论文部分内容阅读
Xue Yifan posted a picture of herself online. In the picture， she stands alone in front of the Peking University’s massive library in her graduation attire， looking solemnly into the camera. The photo would have been unremarkable were it not for one detail： She was the only graduate of the paleontology program at the Yuanpei College of Peking University this year.
Although seeing only one student study a major is a novelty to many， it is not unfamiliar to people with knowledge of the state of paleontology education in China.
Lu Xiaodong， deputy chief of the Yuanpei College， revealed that the paleontology program only has one student in each grade since its foundation in 2008.
The loneliest major
Paleontology was popular in China more than 50 years ago. Liu Jianbo， a professor at the College of Earth Sciences of Peking University， said that back then， thousands of students graduated with degrees in geosciences and an army of geologists and paleontologists were trained to survey the country’s natural resources.
Faced with uncertain prospects in the current job market， students are inclined to choose majors that lead to more lucrative careers.“Geology in general and paleontology in particular can be perceived as having a difficult job market，” a group of Chinese academics wrote in Paleontologia Electronica， a digital paleontological journal， in 2010.
“The most serious threat to the sustainable development of Chinese paleontology is the decline of undergraduate education programs at Chinese universities，” the scientists stated.
Paleontology courses were even cancelled in China in the 1990s. However， with the science being developed globally， a handful of universities—including Peking University， Nanjing University in Jiangsu Province and China University of Geosciences—reintroduced the major in the late 2000s. Peking University set up its paleontology course 2008 at its Yuanpei College.
The Yuanpei College is actually an elementary undergraduate program. Students enrolled in the school do not choose specific majors but are instead divided into two groups focusing on the humanities or science. After one or two years of fundamental education， they can freely choose their major.
Xue enrolled in the Yuanpei College in 2009 and chose to study paleontology in 2010， the only student to do so that year.
“Actually paleontology was one of the reasons why I chose Peking University，” Xue said. Xue’s passion for paleontology started in high school after watching a series of documentaries on ancient animals made by the British Broadcasting Corp.
Spellbound by the vivid pictures of dinosaurs， Xue checked which universities in China could best let her study these ancient animals， eventually setting her sights on Peking University.
Unlike the netizens’ belief that Xue is the only student in the class， paleontology combines the study of biology， geography and archaeology. Xue has to take classes at both the School of Life Sciences and the School of Earth and Space Sciences together with dozens of students and sometimes even more.
“As I am the only student that needs to take lessons from two schools， I need to balance the subjects I pick，” Xue said. “Sometimes when either of the schools change their schedule at short notice， which is not a big deal for students from those major， I have to reschedule my day， which is somewhat frustrating.”
Xue even considered quitting the major in 2011， shortly after she became a student of the program.
“I felt lonely and the pressure of my studies was also a heavy burden at that time，” Xue said.“I couldn’t share my woes with anybody as I was the only one studying paleontology.”
But Xue’s friends persuaded her not to give up. “They said it is not easy to pursue something you really love and since I had already started， I might as well finish，” she said.
“Although each year there was only one student entering the program， they all made the decision out of love for the science，” Lu said.
Zhang Boran， the first graduate of paleontology from the Yuanpei College， earned the highest score in the college entrance exam in east China’s Shandong Province in 2005. Now he is studying his doctoral degree at the University of California， Berkeley. “The major’s popularity is unimportant，” Zhang said. “What matters is whether you can study hard and make achievements in the field.”
“Many people thought I was lucky as I must be the center of the teachers’ attention. But that’s far from the truth，” Xue said. “The professors are at two different schools and they are all busy. I had to go to them with my questions most of the time.”
Xue wrote a paper on the ichthyosaur for her final dissertation that will be published in an academic journal in the United States， according to a report of Beijing Youth Daily. After her summer vacation， Xue will go on to study computational biology in Carnegie Mellon University in the United States for her master’s degree.
Roads less travelled
Sanskrit is another major that is defined as unpopular. Peking University is the only university in China to offer the major， and some years no students apply.
Since 1949， it has only enrolled students three times—in 1965， 1984 and 2005， respectively.
“The major is very tough，” said a Peking University Sanskrit graduate who enrolled in 2005. “We had to memorize all the grammatical rules within one year and we often studied till 2 or 3 a.m. every day.”
Peking University’s Sanskrit program only enrolls students that either already got a job related to Sanskrit study or will definitely work in this field.
“Students are swarming to majors that are likely to bring more financial benefits such as business administration， computer science and law，” said professor Liu. “Even if the students are interested in less popular majors， they might not have the courage to make the choice.”
Actually， Xue firstly was not enrolled in the Yuanpei College， which demands higher scores than other schools in Peking University. Xue called the professors in the Yuanpei College and expressed a strong will of studying paleontology， which secured her admission to the program.
