Huebner, Jon W., « L'Universite l'Aurore, Shanghai, 1903-1952 », (1989)

Title : « L'Universite l'Aurore, Shanghai, 1903-1952 »,

Author(s) : Huebner, Jon W.

Year : 1989

Type : Journal article

Subject : Urban Studies

Keywords : architecture;education

Journal : Papers on Far Eastern History

Number : 40

Start page : 133

End page : 149

Language:Name : English

Support : Print

Abstract : This detailed study of a French Jesuit institution, l'Universite l'Aurore, addresses the neglected role of contributions made by the French and the Catholics toward the development of modern higher education in China. An example of synthesis of the French model with a Chinese environment, the institution began classes in March 1903 with 20 students and Ma Xiangbo, an educator and former Jesuit, as director. The curriculum initially focused on "les sciences europeennes." In 1907 l'Aurore moved to permanent quarters on 17 acres of part of what would become the French Settlement. An expanded academic program included a three-year preparatory course modeled on the French baccalaureat and a three-year superior course leading to a diploma. A new hospital was built to support a medical school and, in 1912, a five-year medical program in which the Faculty of Medicine utilized the French medical tradition to train Chinese clinical practitioners. By the 1930's it was one of the leading teaching hospitals in China. A separate women's college was set up in 1937. A two-part Faculty of Law program covered Chinese practical law and European (French) law. The university reflected the growing cosmopolitanism of pre-1949 Shanghai, given the steadily increasing overall percentage of non-Chinese students at the school. After the Jesuits were expelled from China in 1949, it was incorporated into Fudan University along with liberal arts and sciences from other universities in 1952.