In order to break down walls between various departments, Fudan University will lump all of its incoming students into two groups, art and science, this year, instead of grouping students by their majors.

The idea is to give students a chance to take courses offered in various departments so they get a broader education in their first year of studies, according to Fudan officials.

Starting this fall semester, first year students won't be arranged in classes set up by their specific schools or colleges. Instead, freshmen in 68 different majors will be divided into seven broader categories - such as social sciences, natural sciences, medicine, management and law - for basic education in either art or science.

Science students will still be expected to take some arts courses, and arts majors will have to earn some science credits.

In their second year of studies, students will begin taking classes offered by their own colleges, Fudan officials said.

"The new classification completely breaks the barrier of different majors, which provides much a wider knowledge range for young students and is a big step forward toward our target of all-round education," said Zheng Fangxian, director of Fudan's admission office.

A similar system has already been introduced at Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Donghua University.

This is the first time for a local university to apply the "art or science" classification system for all first-year students, Zheng said.

(Shanghai Daily April 16, 2005)