About

The Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies at Harvard University brings together a global community of world-leading academics and practitioners to advance scholarship in all fields of China Studies.

  • Meet the 2026-27 Graduate Student Associates

    The Fairbank Center is pleased to announce this year’s GSA cohort of affiliated doctoral students For the 2026-27 academic year, six doctoral students will join the Fairbank Center’s Graduate Student Associates (GSA) program: Katniss Li, Zhuoyu Lin, Xiao Ma, Sasha Makarova, Seongun Park, and Sophia Xiao. The Fairbank Center’s Graduate Student Associate (GSA) program supports…

  • Fall 2026 Acquisitions at the H.C. Fung Library

    The Fung Library announces its new acquisitions for the Fairbank Center Collection.

  • Announcing Our 2026-27 Desmond and Whitney Shum Fellows

    The Fairbank Center is excited to award three doctoral students with Shum Fellowships supporting their research in China. For the 2026-27 academic year, the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies is pleased to support three students with Desmond and Whitney Shum Fellowships: Hagar Zheng Gal, Tcybzhid Tcybikova, and Kaixiao Liu. Established in 2005, the Desmond and…

History of the Center

The Fairbank Center was founded in 1955 by Professor John King Fairbank, a leading scholar in modern and contemporary China studies.

History of China at Harvard

Harvard University has promoted the study of China since the appointment of our first Chinese-language instructor in 1879.

Harvard Tercentenary Stele

This slender marble slab, or stele, was presented to Harvard in 1936 as a gift from Chinese alumni on the occasion of the University’s tercentenary, and stands to the side of Widener Library.

Our Community Policies

The Fairbank Center is unambiguously committed to maintaining a safe and healthy educational and work environment for our community.

The Fairbank Center stands in solidarity with our Asian, Asian-American, and Pacific Islander Communities.