第一篇:哈佛大學(xué)校長演講
Good afternoon.My remarks at this moment in our Commencement rituals are officially titled a“Report to the Alumni.” The first time I delivered them, in 2008, I was the only obstaclebetween all of you and J.K.Rowling.I looked out on a sea of eager children, costumedDumbledores, and Quidditch brooms waving impatiently in the air.Today, you await MarkZuckerberg, whose wizardry takes a different form, one that has changed the world, andalthough he doesn't seem to have inspired an outbreak of hoodies, we certainly do have somecostumes in this audience today.I see we are now handing out blankets.This is a day of joy and celebration, of happy endings and new beginnings, of families andfriends, of achievements and hopes.It is also a day when we as a university perform our mostimportant annual ritual, affirming once again the purposes that animate us and the values thatdirect and inspire us.I want to speak today about one of the most important – and in recent months, mostcontested – of these values.It is one that has provoked debate, dissent, confrontation, andeven violence on campuses across the country, and one that has attracted widespread publicattention and criticism.I am, of course, talking about issues of free speech on university campuses.The meaning andlimits of free speech are questions deeply embedded in our legal system, in interpretations ofthe First Amendment and its applications.I am no constitutional lawyer, indeed no lawyer atall, and I do not intend in my brief remarks today to address complex legal doctrines.Nor,clearly, can I in a few brief minutes take on even a fraction of the arguments that have beenadvanced on this issue.Instead, I speak as one who has been a university president for adecade in order to raise three questions:
First: Why is free speech so important to and at universities? Second: Why does it seem under special challenge right now?
And, third: How might we better address these challenges by moving beyond just defensivelyprotecting free speech – which, of course, we must do – to actively and affirmatively enabling itand nurturing environments in which it can thrive?
So first: Why is free speech so important to and at universities? This is a question I took upwith the newly arrived first-year students in the College when I welcomed them at Convocationlast fall.For centuries, I told them, universities have been environments in which knowledge hasbeen discovered, collected, studied, debated, expanded, changed, and advanced through thepower of rational argument and exchange.We pursue truth unrelentingly, but we must neverbe so complacent as to believe we have unerringly attained it.Veritas is inspiration andaspiration.We assume there is always more to know and discover so we open ourselves tochallenge and change.We must always be ready to be wrong, so being part of a universitycommunity requires courage and humility.Universities must be places open to the kind ofdebate that can change ideas and committed to standards of reason and evidence that formthe bases for evaluating them.Silencing ideas or basking in intellectual orthodoxy independent of facts and evidenceimpedes our access to new and better ideas, and it inhibits a full and considered rejection ofbad ones.From at least the time of Galileo, we can see how repressing seemingly hereticalideas has blinded societies and nations to the enhanced knowledge and understanding on whichprogress depend.Far more recently, we can see here at Harvard how our inattentiveness to thepower and appeal of conservative voices left much of our community astonished –blindsided by the outcome of last fall's election.We must work to ensure that universities donot become bubbles isolated from the concerns and discourse of the society that surroundsthem.Universities must model a commitment to the notion that truth cannot simply be claimed, butmust be established – established through reasoned argument, assessment, and evensometimes uncomfortable challenges that provide the foundation for truth.The legitimacyof universities' claim to be sources and validators of fact depends on our willingness toactively and vigorously defend those facts.And we must remember that limiting some speechopens the dangerous possibility that the speech that is ultimately censored may be our own.Ifsome words are to be treated as equivalent to physical violence and silenced or evenprosecuted, who is to decide which words? Freedom of expression, as Justice Oliver WendellHolmes famously said long ago, protects not only free thought for those who agree with us butfreedom for the thought we hate.We need to hear those hateful ideas so our society is fullyequipped to oppose and defeat them.Over the years, differences about the implementation of the University's free speech principleshave often provoked controversy.And we haven't always gotten it right.As long ago as 1939,an invitation from a student group to the head of the American Communist Party generatedprotest and the invitation was ultimately canceled by the Corporation.Bertrand Russell'sappointment as William James Lecturer just a year later divided the Corporation, but PresidentConant broke the tie and Russell came.Campus conflicts over invited speakers are hardly new.Yet the vehemence with which these issues have been debated in recent months, not just oncampuses but in the broader public sphere, suggests there is something distinctive about thismoment.Certainly, these controversies reflect a highly polarized political and socialenvironment – perhaps the most divisive since the era of the Civil War.And in these alreadyfractious circumstances, free speech debates have provided a fertile substrate into whichanger and disagreement could be planted to nourish partisan outrage and generate mediaclickbait.But that is only a partial explanation.Universities themselves have changed dramatically in recent years, reaching beyond theirtraditional, largely homogeneous populations to become more diverse than perhaps anyother institution in which Americans find themselves living together.Once overwhelminglywhite, male, Protestant, and upper class, Harvard College