“I hope more young people could express their real dreams，” Xue said. “I believe not everybody wants to earn money in investment banking or to become a lawyer. If you want to be a cook or hairdresser， or anything， just speak that out and do it.”
Although seeing only one student study a major is a novelty to many， it is not unfamiliar to people with knowledge of the state of paleontology education in China.
Lu Xiaodong， deputy chief of the Yuanpei College， revealed that the paleontology program only has one student in each grade since its foundation in 2008.
The loneliest major
Paleontology was popular in China more than 50 years ago. Liu Jianbo， a professor at the College of Earth Sciences of Peking University， said that back then， thousands of students graduated with degrees in geosciences and an army of geologists and paleontologists were trained to survey the country’s natural resources.
Faced with uncertain prospects in the current job market， students are inclined to choose majors that lead to more lucrative careers.“Geology in general and paleontology in particular can be perceived as having a difficult job market，” a group of Chinese academics wrote in Paleontologia Electronica， a digital paleontological journal， in 2010.
“The most serious threat to the sustainable development of Chinese paleontology is the decline of undergraduate education programs at Chinese universities，” the scientists stated.
Paleontology courses were even cancelled in China in the 1990s. However， with the science being developed globally， a handful of universities—including Peking University， Nanjing University in Jiangsu Province and China University of Geosciences—reintroduced the major in the late 2000s. Peking University set up its paleontology course 2008 at its Yuanpei College.
The Yuanpei College is actually an elementary undergraduate program. Students enrolled in the school do not choose specific majors but are instead divided into two groups focusing on the humanities or science. After one or two years of fundamental education， they can freely choose their major.
Xue enrolled in the Yuanpei College in 2009 and chose to study paleontology in 2010， the only student to do so that year.
“Actually paleontology was one of the reasons why I chose Peking University，” Xue said. Xue’s passion for paleontology started in high school after watching a series of documentaries on ancient animals made by the British Broadcasting Corp.
Spellbound by the vivid pictures of dinosaurs， Xue checked which universities in China could best let her study these ancient animals， eventually setting her sights on Peking University.
Unlike the netizens’ belief that Xue is the only student in the class， paleontology combines the study of biology， geography and archaeology. Xue has to take classes at both the School of Life Sciences and the School of Earth and Space Sciences together with dozens of students and sometimes even more.
“As I am the only student that needs to take lessons from two schools， I need to balance the subjects I pick，” Xue said. “Sometimes when either of the schools change their schedule at short notice， which is not a big deal for students from those major， I have to reschedule my day， which is somewhat frustrating.”
Xue even considered quitting the major in 2011， shortly after she became a student of the program.
“I felt lonely and the pressure of my studies was also a heavy burden at that time，” Xue said.“I couldn’t share my woes with anybody as I was the only one studying paleontology.”
But Xue’s friends persuaded her not to give up. “They said it is not easy to pursue something you really love and since I had already started， I might as well finish，” she said.
“Although each year there was only one student entering the program， they all made the decision out of love for the science，” Lu said.
Zhang Boran， the first graduate of paleontology from the Yuanpei College， earned the highest score in the college entrance exam in east China’s Shandong Province in 2005. Now he is studying his doctoral degree at the University of California， Berkeley. “The major’s popularity is unimportant，” Zhang said. “What matters is whether you can study hard and make achievements in the field.”
“Many people thought I was lucky as I must be the center of the teachers’ attention. But that’s far from the truth，” Xue said. “The professors are at two different schools and they are all busy. I had to go to them with my questions most of the time.”
Xue wrote a paper on the ichthyosaur for her final dissertation that will be published in an academic journal in the United States， according to a report of Beijing Youth Daily. After her summer vacation， Xue will go on to study computational biology in Carnegie Mellon University in the United States for her master’s degree.
Roads less travelled
Sanskrit is another major that is defined as unpopular. Peking University is the only university in China to offer the major， and some years no students apply.
Since 1949， it has only enrolled students three times—in 1965， 1984 and 2005， respectively.
“The major is very tough，” said a Peking University Sanskrit graduate who enrolled in 2005. “We had to memorize all the grammatical rules within one year and we often studied till 2 or 3 a.m. every day.”
Peking University’s Sanskrit program only enrolls students that either already got a job related to Sanskrit study or will definitely work in this field.
“Students are swarming to majors that are likely to bring more financial benefits such as business administration， computer science and law，” said professor Liu. “Even if the students are interested in less popular majors， they might not have the courage to make the choice.”
Actually， Xue firstly was not enrolled in the Yuanpei College， which demands higher scores than other schools in Peking University. Xue called the professors in the Yuanpei College and expressed a strong will of studying paleontology， which secured her admission to the program.
“I hope more young people could express their real dreams，” Xue said. “I believe not everybody wants to earn money in investment banking or to become a lawyer. If you want to be a cook or hairdresser， or anything， just speak that out and do it.”