I. The Origin of the Program
In recent times, the goals of liberal arts education in universities in different countries may be expressed in different ways, but the spirit of cultivating university students to be "knowledgeable in knowledge and elegant in behavior" is not far from the same, and is also in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030 promoted by the United Nations since 2015, especially the 17 core goals. In particular, SDG4 "Quality Education" among the 17 core goals is the vision that many educators are striving to achieve. For this reason, the International Symposium on Innovation and Future Trends in Liberal Studies 2025 (hereinafter referred to as the Symposium) focuses on the themes of "Sustainable Development of SDGs", "Synthesis of Differences", and "Cross-domain Collaboration and Dialogue", and aims at reflecting on how Liberal Studies can lead students to have basic civic and social literacy skills and to be able to learn and learn in an environment of rapid development of Artificial Intelligence (AI), through the exchanges and collaborations in the fields of co-learning, sharing, and co-creating of academic and social resources. Students will be equipped with basic civic qualities and soft skills: a caring attitude and problem-solving ability in the face of various issues of human social development; the ability to treat other races, groups, classes, or genders kindly and to empathize with differences; and the ability to learn independently in order to broaden their knowledge in the face of rapid technological advancement, as well as the ability to collaborate and engage in dialogues with others across domains.
With "SDGs Sustainable Development," "Empathy for Differences," and "Cross-domain Cooperation and Dialogue" as the main axes, and in conjunction with the Ministry of Education's recent promotion of "Teaching Practice Programs and Research," the symposium plans a rich and diverse range of conference content and activities, including thematic forums, oral and poster presentations, presentation of the best papers, round-table discussion forums, and educational visits, etc., which will provide opportunities for domestic and international experts and scholars to participate, observe, discuss, and interact with one another, hoping to benefit both domestic and foreign scholars of liberal studies, regardless of academic specialty or quality of teaching. These activities provide opportunities for domestic and foreign experts and scholars to participate, observe, discuss, and interact with each other, with the hope of benefiting domestic and foreign scholars of liberal studies in terms of their academic specialties and teaching qualities, thus enhancing the international visibility of Taiwan's liberal studies, and promoting the realization of the goal of quality education.
II. Importance of the Seminar
Since its establishment, the Taiwan Liberal Studies Strategy Alliance and Quality Council (hereinafter referred to as the Alliance) has been committed to promoting the realization of the concept of liberal studies in universities and colleges and to improving the quality of teaching and research, and annually invites public and private universities to hold seminars for mutual learning and goodwill. 2024, in the summer of 2024, Chairman of the Alliance, Rui-Yi Hong, entrusted the hosting of the East Asian University of Science and Technology (EASTASU) and Shih Chien University (SHIU) and invited public and private universities and academic organizations to participate in this event. Public and private universities and academic organizations were also invited to participate. This symposium is in light of the fact that after the implementation of Syllabus 108, how to connect senior high school vocational learning with university liberal studies is a new issue that today's liberal studies educators must face and reflect on. In addition to the changes in students' learning attitudes and styles after the three-year epidemic, as well as the new thinking and trends brought about by the development of AI, the conference will focus on the three main axes of "SDGs Sustainable Development", "Differentiated Empathy", and "Cross-region Collaboration and Dialogue", namely, "Sustainable Development of SDGs and Cross-region Collaboration", "Self-directed Learning and Learning Effectiveness Measurement", "Liberal Studies Innovations and Practice", "Differentiated Empathy and AI Applications" and "Other Liberal Studies Related Issues", and "The Development of Liberal Studies". Under the axes of "SDGs Sustainable Development and Cross-domain Cooperation", "Independent Learning and Assessment of Learning Effectiveness", "Innovation and Practice of Liberal Studies", "Differentiation and Empathy and AI Application", "Other Liberal Studies Related Topics" and "Other Liberal Studies Related Topics", we are going to explore the topics such as SDGs and Issue-oriented Instructional Designs and Practices, Cross-domain Cooperation and Dialogue on Instructional Innovation, Differentiation and Empathy and University's Social Responsibility, Innovative Instructional Strategies and AI Application, and the Innovative Development Characteristics of Liberal Studies and its Teaching and Learning Practice, with the hope of pooling our collective wisdom and developing a new pattern of liberal studies.