is now half female, majorityminority, religiously pluralistic, with nearly 60 percent of students able to attend because offinancial aid.Fifteen percent are the first in their families to go to college.Many of our studentsstruggle to feel full members of this community – a community in which people like them haveso recently arrived.They seek evidence and assurance that – to borrow the title of a powerfultheatrical piece created by a group of our African-American students – evidence andassurance that they, too, are Harvard.The price of our commitment to freedom of speech is paid disproportionately by thesestudents.For them, free speech has not infrequently included enduring a questioning oftheir abilities, their humanity, their morality – their very legitimacy here.Our values and ourtheory of education rest on the assumption that members of our community will take the riskof speaking and will actively compete in our wild rumpus of argument and ideas.It requiresthem as well to be fearless in face of argument or challenge or even verbal insult.And itexpects that fearlessness even when the challenge is directed to the very identity – race,religion, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, nationality – that may have made themuncertain about their right to be here in the first place.Demonstrating such fearlessness ishard;no one should be mocked as a snowflake for finding it so.Hard, but important and attainable.Attainable, we believe, for every member of ourcommunity.But the price of free speech cannot be charged just to those most likely tobecome its target.We must support and empower the voices of all the members of ourcommunity and nurture the courage and humility that our commitment to unfettereddebate demands from all of us.And that courage means not only resilience in face ofchallenge or attack, but strength to speak out against injustices directed at others as well.Free speech doesn't just happen and require intervention when it is impeded.It is not aboutthe freedom to out-shout others while everyone has their fingers in their ears.For free speechto flourish, we must build an environment where everyone takes responsibility for the rightnot just to speak, but to hear and be heard, where everyone assumes the responsibility totreat others with dignity and respect.It requires not just speakers, but, in the words of JamesRyan, dean of our Graduate School of Education, generous listeners.Amidst the current soul-searching about free speech, we need to devote more attention to establishing the conditions inwhich everyone's speech is encouraged and taken seriously.Ensuring freedom of speech is not just about allowing speech.It is about actively creating acommunity where everyone can contribute and flourish, a community where argument isrelished, not feared.Freedom of speech is not just freedom from censorship;it is freedom toactively join the debate as a full participant.It is about creating a context in which genuinedebate can happen.Talk a lot, I urged the Class of 2020 last fall;listen more.Don't stand safely on the sidelines;take the risk of being wrong.It is the best way to learn and grow.And build a culture ofgenerous listening so that others may be emboldened to take risks, too.A community in ashared search for Veritas – that is the ideal for which Harvard must strive.We need it nowmore than ever.
第二篇:哈佛大學(xué)校長離職演講
Good bye and good luck!
by Lawrence H.Summers, President of Harvard University
Today, I speak from this podium a final time as your president.As I depart, I want to thank all of youwith whom I have been privileged to work over these past years.Some of us have had our
disagreements, but I know that which unites us transcends that which divides us.I leave with a full heart, grateful for the opportunity I have had to lead this remarkable institution.Since I delivered my inaugural address, 56 months ago, I have learned an enormous amount—about higher education, about leadership, and also about myself.Some things look different to me than they did five years ago.The world that today’s Harvard’s graduates are entering is a profoundly different one than the world administrators entered.It is a world where opportunities have never been greater for those who know how to teach children to read, or those who know how to distribute financial risk;never greater for those who understand the cell and the pixel;never greater for those who can master, and navigate between, legal codes, faith traditions, computer platforms, political viewpoints.It is also a world where some are left further and further behindbut desperately in need of wisdom.Now, when sound bites are getting shorter, when instant messages crowd out essays, and when individual lives grow more frenzied, college graduates capable of deep reflection are what our world needs.For all these reasons I believedin the unique and irreplaceable mission of universities.Universities are where the wisdom we cannot afford to lose is preserved from generation to generation.Among all human institutions, universities can look beyond present norms to future possibilities, can look through current considerations to emergent opportunities.And among universities, Harvard stands out.With its great tradition, its iconic
reputation, its remarkable network of 300,000 alumni, Harvard has never had as much potential as it does now.And yet, great and proud institutions, like great and proud nations at their peak, must surmount a very real risk: that the very strength of their traditions will lead to caution, to an inward focus on prerogative and to a complacency that lets the world pass them by.And so I say to you that our University today is at an inflection point in its history.At such a moment, there is temptation to elevate comfort and consensus over progress and clear direction, but this would be a mistake.The University’s matchless resourcesdemand that we seize this moment with vision and boldness.To do otherwise would be a lost opportunity.We can spur great deeds that history will mark decades and even centuries from now.If Harvard can find the courage to change itself, it can change the world.
