Aletheia University 4.83

Aletheia University is a private university in Tamsui, New Taipei City and Madou, Tainan in Taiwan. It was founded by George Leslie Mackay as Oxford College. It has close links to the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan, and is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in Taiwan.HistoryDr. George Leslie Mackay, a missionary from the Presbyterian Church in Canada, worked in evangelism, education, publishing and medicine after arriving in Tamsui in 1872 (during Qing rule). Soon after arriving Mackay chose a piece of land on a hilltop in the Pao-tai-pu (砲台埔) area of Tamsui, planned the design of the main building and personally supervised its construction. When the building, funded in large part by contributions from the residents of Oxford County in Ontario, Canada, was completed in 1882, he named the school Oxford College as a gesture of thanks to its benefactors. The original Chinese name of the school meant “The Hall of Reason of the University.” The original curriculum included courses in theology, Bible studies and reason as well as sociology, logic, Classical Chinese literature, Chinese history, the natural sciences and general courses in medicine, anatomy, and clinical practice. The school marked the beginning of general education curricula in Taiwan and is today Taiwan's institution of higher learning.