“Free Major” as a Leading Model for University Education

Son, Dong-Hyun

Korean Journal of General Education 2008;2(2):43-78.
Published online December 30, 2008.

Dong-Hyun Son

“자유전공”학부, 대학교육의 선도 모델이 되려면

손동현

Abstract

The so called “free major” program, which appeared recently in many universities, is actually expected to replace the department of law, which is to be closed on occasion of establishment of law school, in the sense that it could attract the excellent students. Indifferent of this background, its contents should be arranged according to the following guidelines in order to make contributions to improve the higher education at the universities in Korea. 1) The contents of curriculum should consist mainly of the basic problems and theories in the fields of basic liberal arts and sciences. This is to keep the universality of knowledge and the usefulness in broadest sense. 2) They must be in balance and harmony to make a whole in diversity. This si to nurture comprehensive thought and overview on the whole. 3) The curriculum must be organized to enable the students to find problems and approaches to a solution of them. A successful planning and management of the free major program would be a great contribution to the higher education at the universities in Korea, because this has been focused only on the special vocational education which must be overcome in the 21 century, the “era of information.”