第三篇:哈佛大學(xué)校長辭職演講
哈佛大學(xué)校長的告別演講
作者:news發(fā)表時(shí)間:2011年02月22日(1周前)
美文于我,從來不意味著華麗辭藻的堆砌,更不是平仄工整的秩序,美文應(yīng)是一種思想的折射,一種語言之上的光華,簡單,簡潔,卻又是一個(gè)謎,一種挑戰(zhàn),一種意味深長。套用張愛玲那句常用的詩句:于千萬人之中,遇見你要遇見的人。于千萬年之中,時(shí)間無涯的荒野里,沒有早一步,也沒有遲一步,遇上了也只能輕輕地說一句:“你也在這里嗎?” 希望我選的文章也能給你帶來如此感覺,于愿足矣。
Good bye and good luck!
by Lawrence H.Summers, President of Harvard University
Today, I speak from this podium a final time as your president.As I depart, I want to thank all of youwith whom I have been privileged to work over these past years.Some of us have had our disagreements, but I know that which unites us transcends that which divides us.I leave with a full heart, grateful for the opportunity I have had to lead this remarkable institution.Since I delivered my inaugural address, 56 months ago, I have learned an enormous amount—about higher education, about leadership, and also about myself.Some things look different to me than they did five years ago.The world that today’s Harvard’s
graduates are entering is a profoundly different one than the world administrators entered.It is a world where opportunities have never been greater for those who know how to teach children to read, or those who know how to distribute financial risk;never greater for those who understand the cell and the pixel;never greater for those who can master, and navigate between, legal codes, faith traditions, computer platforms, political viewpoints.It is also a world where some are left further and further behindbut desperately in need of wisdom.Now, when sound bites are getting shorter, when instant messages crowd out essays, and when
individual lives grow more frenzied, college graduates capable of deep reflection are what our world needs.For all these reasons I believedin the unique and irreplaceable mission of universities.Universities are where the wisdom we cannot afford to lose is preserved from generation to generation.Among all human institutions, universities can look beyond present norms to future possibilities, can look through current considerations to emergent opportunities.And among universities, Harvard stands out.With its great tradition, its iconic reputation, its remarkable network of 300,000 alumni, Harvard has never had as much potential as it does now.And yet, great and proud institutions, like great and proud nations at their peak, must
