Abstract: As the inheritance and development of liberal education,general education rose in the United States in the 1940s,which has a wide and profound impact on the education and social development of the United States,and also made the world draw lessons from.At present,the general education courses are generally offered in the mainland universities in China,but the implementation is not ideal.This paper studies the main characteristics and core concepts of general education in Harvard University,and points out that general education inherits the humanity of liberal education,and has typical democracy and strong epoch.As the foundation of professional education,this paper aims to cultivate a responsible person and excellent citizen,hoping to provide valuable reference for general education in China.

Key words: general education, Harvard University, humanism, democracy and times, good citizens