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| An architectural design of the future Notre Dame University, Bangladesh building |
The
Congregation of Holy Cross, that has been running Notre Dame College in
Dhaka since 1949, is opening a university in this college campus from coming
September. The same Congregation of Holy Cross runs the world-renowned
University of Notre Dame in Indiana, USA.
The
new university, named Notre Dame University, Bangladesh, received the required
Bangladesh government approval on April 29, 2013. It will be one of dozens of
universities in Bangladesh. It is going to be the first Catholic university in Bangladesh with Father Benjamin Costa, CSC, as its Vice Chancellor.
A
Different Type of University
Notre
Dame University, Bangladesh, is slated to be a unique university because of its
“student-centered, value-based and service-oriented” emphasis. It intends to “teach
students not just a livelihood, but how to live in today’s complex world.” It
will “not educate just the mind but also help form the heart.” The university’s
motto is “The competence to see and
the courage to act.”
The
university will temporarily be housed in the buildings of Notre Dame College
until the construction of its own multi-storied building in the north-east
section of the same college campus.
A
Co-educational University
Although
Notre Dame College is only for male students, the new university will be for both
male and female students and its medium of instruction will be English.
Each
academic year will have three semesters – the Fall Semester (September to Mid-December),
Spring Semester (January to March) and Summer Semester (Mid-April to July). The
annual admissions will take place only in September.
Courses
The
four-year Degree (Honours) courses will be of two types – the core curriculum
courses and the main or major courses.
In
the first year, all students, irrespective of their major courses to be taken
in the last three years, will need to take the mandatory core curriculum
courses. These courses will include leadership, critical (analytical) thinking,
academic methodology, linguistic skills in English, human dignity and rights,
and human development.
The
students will also be exposed to Socio-cultural History of Asia, Economics,
Basic Sciences (Physics, chemistry, Biology and Mathematics), Inter-Personal
Relations and Bangladesh Ethnic Studies.
In
addition, students will learn about globalization, common good (good
governance) and gender relations.
The
core curriculum is based on the belief that “a well-educated person knows
something about everything and everything of something.”
The
next three years will be devoted to students’ major subjects “in context of what
has been learned in the Core-Curriculum.”
Initially
Three Major Degree Programmes
This
non-residential university will start with only three Degree (Honours) programmes:
Arts (English Language, Philosophy,
Economics and Sociology), Business
Studies (Accounting, Management, Marketing and Finance), and Law (both Honours and Pass Course).
The
University Website
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