surmount a very real risk: that the very strength of their traditions will lead to caution, to an inward focus on prerogative and to a complacency that lets the world pass them by.And so I say to you that our University today is at an inflection point in its history.At such a moment, there is temptation to elevate comfort and consensus over progress and clear direction, but this would be a mistake.The University’s matchless resourcesdemand that we seize this moment with vision and boldness.To do otherwise would be a lost opportunity.We can spur great deeds that history will mark decades and even centuries from now.If Harvard can find the courage to change itself, it can change the world.【中文譯文】:
再見,好運(yùn)!
哈佛大學(xué)校長 勞倫斯 薩默斯
今天,我將以校長的身份,最后一次在這個(gè)講臺(tái)上演講。即將離任前,我要感謝諸位學(xué)生、教師、校友和員工,而且非常榮幸在過去的5年里能與你們共事。我們中的一些人意見不盡相同,但是,我知道,我們的共識(shí)遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超越分歧。我心滿意足的離開哈佛,感激你們給我機(jī)會(huì)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)這所杰出的學(xué)府。
自從56個(gè)月前我發(fā)表上任講話以來,我學(xué)到了很多——關(guān)于高等教育,關(guān)于領(lǐng)導(dǎo)藝術(shù),也關(guān)于自我完善。在我看來,現(xiàn)在與5年前不同了。今天的哈佛畢業(yè)生正在進(jìn)入的世界和管理人員當(dāng)年所進(jìn)入的世界相比已是大相徑庭了。
現(xiàn)今世界,機(jī)遇對(duì)于這些人來說是空前的:他們知道如何教子女閱讀;他們知道如何組合投資;他們懂得基本存儲(chǔ)單元和像素概念;他們能掌握各種法典、傳統(tǒng)信仰、計(jì)算機(jī)平臺(tái)、政治觀點(diǎn)并在其中游刃有余。
同時(shí),現(xiàn)今世界,一些人越來越落后于時(shí)代。這些人沒受過教育、深陷于貧窮和暴力、平等機(jī)遇對(duì)他們而言,僅是一句空話。
科技進(jìn)步正在使我們能夠探索宇宙的邊陲、物質(zhì)最基本的成分及生命的奇跡。
與此同時(shí),今天,人類所做的及沒能做到的事情,不僅危害到這個(gè)星球上的生命,也危害到該星球的壽命。
全球化正在使地球變得愈來愈小、愈來愈快和愈來愈富有。盡管如此,9/
11、禽流感及伊朗提醒我們,更小更快的世界決不意味著其更安全。
我們正處于一個(gè)知識(shí)爆炸的世界之中,不過,迫切需要智慧。現(xiàn)在,在(新聞采訪的)原聲摘要播出變得愈來愈短,即時(shí)信息淘汰了雜記文,個(gè)人生活變得如癡如狂之際,這個(gè)世界還是需要能夠深思的大學(xué)生。
考慮到這些理由,我過去信仰,而今天甚至更加強(qiáng)烈地信仰大學(xué)獨(dú)特的、無可取代的使命。大學(xué)是人類把不可或缺的智慧世代流傳的殿堂。就人類所有公共機(jī)構(gòu)而言,僅僅大學(xué),能夠超越當(dāng)前的準(zhǔn)則,注意到未來的可能性;能通過目前的判斷,注意到突發(fā)的機(jī)遇。
哈佛在大學(xué)中間,鶴立雞群。憑其偉大的傳統(tǒng)、因襲聲譽(yù)及其非凡的300000校友網(wǎng),哈佛的潛力前所未有。
可是,就像偉大和自豪的國家在其鼎盛時(shí)期一樣,它們必須克服一個(gè)完全不能掉以輕心的危險(xiǎn)因素:它們傳統(tǒng)的絕對(duì)強(qiáng)勢將會(huì)導(dǎo)致謹(jǐn)小慎微、追求內(nèi)部特權(quán)及自滿,這將使它們不能與時(shí)俱進(jìn).今天,哈佛正處于其歷史的轉(zhuǎn)折點(diǎn)。此時(shí)此刻的自然傾向是,把貪圖舒適和隨波逐流留凌駕于進(jìn)步和方向性之上,但,這可能是錯(cuò)誤的。大學(xué)無與倫比的資源 ——人力、物力、財(cái)力——要求我們遠(yuǎn)見卓識(shí)和勇敢地抓住這個(gè)時(shí)機(jī),否則,將會(huì)坐失良機(jī)。我們能推動(dòng)將會(huì)被歷史永世銘記的偉大的事業(yè)。如果哈佛能找到勇氣來改變自己,它就能改變世界
第四篇:哈佛大學(xué)校長北京大學(xué)演講2008年
哈佛大學(xué)校長北京大學(xué)演講2008年
北京大學(xué)演講
哈佛大學(xué)校長 傅思德
二〇〇八年三月
許校長,各位尊敬的教授,各位同學(xué),各位來賓:
