General Education
To broaden their understanding of themselves and the world, students at the Chinese University supplement courses in their major fields with a broad array of courses and activities organized as part of General Education (GE).  GE is offered at both the university and college level.

Requirements
University requirements:  Information about the goals of University General Education and the requirements that all students at the University are expected to fulfill can be found here: link

College requirements:  All students are required to complete 6 units of College General Education.  General Education at Morningside College is described below.

Goals 
The goals of General Education at Morningside College are to:

• help our students adapt to and appreciate all that university life and learning have to offer;
• inspire students to explore perennial questions of human existence and human values;
• encourage engagement with social and political issues of local, national and global importance;
• foster a cosmopolitan spirit of openness to and appreciation of other cultures, societies, and ways of thinking and living;
• encourage creative, critical, analytical, and independent thinking;
• nurture appreciation for scientific inquiry, the arts and cultural expression;
• strengthen students' capacity to communicate in English and Chinese;
• provide opportunities for students to lead and work in teams;
• help students identify how they can be of service to others and how civic engagement can become an integral part of their life's work.

Program Features
To the extent possible, GE classes at Morningside College will be small (10-15 students), allowing for individualized instruction and opportunities for discussion and debate. Reflecting the international nature of the College, most instruction will be in English, supplemented by Chinese. The credit-bearing elements of the program include formal coursework as well as experiential learning through a service learning/civic engagement component. The program will also offer a range of non-credit-bearing co-curricular activities to enrich students’ college experience.

Program Structure
The General Education Committee of the College has approved the following program structure:

Credit-bearing components:

1. Freshman Seminar (3 credit units)
2. Civic Engagement/ Service Learning (3 credit units)

The sequence of activities is as follows:

Year 1

Freshman Seminar  (3 credit units)
This course, required of all Morningside College freshmen, is entitled Current Dilemmas and Their Histories. The course will present students with ethical dilemmas they are likely to meet in their personal and professional lives and in their lives as citizens and leaders in the community. They will also be presented with dilemmas of social and political judgment that political leaders need to face in Hong Kong, China and the wider world.

The course will be conducted in small classes (10-15 students per group). The dilemmas chosen for discussion will be introduced in ways that prompt students to think for themselves and discuss their views with others in class. Reading materials will enable students to inform themselves about both the dilemmas in their current manifestations, and the background to particular dilemmas, especially the history of ethical or political thinking shaping them. Emphasis will be on encouraging students to become self-reliant and interested in informing themselves about current affairs, and on strengthening their ability to formulate and express their own values and beliefs orally and in writing. The Freshman Seminar will help to inform students’ Service Learning / Civic Engagement projects in later years.

Year 2, 3, or 4

Civic Engagement/ Service Learning (3 credit units)
Students at the College may choose to engage in their civic engagement project or service learning during term time and/or summer break. Service learning includes hands-on volunteer work that addresses pressing human needs, while civic engagement could include work with an advocacy group, a think thank, a research institute or other entity that addresses problems affecting individuals and society.

Students will be given four options for completing the course: (1) NGO internship; (2) Partnered Programs developed by the College; (3) Individualized Service Project; and (4) Overseas Service Project. The course combines independent reading on a relevant topic, as proposed by the student, in consultation with a faculty advisor or on-site advisor where possible; a service project or internship; regular structured communication with course supervisors and fellow students to reflect upon the experience and lessons learned; and a final summative task, such as a report or presentation to the College community which integrates what the student has learned from independent reading and the project or service experience.

Students will generally complete the course during their third or fourth year of study, and may include the summer between their second and third years or third and fourth years. Students choosing Option 4 may complete the course in their second year if this is when they choose to study abroad.

International experiences
The College has developed a number of college-based exchanges with overseas institutions and will try to facilitate international experiences for as many students as possible.