Asian Studies Programs
Faculty of the Council on Asian Studies
The Council on Asian Studies was created by resolutions of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences of April 12, 1972, and April 25, 2001. It exists to coordinate, advise, and promote teaching and research on Asia. It is comprised of faculty members from different departments of the FAS and from several schools of the University who study East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Inner Asia. It oversees or advises several academic programs mentioned below, and it provides faculty oversight to the Harvard University Asia Center.
The AM program in Regional Studies—East Asia is supervised by the Council and is described below.
The AB Concentration in East Asian Studies is advised and supported by the Council, and is described under East Asian Languages and Civilizations. Courses on East Asian languages, early history, literature, and thought are listed under East Asian Languages and Civilizations.
Programs in South Asian Studies and in Inner Asian and Altaic Studies are advised and supported by the Council and are listed separately in the catalog.
Other courses in Asian Studies are listed under the General Education, Core Curriculum, Anthropology, Economics, Government, History, History of Art and Architecture, Linguistics, Psychology, Sociology, the Study of Religion, and other departments.
The Harvard University Asia Center was created in 1997. Its Steering and Executive Committees are drawn from the Faculty of the Council on Asian Studies. The Center coordinates and supports research, teaching, and public programs on Asia throughout the University. The Center sponsors lectures, seminars, and conferences; supports faculty and student research; publishes books and journals; funds research and travel grants to undergraduate and graduate students; administers Harvard’s National Resource Center for East Asian Studies, and manages the competition for Title VI Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowships for graduate and professional students. The Center publishes a bi-weekly calendar of events during the Academic Year. The Asia Center is located at the Center for Government and International Studies (CGIS), 1730 Cambridge Street, room S113.
Faculty of the Standing Committee on the Degree of Master of Arts in Regional Studies–East Asia
Xiaofei Tian, Professor of Chinese Literature (Chair)
Henrietta Harrison, Professor of History
Sun Joo Kim, Professor of Korean History
Shigehisa Kuriyama, Reischauer Institute Professor of Cultural History
Yukio Lippit, Harris K. Weston Associate Professor of the Humanities
Michael A. Szonyi, Professor of Chinese History
Karen Thornber, Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature (on leave 2009-10)
Martin K. Whyte, Professor of Sociology (on leave fall term)
The program in Regional Studies–East Asia, leading to a Master of Arts degree, is a basic preparation (1) for students who intend to go on to PhD work in an East Asian specialization; and (2) for students who wish to equip themselves for nonacademic work. The program, which normally requires two years for completion, aims to make the student broadly conversant with the societies of the region, and also to give him or her a sound knowledge of one of the languages of the area. Details may be obtained from the Committee’s offices at 1730 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138 or 617-495-3777.
Faculty of the Standing Committee on the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History and East Asian Languages
Mark C. Elliott, Mark Schwartz Professor of Chinese and Inner Asian History (Chair)
Peter K. Bol, Charles H. Carswell Professor of East Asian Languages and Civilizations
Carter J. Eckert, Yoon Se Young Professor of Korean History
Andrew Gordon, Lee and Juliet Folger Fund Professor of History
Henrietta Harrison, Professor of History
Sun Joo Kim, Professor of Korean History
William C. Kirby, T. M. Chang Professor of China Studies and Spangler Family Professor of Business Administration (FAS), Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor
Shigehisa Kuriyama, Reischauer Institute Professor of Cultural History
Michael J. Puett, Professor of Chinese History
Michael A. Szonyi, Professor of Chinese History
Hue-Tam Ho Tai, Kenneth T. Young Professor of Sino-Vietnamese History
As of 2006, the Standing Committee on the PhD in History and East Asian Languages is not accepting new applications to the program. Interested students should consult the listing for the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations under “Degree in History and East Asian Languages” in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Handbook.
Graduate Courses of Reading and Research
*Regional Studies — East Asia 300. Reading and Research
Catalog Number: 4614
Members of the Committee
Designed to provide students with the opportunity to do reading and research in an approved area of their choice under the direction of a member of the Committee.
Note: Limited to students affiliated with the Regional Studies-East Asia program.
*Regional Studies — East Asia 310. Thesis Development
Catalog Number: 8453
Members of the Committee
Designed to allow students to develop previous research or a previously written paper into the AM thesis, under the direction of an appropriate faculty advisor.
Note: Limited to students affiliated with the Regional Studies-East Asia program. Counts as course credit, but not towards the basic course requirements for the degree.