謝謝大家。這是本人第一次訪問北京大學(xué),承蒙如此熱烈的歡迎,深感榮幸。中國的學(xué)術(shù)傳統(tǒng)源遠(yuǎn)流長,在世界首屈一指。尤其今年北大慶祝建校一百一十周年,本人能躬逢其盛,更是與有榮焉。哈佛大學(xué)一九二八年創(chuàng)立燕京學(xué)社,八十多年來一直十分重視與北大的關(guān)系。兩所大學(xué)的關(guān)系到今天尤其日益密切——大學(xué)生互動(dòng)切磋的課題從儒家思想到微量經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué),再到卡拉OK;研究生和教授更發(fā)展出各種計(jì)劃和項(xiàng)目,包括商業(yè),法律,政府,科學(xué),教育,和人文各學(xué)科。今天我們一同在此慶祝兩所大學(xué)的歷史淵源,也重申我們追求學(xué)問和真理的共同使命。
我們是在一個(gè)蛻變的時(shí)代里作出回顧和前瞻。在哈佛,就像在北大一樣,我們?cè)诙潭處资昀锟吹礁叩冉逃龖騽⌒缘霓D(zhuǎn)變。中國教育改革的速度之快,幅度之廣,在在令人吃驚:過去十年里,大學(xué)學(xué)生人數(shù)增加六倍,而今年中國培養(yǎng)的研究生人數(shù)將高于世界任何其他國家。
在美國,我們也看到高等教育的類似擴(kuò)展,雖然這樣的擴(kuò)展是在較長的時(shí)間里顯現(xiàn)出來。二次世界大戰(zhàn)以后,美國二十五歲以上擁有大學(xué)學(xué)位的人口,從大約5%增加到27%。今天的大學(xué)學(xué)齡青年有60%左右正接受某種形式的高等教育。這些正在學(xué)院和大學(xué)就讀的學(xué)生人數(shù)比例是二十世紀(jì)初期的十二倍。
大學(xué)教育的擴(kuò)展有一個(gè)非常重要的部分,就是少數(shù)族裔,女性,移民,和經(jīng)濟(jì)弱勢者得以接受教育的機(jī)會(huì),與日俱增。我個(gè)人也是這樣的改變的受惠者之一。我的母親和祖母輩們沒有一位能進(jìn)大學(xué)。我大學(xué)就讀的是一所女子學(xué)院,而當(dāng)時(shí)多數(shù)頭牌學(xué)校只招收男生。假如我那時(shí)在哈佛上學(xué),我不會(huì)被準(zhǔn)許進(jìn)入本科生的圖書館,因?yàn)榕徽J(rèn)為會(huì)讓一心向?qū)W的男生產(chǎn)生“非非之想”,所以必須排除在外。甚至就在一個(gè)世代以前,就連想像我有一天能夠成為哈佛大學(xué)的校長,或能夠站在諸位的面前的臺(tái)上,都還是不可能的事。在哈佛,不論是教授還是學(xué)生,有許多人的機(jī)運(yùn)在幾年以前仍然是難以想象的,就像今天在北大許多在座的諸位一樣。哈佛大學(xué)本科班現(xiàn)在每年約有130位非洲族裔的畢業(yè)生——占畢業(yè)生總數(shù)的7%到8%。比起一九六〇年代民權(quán)運(yùn)動(dòng)前,每年只有七到八位畢業(yè)生的比例,改變不可謂不大。我們的大學(xué)本科生里將近有20%是亞裔子弟——比起一個(gè)世代以前,這樣的比例也深具意義。目前我們的學(xué)生來自低收入家庭的人數(shù)遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超過以往,而我們正透過大量的學(xué)費(fèi)補(bǔ)助,務(wù)使哈佛——不論是本科還是研究所——成為人人都上得起的學(xué)校。今年錄取的大學(xué)本科學(xué)生里,有四分之一的家庭完全不需花費(fèi)分文。
這樣全面化的改變對(duì)哈佛和北大這樣的學(xué)校有什么樣的意義?中美兩國高等教育突飛猛進(jìn),原因之一在于我們都理解,知識(shí)是經(jīng)濟(jì)成長和民生繁榮的主要?jiǎng)恿Α8匾氖牵?dāng)我們的社會(huì)、政治、和技術(shù)日新月異,當(dāng)我們置身在這千變?nèi)f化的社會(huì)和生活里,想要了解人之所以為人的意義的時(shí)候,我們就更理解求知和問學(xué)對(duì)人類的重要性,就像吃飯一樣天經(jīng)地義。北大和哈佛都是從尊重知識(shí)的傳統(tǒng)中所建立的學(xué)府。我們和諸位一樣,都在學(xué)習(xí)如何在新的時(shí)代里善用這些傳統(tǒng)。
過去幾個(gè)星期在準(zhǔn)備中國之行的時(shí)候,我曾有機(jī)會(huì)和許多人談過話——包括在哈佛求學(xué)的中國學(xué)生,曾在中國進(jìn)修的哈佛學(xué)生,還有以中國研究為畢生職志的教授們。我多少理解了諸位在中國如何面對(duì)新與舊的挑戰(zhàn),這挑戰(zhàn)始于孔子在《論語》所謂:“溫故而知新,可以為師也。”今天我想和諸位談?wù)勎业拇髮W(xué)是如何因應(yīng)新與舊的挑戰(zhàn)——我們?nèi)绾巫非笳胬恚瑺?wèi)人師表,溫故而知新?在巨變的時(shí)代裏,這樣的努力對(duì)作爲(wèi)四方表率的大學(xué)又意味什麼?
