji," and "The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon" in the classroom. Table of Contents Preface Introduction PART I: EDUCATION AND THE CORE CURRICULUM 1. Education for a World Community 2. "Starting on the Road" with John Erskine & Co. 3. The Great "Civilized" Conversation: A Case in Point 4. A Shared Responsibility to Past and Future 5. Asia in the Core Curriculum 6. What Is "Classic"? 7. Classic Cases in Point PART 2: LIBERAL LEARNING IN CONFUCIANISM 8. Human Renewal and the Repossession of the Way 9. Zhu Xi and Liberal Education 10. Confucian Individualism and Personhood 11. Zhu Xi's Educational Program 12. Self and Society in Ming Thought 13. The Rise of Neo-Confucianism in Korea 14. Confucianism and Human Rights 15. China and the Limits of Liberalism PART 3: TRIBUTES AND MEMOIRS 16. Huang Zongxi and Qian Mu 17. Tang Junyi and New Asia College 18. Ryusaku Tsunoda, Sensei 19. Thomas Meron, Matteo Ricci, and Confucianism Appendix: Wm. Theodore de Bary: A Life in Consultation and Conversation Notes Index