Asia and Asians at Harvard Conference
Thursday, November 13th – Friday, November 14th, 2025
CGIS South, 1730 Cambridge Street
Harvard’s long and dynamic engagement with Asia has profoundly shaped scholarly inquiry, policymaking, and cultural life—both within the university and across the region. This two-day conference brings together faculty, students, and alumni to explore the complex and evolving relationship between Harvard and Asia, tracing its legacies over more than a century and envisioning its future trajectories.
Through a series of panels and presentations, the conference revisits pivotal encounters, collaborations, and institutional linkages that have connected Harvard with Asia since the late nineteenth century. It celebrates the contributions of Asian students, faculty, and visiting figures whose presence and work have redefined academic disciplines, enriched campus life, and broadened global conversations. At the same time, it offers a critical assessment of Harvard’s involvement in U.S. policy, development, and institution-building in Asia—acknowledging both its influence and its complicity in shaping regional dynamics.
The conference seeks to spark dialogue on how Harvard can foster more inclusive, equitable, and regionally balanced approaches to the study of Asia. In doing so, it invites participants to imagine new forms of engagement that reflect the complexity and vitality of Asia in the world today.
Day 1: Thursday, November 13, 2025
4:00 p.m.
Opening and Introductions
Opening Panel
Day 2: Friday, November 14, 2025
9:00 a.m.
Panel 1: Distinguished Visitors: Asian Intellectuals and Public Figures at Harvard
This panel explores the visits of influential Asian thinkers and political figures from India, China, Japan, Korea, Thailand, and Singapore to Harvard from the late nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century. Focusing on figures such as Swami Vivekananda and Rabindranath Tagore (India), Hu Shih of China, early Japanese and Korean visitors, the King of Thailand, and Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew, the discussion highlights how these encounters shaped intellectual exchange, diplomatic relationships, and Harvard’s emerging role as a site of global dialogue during critical periods of political and cultural change across Asia.
10:45 a.m.
Panel 2: Pioneers and Pathways: Asian Student Experiences at Harvard
This panel examines the histories and legacies of Asian students at Harvard, beginning with early cohorts from Korea, Japan, China, and India, and extending to more recent experiences of students from across Asia. Through archival projects, student-produced video presentations, and personal reflections, the panel explores how students from these countries have navigated Harvard’s academic and social landscape, contributing to the university’s global outlook and to broader conversations in literature, translation, and cultural identity.
1:30 p.m.
Panel 3: Harvard’s Engagement in US Policy towards Asia
This panel critically examines Harvard’s historical participation in shaping U.S. policy and intervention in Asia across the twentieth century. From its role in advancing colonial governance in the Philippines and influencing immigration policy through the 1924 Asian Exclusion Act, to its involvement in the Vietnam War and its entanglements with Thai political life, the panel considers how academic authority, expertise, and institutional networks at Harvard contributed to the formation and implementation of U.S. strategies in Asia. These cases invite reflection on the broader responsibilities of universities in global political histories.
3:15 p.m.
Panel 4: Harvard’s Asian Futures: Rethinking Institutional Legacies and Regional Engagement
This panel explores Harvard’s evolving relationship with Asia through its academic institutions, policy initiatives, and intellectual contributions. Presentations will revisit key moments, including critiques of Harvard’s stance on China in the 1970s, its involvement in legal and urban reform efforts in China and Thailand as well as economic development in Pakistan and Indonesia, and its role in shaping regional expertise. The discussion will also assess the development of Asia-related centers across the university, highlighting both achievements and persistent gaps—particularly in Southeast Asian studies—and will consider new directions for Harvard’s engagement with Asia in a rapidly changing global context.
4:45 p.m.
Closing Acknowledgement