長久以來,哈佛大學(xué)和“真理”這個(gè)字就有不解之緣。哈佛建校不過數(shù)年,“真理”就已經(jīng)出現(xiàn)在哈佛的校訓(xùn)裏。“真理”一字其實(shí)不出自英文,而是拉丁文——一個(gè)更悠遠(yuǎn)的歷史和傳統(tǒng)——veritas,也許中文的“真理”庶幾近之。一**三年,哈佛的創(chuàng)校先賢即將“veritas”銘刻于哈佛盾形校徽原始設(shè)計(jì)上,這一設(shè)計(jì)有三本開卷造型的書樣。“Veritas”在當(dāng)時(shí)帶有神圣真理的意味,指的是十七世紀(jì)新英格蘭清教徒傳統(tǒng)里基督上帝彰顯的智慧。盾形校徽位于下方的書樣原來面朝下,象征人類知識(shí)的局限。但是幾個(gè)世 1 紀(jì)以來,盾形校徽的設(shè)計(jì)已經(jīng)有所改變。基督教字匯出現(xiàn)又消失了;原本面朝下的書樣現(xiàn)在朝上了。但“veritas”這個(gè)字總也不變。真理長存。然而我們也看到舊的真理改變,形成新的真理。今天,我們對(duì)“veritas”的理解和我們的先輩們已有不同——我們的真理是以理性,而不是以信仰,為基礎(chǔ)。就像中國古代的“道”的觀念,我們了解真理的的意義不能局限為知識(shí)而已。真理不是坐擁所有,而是一種渴望——一種理解之道。它決不能垂手可得,而是有待不斷追尋。任何的答案總是導(dǎo)向下一個(gè)問題。我們必須以挑戰(zhàn)、不安和懷疑的精神持續(xù)追尋——不論是智慧科學(xué)還是國家歷史,法學(xué)倫理,還是健保福利、都市計(jì)劃,宇宙源起,還是文學(xué)、哲學(xué),藝術(shù)對(duì)人生本源的追溯。
我知道中國文化經(jīng)典之一曾對(duì)教育有如下的表述:“大學(xué)之道,在明明 德。”這也正說明一所大學(xué)的宗旨所在。它甚至呼應(yīng)了中文里“大學(xué)”作為高等教育機(jī)構(gòu)的的要義。大學(xué)之道:北京大學(xué),哈佛大學(xué)的大學(xué)之道。
但是我們?nèi)绾握业健懊鞯隆敝溃课覀內(nèi)绾稳招掠中碌淖穼ふ胬恚慷嗄暌詠恚绹芯啃痛髮W(xué)所發(fā)展的基本任務(wù)之一是:真理的發(fā)現(xiàn)和真理的傳授必須相互為用。學(xué)術(shù)研究和教學(xué)的過程早已深深結(jié)合。哈佛的學(xué)生受教于位居學(xué)術(shù)前沿的教授,我們也鼓勵(lì)學(xué)生參與研究過程。我們已經(jīng)開始重新規(guī)劃基礎(chǔ)科學(xué)課程,以期學(xué)生在實(shí)驗(yàn)室里不僅重復(fù)已知的結(jié)果,而且也能與他們的教授共同探尋有待解決的問題,從而學(xué)得技術(shù)與道理。從科學(xué)到社會(huì)和人文,我們都鼓勵(lì)學(xué)生從事創(chuàng)新研究,本科學(xué)生幾乎有一半在大四寫作畢業(yè)論文,在他們的主修領(lǐng)域里尋找原創(chuàng)的問題,探求新的真理。
如果研究是對(duì)真理的追求,教學(xué)就是這將這一追求發(fā)揚(yáng)光大的方式。我們的教學(xué)理念隨著哈佛大學(xué)的校史與時(shí)并進(jìn)。在早期,教學(xué)強(qiáng)調(diào)一成不變的記誦。而當(dāng)
我們理解真理不是擁有,而是追求,我們的教學(xué)也越來越著重叩問,交換,挑戰(zhàn)——為培養(yǎng)學(xué)生活到老、學(xué)到老的技巧和態(tài)度做準(zhǔn)備,我們的課程設(shè)計(jì)也更著重辯論和討論。我們的法、商學(xué)院一向以師生在課堂快速意見攻防的傳統(tǒng)為傲。近年大學(xué)本科也重新制定課程,創(chuàng)造這類的機(jī)會(huì),尤其強(qiáng)調(diào)小班師生密切互動(dòng)。對(duì)這些學(xué)生而言,我們正在創(chuàng)新課程,以使他們成為有想法,有見解的二十一世紀(jì)公民。透過這樣的教程,我們重新肯定博雅教育的重要,強(qiáng)調(diào)大學(xué)本科不僅止于專業(yè)的訓(xùn)練。相對(duì)的,我們要求學(xué)生放寬學(xué)習(xí)的眼界,甚至涉獵與他們?nèi)蘸罂赡茏非蟮膶I(yè)相距甚遠(yuǎn)的領(lǐng)域。用學(xué)生對(duì)我們的課程所作的評(píng)語來說,我們的目的是“動(dòng)搖他們先入為主的想法??, 揭示在表象以下,或以外,的事物,擺脫他們?cè)ǖ姆较颍賻椭麄冎匦抡业椒较颉!被蛘呶覀兛梢哉f,我們的大學(xué)之道,也是在“明明德”。真理是從辯論,從反駁,從問題,從疑惑中出現(xiàn)。用一位教授的話說,我們“鼓動(dòng)學(xué)生不僅和老師,也和同學(xué),去思考,去辯論。”一個(gè)躍躍欲試的心靈,一個(gè)勇于挑戰(zhàn)的心靈,也就是一個(gè)開放的創(chuàng)新的心靈,一個(gè)勇于應(yīng)付未來種種變化的心靈。
就像我們用新的方法發(fā)現(xiàn)真理,我們也在新的場域發(fā)現(xiàn)真理。傳統(tǒng)知識(shí)發(fā)展所界定的學(xué)科范疇正在合縱連橫,我們今天越來越積極的跨越知識(shí)界限。各種科學(xué)正相互改變對(duì)方。當(dāng)我們探尋生物工程或電腦生物學(xué)這樣的新興領(lǐng)域,生命和物理科學(xué)合而為一。科學(xué)也邁出固有領(lǐng)域,進(jìn)入社會(huì)和人文科學(xué),藉以在世界找尋新的定位。當(dāng)哈佛干細(xì)胞研究所成立時(shí),創(chuàng)建者明白它的成員——用他們自己的話說——“不只是包括科學(xué)家和物理學(xué)家?也該有從事法律,政府,神學(xué),商學(xué),和人文方面的哈佛教授。”最近在一門 “倫理學(xué),生物科技,和人性未來” 的新課里,哈佛干細(xì)胞研究計(jì)劃的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者和一位政府和倫理學(xué)教授向他們學(xué)生提出耐人深思的問題:一對(duì)有聽覺障礙的夫婦是否應(yīng)該被準(zhǔn)許懷一個(gè)有聽覺障礙的孩子?創(chuàng)造一個(gè)人獸混種的生命有沒有錯(cuò)?人的生命從什么時(shí)候開始?
