Memories and Milestones: Asia and Asians at Harvard

Harvard’s connections with Asia, which dates back to over a century and a half, have shaped how the University has viewed knowledge, culture, and the world beyond its walls. The Memories and Milestones: Asia and Asians at Harvard exhibit traces the intertwined histories of Harvard and Asia through the lived experiences of the university community, from the first Chinese language course taught by Ko K’un-hua in 1879 to Meiji-era students such as Kaneko Kentarō, and from the writings and travels of Rabindranath Tagore to the work of postwar scholars like Sisir K. Bose and Joungwon Kim. 

The photographs, letters, and manuscripts on display capture a dynamic exchange of knowledge and influence—one that has shaped individuals personally and has also profoundly influenced Harvard as an institution, illustrating how cross-cultural learning has long been central to the University’s global story.

The Memories and Milestones invites visitors to pause with these histories—compelling stories of students, scholars, and visitors from across Asia whose presence has left a lasting imprint on campus life—and to contemplate the many ways Asia itself has been imagined, studied, and encountered at Harvard.

An interactive timeline of the exhibit encourages visitors to contribute memories, events, and overlooked moments, extending this conversation into a living record of Harvard’s evolving, layered, and still-unfolding relationship with Asia.

The exhibit, curated by Sugata Bose, with curatorial collaboration by Tenzin Ngodup, is presented in conjunction with the Asia and Asians at Harvard Conference, November 13–14, 2025.

The Harvard University Asia Center gratefully acknowledges the collaboration and support of the Harvard Art Museums; the Harvard University Archives; Houghton Library at Harvard University; the Schlesinger Library at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute; the Korea Institute’s Korean Alumni Biographies Project at Harvard University; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology; the Robert S. Cox Special Collections and University Archives Research Center at the UMass Amherst Libraries; Boston Children’s Hospital; and the individuals who contributed to this project.