Asia Center Celebrates 20 Years

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Harvard University Asia Center. On April 13, 2018, the Asia Center celebrated this milestone with a day of talks featuring students, current and former center directors, and other distinguished speakers who have been instrumental in the work of the Center. The Center wrapped up the day with the 13th Tsai Lecture: a keynote address by the Honorable Kevin Rudd, former Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Australia and current President of the Asia Society Policy Institute, who spoke to a standing-room-only audience.  20th anniversary events continue this fall, culminating in the 14th Tsai Lecture on November 27, featuring the Honorable Caroline Kennedy. 

The Asia Center was founded during the 1997-1998 academic year as a university-wide interfaculty initiative to provide an intellectual meeting ground for faculty members, students, scholars, and other professionals engaged with Asia from across Harvard schools, Asia, and around the world. The Asia Center was designed to make a real impact in the United States, in Asia, and well beyond.

We continue to build on the strengths of the past while also actively and significantly reshaping the Center to meet better the needs of the future. The Center is guided by its new mission statement: "Generating and sharing knowledge about Asia in transnational and transregional perspective. Fostering teaching, collaboration, and innovation across and beyond cultural and disciplinary boundaries.”

The Asia Center is marking its 20th anniversary not only by hosting special events but also by increasing our digital presence via Facebook and this new website. The Center's website now includes an interactive map that provides users with a convenient way to explore Asia at Harvard and to learn about available Asia-related resources at the University, including people, programs, organizations, courses, publications, and events at Harvard relevant to their geographic and disciplinary interests.  

More events to celebrate the Asia Center's 20th anniversary will be announced in the coming months. Please subscribe to our mailing list, follow us on Facebook, or check this website for updates.