在追求真理的過程里,不僅科學(xué)界踏上新的途徑,人文和社會(huì)科學(xué)領(lǐng)域也同樣致力跨學(xué)科研究。反思帝國主義歷史對(duì)文學(xué)的影響已經(jīng)產(chǎn)生了“后殖民研究”的豐富成果。法學(xué)和經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)的交會(huì)為我們對(duì)法律制度和政府政策的理解帶來新意。在法學(xué)院一門關(guān)于道德和法律論證的的課堂上,師生藉由莎士比亞的《威尼斯商人》文學(xué)想象了解死刑的影響。
在二十一世紀(jì)追尋真理不僅需要我們跨越學(xué)科的疆界,也跨越國家的疆 2 界,就像我今天站在這里就是一個(gè)見證。當(dāng)全球的關(guān)系與日俱增,真理的構(gòu)思也必須帶有國際視野。我們的社會(huì)學(xué)家對(duì)家庭的理解,建筑學(xué)家的設(shè)計(jì)理念都必須與世界接軌;我們商學(xué)院的課程專題評(píng)估強(qiáng)調(diào)對(duì)中國、印度、還有其他國家的公司和組織的研究,應(yīng)該和對(duì)美國的研究等量齊觀。我們法學(xué)院的新生在第一年就必須修習(xí)國際法。公共健康學(xué)院的研究員研究中國婦女乳癌的風(fēng)險(xiǎn),與白人婦女的罹病數(shù)據(jù)作比較。傳染病研究在不同的背景下有不同的結(jié)論,必須在全球的技術(shù)上做出判斷。我們的神學(xué)院已經(jīng)有將近四百年的歷史,當(dāng)初訓(xùn)練基督教傳教士,如今研究世界宗教——從佛教,伊斯蘭教,印度教,到它本身基督教公理會(huì)教派的根源研究。近年以來,實(shí)在說近十年以來,我們開始鼓勵(lì)大學(xué)本科學(xué)生出國留學(xué)。我們建議他們?cè)诠鹁蛯W(xué)間能到美國以外的地區(qū)研習(xí)。僅僅過去六年,本科生出國留學(xué)的人數(shù)比例就上升了300%。今年單在中國,就有一百五十名哈佛大學(xué)本科生在這里學(xué)習(xí),研 4 究,或?qū)嵙?xí)。醫(yī)學(xué)院的研究生在中國五個(gè)定點(diǎn)工作。同時(shí)我們也歡迎大批國際學(xué)生到哈佛就學(xué)。哈佛各學(xué)院國際學(xué)生的總比例已將近20%,包括了一千四百名來自亞洲的學(xué)生。
一百多年以前,當(dāng)時(shí)還是北大創(chuàng)校的初期,哈佛的教授和學(xué)生必然與今天大不相同,他們教導(dǎo),研究,和學(xué)習(xí)真理的方式也有顯著差別。即使如此,他們必然了解他們是在追求真理和知識(shí),致力于“明明德”。我們今天之所以能在此,也是源自于他們的追求,他們的疑問,他們對(duì)更早一代的想法的挑戰(zhàn),還有他們的發(fā)現(xiàn)為世界所帶來的改變。
作為傳統(tǒng)的繼起者和受益者,我們懷有特別的使命。我們不僅是對(duì)過去,也對(duì)未來,負(fù)有責(zé)任。我們的責(zé)任是讓開放的原則,求知的習(xí)性,和獻(xiàn)身學(xué)問的態(tài)度持續(xù)滋長,以待下一個(gè)世紀(jì)的到來。我們的責(zé)任也是讓我今天所描述的的“真理”——veritas——這個(gè)字的種種新義, 不斷啟發(fā)我們,也定義我們的進(jìn)步。
第五篇:哈佛大學(xué)校長Drew Faust 2012畢業(yè)典禮演講
哈佛大學(xué)校長Drew Faust 2012畢業(yè)典禮演講
With Commencement today, we close our year of commemorating Harvard’s 375th birthday.From an exuberant party for 18,000 in torrential rain and ankle-deep mud here in Tercentenary Theatre last fall to today’s invocation of John Harvard’s spirit still walking the Yard, we have celebrated this special year and this institution’s singular and distinguished history.Founded by an act of the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1636, Harvard was the first college in the English colonies and is the oldest in what has become the United States.Harvard was already 140 years old when the nation was founded.There are few institutions in this country or even the world that can claim such longevity.But what does such a claim mean? At a time when the buzzword of “innovation” is everywhere, when the allure of the new drives business, politics and society, what do we intend by our celebration of endurance and of history? Why do we see history as an essential part of our identity? Why is Harvard’s past an invaluable resource as we decide how to shape the future?
