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.