Asia and Asians at Harvard Conference
Organized by the Harvard Asia Center
Co-sponsored by the Harvard Asia-related Centers and WCFIA
Harvard’s long-standing, reciprocal relationships with Asia have shaped scholarship, policymaking, and cultural life—both on our campus and across the region. This two-day conference will Illuminate history – showcase pivotal encounters, initiatives, and collaborations linking Harvard and Asia since the late-19th century; Celebrate contributions – honor Asian students, faculty, and visitors whose work redefined disciplines and campus culture; Critically assess impact – examine Harvard’s role in Asian policymaking, development, and institution-building, acknowledging successes and shortcomings; and Imagine futures – spark new, equitable collaborations that broaden Asia-related teaching, research, and public engagement at Harvard.
Registration is not required but appreciated for planning purposes.
4:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Welcome and Opening Reflections
Michael Puett, Victor and William Fung Foundation Director, Harvard University Asia Center; Walter C. Klein Professor of Chinese History and Anthropology, FAS; Harvard College Professor
Opening Panel
“Harvard’s Japan Encounter”
Susan J. Pharr, Edwin O. Reischauer Research Professor of Japanese Politics, FAS, Harvard University
“Harvard and Asia: Brief Encounters, Abiding Relationships”
Sugata Bose, Gardiner Professor of Oceanic History and Affairs, FAS, Harvard University
Traditional Sumatran Dance Performance
Presented by Harvard Indonesian Students Association
Reception
Concourse Area, CGIS South, 1730 Cambridge Street
8:15 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. Breakfast
9:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.
Distinguished Visitors: Asian Intellectuals and Public Figures at Harvard
Moderator: Shigehisa Kuriyama, Reischauer Institute Professor of Cultural History; Director, Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies; Interim Chair in the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, FAS; and Faculty Director for the Humanities, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study
Panelists:
“Imperfect Encounters: South Asians and Harvard in the Early 20th Century”
Mou Banerjee, Assistant Professor of History, University of Wisconsin–Madison; Ph.D. in History, Harvard University
“Repurposing the ‘Civilizing Mission’: A Japanese Sinologist at Harvard, 1915–1916”
Yan Yu, Associate Professor, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and Visiting Scholar, Harvard History Department, FAS
“Kissing Harvard Goodbye: The Cold War Considerations of Lee Kuan Yew’s American Visits”
Eugene Chua, Harvard College Student
10:30 a.m. - 10:45 a.m. Break
10:45 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
Pioneers and Pathways: Asian Student Experiences at Harvard
Moderator: Sun Joo Kim, Harvard-Yenching Professor of Korean History, FAS, Harvard University
Panelists:
"Shared Paths, Unique Stories: Harvard's Korean Alumni”
Sujin Elisa Han, Ph.D. candidate in History and East Asian Languages, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University
Title Forthcoming
Mui Poopoksakul, Independent Literary Translator, Berlin; Harvard College Graduate
“The Earliest Asian Women at Radcliffe College”
Shayna Leng, Harvard College Student
“'Democratizing Monarch?' Harvard in the Himalaya and King Birendra at Harvard”
Kashish Bastola, Harvard College Student
12:15 p.m. - 1:15 p.m. Lunch
1:15 p.m. - 2:45 p.m.
Harvard’s Engagement in U.S. Policy towards Asia
Moderator: Sugata Bose, Gardiner Professor of Oceanic History and Affairs, FAS, Harvard University
Panelists:
“Making Subjects of Subjects: Harvard and the Transnational Project of U.S. Colonial Education in the Philippine”
Eleanor Wikstrom, M.Sc. in Social Science of the Internet, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford; Harvard College Graduate
"Harvard Eugenicists and Immigration Restriction in the U.S."
Erika Lee, Bae Family Professor of History, FAS and the Faculty Director of the Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, Harvard University
“A Cold War Redux in Asia: Harvard’s Legacy and Role”
Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Director of the Institute of Security and International Studies (ISIS) and Associate Professor of International Political Economy, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University
“Harvard and the Vietnam War: Contestation vs. Support”
Nghia Nguyen, Harvard College Student
2:45 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. Break
3:00 p.m. - 4:50 p.m.
Harvard’s Asian Futures: Rethinking Institutional Legacies and Regional Engagement
Moderator: Jay Rosengard, Lecturer in Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School
Panelists:
“Studying China at Harvard in the 1960s”
Joseph Esherick, Emeritus Professor of Modern Chinese History, University of California, San Diego
"Impact Taking Many Forms"
Bill Alford, Jerome A. and Joan L. Cohen Professor of Law; Director, East Asian Legal Studies Program; Chair, Harvard Law School Project on Disability
"Exporting Expertise: Institutionalizing Planning Education in Southeast Asia"
Robin Albrecht, MArch Candidate, Department of Architecture, Harvard University Graduate School of Design
“Recovering Voices: Using Museum Collections to Address Institutional Histories”
Ingrid Ahlgren, Curator for Oceanic Collections, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, FAS, Harvard University; Research Associate, Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History
Title Forthcoming
Michael Puett, Victor and William Fung Foundation Director, Harvard University Asia Center; Walter C. Klein Professor of Chinese History and AnthropologyFAS; Harvard College Professor
4:50 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Closing Acknowledgement
Rachelle Walsh, Executive Director, Asia Center, FAS, Harvard University
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Exhibition
Memories and Milestones: Asia and Asians at Harvard
On view November 2025 – March 2026
Harvard Asia Center
First Floor Lounge, GIS South
1730 Cambridge Street, Cambridge
Concurrent Pop-up Exhibition at Houghton Library
15 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA
On view November 14–15, 2025
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Organized by the Harvard University Asia Center
Director: Professor Michael Puett
Faculty Lead: Professor Sugata Bose
With guidance and support from: Professors Sun Joo Kim; Annette Damayanti Lienau; Malavika Reddy; James Robson; Jay Rosengard; Mark Wu.
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Co-sponsored by the Program on U.S.-Japan Relations, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, the Korea Institute, the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, the Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute, the Harvard-Yenching Institute, and the Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies.
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