Discussion keeps the world turning.
Hello, welcome to Roundtable,
where we serve up piping-hot debates on the issues that sizzle in China and beyond.
I'm Niao Honglin.
If you ask any university student about public courses,
chances are you'll hear two very different stories.
The inspiring class they never wanted to end,
and the one where even the professor seemed a bit bored.
With universities now cutting credits and reassessing course design,
the conversation is shifting from how many credits do we need,
to what kind of learning actually matters.
Today, we explore how university public courses can become more meaningful,
memorable, and worth showing up for.
For this episode, I'm joined by Yuchen and Steve Hatherly.
Now grab your virtual compass and follow us to the heart of the discussion.
General education was designed to broaden horizons to ensure students didn't just master a major but understood the world beyond it.
Yet, somewhere along the way, some courses lost their spark,
turning into checkboxes for graduation rather than gateways to curiosity.
As universities rethink their curricula, the challenge is quite clear.
How do we rebuild a system that nurtures critical thinkers, not corrected collectors?