Government
Current Research
While the Fairbank Center has a long, proud tradition of inquiry into Chinese history, it also has a commitment to the study of contemporary China. The Center holds a variety of events throughout the year focusing on contemporary Chinese policy, economy, and the historical underpinnings behind the China of today. Recently, a faculty panel responded to questions concerning President Xi Jinping and his plans for China’s future.
Expertise
Daniel Koss 古大牛
Lecturer in East Asian Languages and Civilizations
Daniel Koss researches political parties and East Asian politics, with a particular interest in history. His first book, published in 2018, is about the role of political parties under authoritarianism and investigates the Chinese Communist Party. Asking why the ChineseRead More
Steven Goldstein 戈迪溫
Sophia Smith Professor of Government, Emeritus, Smith College
Research interests: Chinese domestic and foreign policy, mainland China-Taiwan relations and US-Taiwan relations.
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Yuhua Wang 王裕华
Assistant Professor of Government
Yuhua Wang is assistant professor in the Department of Government at Harvard University. His research focuses on state institutions and state-business relations in China, and he is the author of Tying the Autocrat’s Hands: The Rise of the Rule ofRead More
Nara Dillon 温奈良
Senior Lecturer on Government
Nara Dillon received her B.A. in history from Williams College and her Ph.D. in political science from the University of California, Berkeley. From 2003 to 2007 she taught Chinese politics and comparative politics as an Assistant Professor at Bard College.
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Elizabeth J. Perry 裴宜理
Henry Rosovsky Professor of Government; former Director of the Fairbank Center
Elizabeth J. Perry is Henry Rosovsky Professor of Government and Director of the Harvard-Yenching Institute. She is a comparativist with special expertise in the politics of China. A fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the recipientRead More
Anthony Saich 托尼·赛奇
Daewoo Professor of International Affairs
Anthony Saich is the director of the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation and Daewoo Professor of International Affairs, teaching courses on comparative political institutions, democratic governance, and transitional economies with a focus on China.
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Ezra F. Vogel 傅高义
Henry Ford II Professor of the Social Sciences, Emeritus, former Director of the Fairbank Center
Professor Vogel succeeded John Fairbank as second Director (1972-1977) of Harvard's East Asian Research Center (now the Fairbank Center) and second Chairman of the Council for East Asian Studies (1977-1980).
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Joseph Fewsmith 傅士卓
Professor of International Relations and Political Science, Boston University
Joseph Fewsmith is Professor of International Relations and Political Science at Boston University. He is the author or editor of eight books, including, most recently, The Logic and Limits of Political Reform in China (January 2013).
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Merle Goldman 戈德曼
Professor of History Emerita, Boston University
Merle Goldman is the author of a number of books on modern Chinese history and culture. Her last two books, China’s Intellectuals: Advise and Dissent (1981) and Sowing the Seeds of Democracy in China (1994), were selected by the NewRead More
Research Projects
Ci Jiwei Democracy and China: Philosophical-Political Reflections Lecture Series
In partnership with a number of other schools and centers, the Fairbank Center hosted the first of Professor Ci Jiwei’s five part lecture series on democracy and China. Professor Ci Jiwei gave his first talk of the series, entitled “Must China Be Faulted for Its Political System?”, at the Fairbank Center, and examined the political, ideological, and normative stakes in political-system hostility and discussed, as a matter of global justice, what approach to political-system differences is most conducive to peace and democracy.
Xi Jinping Symposium
As China’s President, Xi Jinping, made his first official visit to Washington, U.S.-China relations entered a challenging period. Issues of the economy, cyber security, the South China Sea, human rights, the rule of law, and the environment are all prevalent in today’s relations between U.S.-China, and President Xi’s visit was a pinnacle event for the U.S. diplomatic calendar.
In this town-hall style event, the audience posed anonymous questions they would have asked President Xi had he visited Harvard. The Center’s expert panelists Ezra Vogel, William Kirby, Meg Rithmire, and Ya-Wen Lei, chaired by the Fairbank Center’s former Faculty Director Mark Elliott, debated what President Xi’s answers might look like.
Latest News
2018-2019: A Year in Review of China Studies at Harvard
Read and download our 2018-2019 Annual Report here. The 2018–19 academic year was a challenging time for all of us at the Fairbank Center who devote ourselves to the study of China. The U.S.-China bilateral relationship continues to deteriorate and there are few...
Fall 2019 Courses on China
COURSES PRIMARILY FOR UNDERGRADUATES Government GOV 1288: China’s Economic Development Nara Dillon How has China achieved high economic growth rates for 40 years? Have the post-Mao economic reforms created a market economy, or a new form of state...
