通识选修 (General Education Electives) — 24 credits

What this file covers: the rules, categories and course-selection strategy for the
24 credits of 通识教育选修课 (general education electives) in the programme
requirements.

⚠️ How this differs from the other modules: the general education electives have no
"fixed timetable" — you pick them yourself from all the courses the university
offers. So what you need is not "notes on course content", but the rules + a map of the
categories + how to choose without stepping on a landmine. That is what this file does.

1 The programme requirements, verbatim (copied word for word, unchanged)

2. 通识教育选修课 (General Education Electives)

Starting from the second term and finishing before the end of the seventh term, you must
take 12 credits of 通识教育基础课 (General Education Foundation Courses) and 12 credits
of 通识教育核心课 (General Education Core Courses).

Selection principles:
1. You may take general education electives offered within the university or those offered
inter-universities.
2. You may not choose courses of the same kind as, or similar to, courses already offered
in your own major's programme.
3. You may take no more than 3 courses from any single category.
4. You must take at least 6 credits of 美育 (aesthetic education) courses
(多语能力与文化沟通, 文史经典与人文素养, 国际视野与文明对话, 社会研究与当代中国,
艺术创作与审美体验).
5. You must take at least 2 credits of 四史 ("Four Histories") courses.

2 Two deadlines (do not drag your feet)

⚠️ This is the rule people trip over most often.
24 credits looks like a lot, but in years 3 and 4 you will be doing internships, writing
your thesis and preparing application materials,
and by then, scrambling to make up general education credits means you only get the
courses other people have already picked over (usually the ones with harsh grading or
timetable clashes).

⭐ Recommendation: clear more than half of the 24 credits in Y2 spring + Y3 autumn
(6–8 general education credits per term is entirely feasible, because general education
courses are usually lighter than major courses). Save 4–6 credits as a buffer for year 4
and that is enough.

3 General Education Foundation Courses: the seven categories (category names copied from the original)

12 credits in total, chosen from the seven categories below:

通识教育核心课 (General Education Core Courses): 12 credits (the original only gives the
credit number and does not break down the sub-categories).

4 ⚠️ Two hard requirements that are "easy to fall through"

4.1 At least 6 credits of 美育 (aesthetic education) courses

What the original says:

At least 6 credits of 美育 (aesthetic education) courses (多语能力与文化沟通,
文史经典与人文素养, 国际视野与文明对话, 社会研究与当代中国, 艺术创作与审美体验).

⚠️ This paragraph is ambiguous — pay close attention:
- Read literally: 美育 courses are spread across categories 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 in the
table above, and do not include "科技发展与创新精神" or "家国情怀与精神传承".
- But the "美育" you are familiar with usually means arts courses (music, fine art,
drama) — which is not entirely consistent with the "by category" definition used here.

📌 You must ask the academic affairs office or your adviser about this one:
does "6 credits of 美育" mean "any courses from categories 1/2/3/4/6 adding up to 6
credits", or does it mean "arts courses adding up to 6 credits"?
Ask before you choose, otherwise you may waste 6 credits.

4.2 At least 2 credits of 四史 ("Four Histories") courses

四史 ("Four Histories") = the history of the Party, the history of New China, the
history of reform and opening up, and the history of socialist development.
(党史、新中国史、改革开放史、社会主义发展史)

Where to find them: category 7 in the table above, 「家国情怀与精神传承（含四史）」.

💡 Good news: 四史 courses usually give decent grades (ideological and political
general education courses are generally not hard),
and their content overlaps with your 思政课 (Ideological and Political Courses) —
so the marginal cost is very low.
Recommendation: get these 2 credits out of the way in year 2.

5 Two other restrictions (do not ignore them)

① You may not choose courses of the same kind as, or similar to, courses already offered in your own major

What this means for you:
your major already offers a whole pile of courses in education, psychology, linguistics,
cognitive science and AI —
so general education courses like "Introduction to Psychology", "Introduction to
Linguistics" or "Foundations of Artificial Intelligence" most likely cannot count towards
your general education credits (even if they are offered, they may not count).
Before choosing, always check the course list for overlaps with "already offered by your
major".

② No more than 3 courses from any single category

This has little impact on you (unless you want to grind hard in one category), but
make a note of it.

6 How to choose courses: an actionable strategy

⭐ The core tension of general education electives:
they are worth 24 credits (16% of the total) and directly affect your GPA, but their
content adds almost nothing to your overseas study application.
So the optimal strategy is: get the highest score at the lowest time cost.

Four principles:

① Do the "hard constraints" first, then the "free choices"

The order should be: 四史, 2 credits (compulsory) → 美育, 6 credits (compulsory; clarify the
definition first) → the remaining 16 credits chosen freely.
Deal with the 8 credits that the rules have locked down first, and only then do you have
room to pick.

② Prioritise courses that are "graded generously + lightly assessed"

How to judge: ask older students (the most reliable source).
Typical signs: open-book / submit an essay / an assessed (non-exam) course / no final
written exam / a lenient grader.

③ Also pick up courses that "connect to your major"

General education courses do not boost your application, but some of them can save you
effort elsewhere, for example:
- Statistics / data analysis → helps you consolidate 教育统计学 (Educational Statistics) (the course you are most likely to struggle with)
- Writing → helps you later with papers and application materials
- Programming / information → helps you fill in the programming requirement your major lacks
- Foreign languages → directly serves your IELTS / English goals

💡 These courses are a "win-win": you get the general education credits and you add
strength to your main line at the same time.
Put these first among the 16 free-choice credits.

④ Do not pick something you have zero interest in just because it is "easy to score in"

General education courses are your only chance to touch knowledge outside your own major.
Spend 4–6 credits exploring (philosophy, art, history, introductions to other
disciplines),
and only then pursue value for money with the rest. This is not just sentiment — the
"research interests" you write when applying for a master's
sometimes come from the inspiration provided by one general education course.

7 A sample timetable (arranged by 24 credits)

⚠️ This is only an example — the capacity of general education courses and their
timetable clashes are random,
which courses run in which term, and whether you can grab a place, are not up to you.
So the strategy is: take a bit more in any term when you can, and do not pile all 24 credits
onto the very end.

8 To-fill checklist (after term starts)

9 Related

• 思政课 (Ideological and Political Courses), 17 credits —— the 四史 courses overlap with it in content
• Other Compulsory General Courses (20 credits)
• Major Study Roadmap —— the full 149-credit structure, useful for checking course overlaps
• University Planning —— the overall time plan