In a quite literal sense, history creates our identity – who we as Harvard actually are – and as a result who we aspire to be.We live in a community made up not just of the students, faculty and staff now here – or even the 300,000 Harvard alumni around the world.We are part of a community that extends across time as well as space.We acknowledge an indelible connection to those who have come before – predecessors both recent and remote, who remind us of what is possible for us by their demonstration of what was possible for them.Harvard’s history instills both expectations and responsibilities as it challenges us to inhabit this legacy.One cannot study philosophy here without sighting the ghosts of John Rawls, Willard Quine, Benjamin Peirce, Ralph Waldo Emerson, or William James.One cannot study law without thinking of the 18 Harvard Law School alumni who have served as Supreme Court justices, including the 6 currently on the bench – not to mention the graduate in the White House and the seven presidents with Harvard degrees who have preceded him.Those who appear on Harvard stages surely imagine themselves as Jack Lemmon or Natalie Portman or Stockard Channing, directed by the equivalents of Peter Sellars, Diane Paulus, or Mira Nair.Or perhaps our aspiring actors see themselves in John Lithgow and Tommy Lee Jones, who returned together for Arts First weekend earlier this month to reminisce about their thespian adventures in Cambridge.And those seeking to change the world through technology are sure to reflect on Zuckerberg, Ballmer, and Gates.In these domains and so many others, we have the privilege of living alongside a remarkable heritage of predecessors.We have certainly not come to work and study here in Cambridge and Boston because of the weather – though this past winter suggests climate change may be altering that.We are drawn here because others before us have set a standard that extends across centuries in its power and its appeal.We think of ourselves in their company;we seek to be worthy of that company, and to share our days with others similarly motivated and inspired.We want to contribute as they have contributed in every imaginable field.We want to know – to understand – societies, governments, eras, organizations, galaxies, works of art and literature, structures, circuits, diseases, cells.We want to make our lives matter.We want to improve the human condition and build a better world.We want Harvard to ask that of us, to expect that of us and to equip us to accomplish it.History shapes our institutional ideals as well as our individual ambitions.Having a history diminishes the grip of the myopic present, helping us to see beyond its bounds, to transcend the immediate in search of the enduring.It challenges us to place our aspirations and responsibilities within the broadest context of understanding.We expect the future to be as long as the past;we must act in ways that are not just about tomorrow – but about decades and even centuries to come.This means that we teach our students with the intention of shaping the whole of their lives as well as readying them for what happens as soon as they leave our gates.This means that in the sciences – and beyond – we support research that is driven by curiosity, by the sheer desire to understand – at the same time that we pursue discoveries that have immediate measurable impact.And it means that we support fields of study – of languages, literatures, cultures – that are intended to locate us within traditions of reflection about the larger purposes of human existence, enabling us to look beyond ourselves and our own experience, to ask where we are going – not just how we get there.Even in our professional Schools, designed to educate students for specific vocations, we seek to instill the perspective that derives from the critical eye and the questioning mind;we charge our students to think about lasting value, not just quarterly returns.These commitments shape our institutional identity – our discussions and decisions about what a university is and must be.As both higher education and the world have been transformed, Harvard has not just weathered the past 375 years.It has changed and flourished – from its origins as a small, local college designed to produce educated ministers and citizens, to its emergence as a research university in the late 19th century, to its transformation into a national institution, and its development after World War II as an engine of scientific discovery and economic growth, as well as a force for significantly broadening social opportunity.We are now in another moment of dramatic shift in higher education: Globalization and technology are prominent among the forces that challenge us once again to examine how we do our work and how we define our aims.This year alone we have launched a new University-wide initiative to think in fresh ways about our methods of learning and teaching, a new University-wide Innovation Lab to help our students bring their ideas to life, and edX, a new partnership with MIT to embrace the promise of online learning for our students while sharing our knowledge more widely with the world.As we reimagine ourselves for the 21st century, we recognize that history teaches us not just about continuity – what is important because it is enduring.History also teaches us about change.Harvard has survived and thrived by considering over and over again how its timeless and unwavering dedication to knowledge and truth must be adapted to the demands of each new age.History encourages us to see contingency and opportunity by offering us the ability to imagine a different world.Think of how Harvard changed as we came to recognize that our commitment to fulfilling human potential required us to open our gates more broadly.The continuity of our deepest values led us to the transformation of our practices – and of the characteristics of the students, faculty and staff who inhabit and embody Harvard.What was once unimaginable came to seem necessary and even inevitable as we extended the circle of inclusion and belonging to welcome minorities and women, and in recent years to so significantly enhance support for students of limited financial means.Our history provides “a compass to steer by” – to borrow a phrase from Massachusetts Bay Governor John Winthrop.It fills us with confidence in our purposes and in our ability to surmount the risks of uncharted seas.With the strength of our past, we welcome these unknowns and the opportunities they offer as we reimagine Harvard for its next 375 years.For nearly four centuries now, Harvard has been inventing the future.History is where the future begins.From: http://