Homepage
Upcoming Events
News
China-related Courses at Harvard, Spring 2026 Semester
Harvard offers a wide range of courses on China and Chinese Studies from across the arts, humanities, social sciences, and professional schools. Check out our…
Mark Baker and Xiaolu Ma (Ph.D. ’17) awarded honors for new books
Two books published by the Harvard University Asia Center and cosponsored by the Fairbank Center for Chinese studies were recently recognized by the Urban History…
Videos
Faculty Spotlight
Ellen Widmer has been a Center Associate at the Fairbank Center since 1981 and a driving force behind the Center’s Gender Studies Workshop since 1999. This year’s workshop, ‘The Beauty and the Book: Women, Knowledge, Literature, and Book Culture in Late Imperial China and Beyond’—co-sponsored by the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange, Wellesley College, the Harvard University Asia Center, and the Fairbank Center—will take place on Friday, April 25. In June, Professor Widmer will retire from her position as Mayling Soong Professor of Chinese Studies & Professor of East Asian Studies at Wellesley College.
Blog
Our Undergraduate Research Grant Recipients Reflect on a Summer of Discovery in China and Beyond
Every summer, the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies supports undergraduate students as they set off to pursue research interests across the world. The Fairbank Center’s Summer Research Grants help undergraduate…
“Madame Fairbank’s Living Room”: How John and Wilma Fairbank Forged Lasting Ties with China’s Intellectuals During WWII
Professor John King Fairbank and Wilma Cannon Fairbank lived in Beijing during the 1930s, as John pursued his dissertation research and Wilma painted and researched ancient temples. During that time,…
An Oxbow in the River of Time? “River Elegy” and China’s Quest for Modern Greatness
An Oxbow in the River of Time? “River Elegy” and China’s Quest for Modern Greatness by Andrew S. Erickson, Visiting Scholar at the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies; Professor of Strategy, China Maritime…
A Conversation on Yang Shuang-zi’s ‘Taiwan Travelogue: A Novel’—Food, History, and the “Good Life”
Following a recent talk co-presented by the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies and the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation, we asked two of its featured speakers—Yun Fu, Professor at the Harvard Graduate…
In Memoriam: Paul A. Cohen (1934-2025)
Paul A. Cohen, longtime Associate of the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies and the Edith Stix Wasserman Professor of History and Asian Studies Emeritus at Wellesley College, died on September…





















