One of the Fairbank Center’s greatest strengths is its intellectual community of scholars from around the globe. In spite of the challenges arising from COVID-19, we are proud to welcome a new cohort of scholars and affiliates to the Fairbank Center’s vibrant international community. We are particularly pleased to be able to welcome our community back in person for the first time since spring 2020.
As with many of the Center’s activities, this cohort will continue to experience Harvard and the Fairbank Center differently from those in previous years. While we are welcoming some back to campus in person, others will participate either remotely or via a hybrid combination of the two. Despite the challenges that come with our new pandemic-era reality, we are confident that our efforts will encourage our affiliates to be just as engaged and involved in our academic community as those in the past.
Our Community of Scholars
The strength of our community is highlighted by the diverse research that the Center supports. Our 2021-22 An Wang Postdoctoral Fellows, Claudia Huang and Yusi Aveva Xu, will develop their research on the social impact of aging in China. Together with faculty members Winnie Yip and Arthur Kleinman, they will collaboratively research the concept of meaningful ageing, care models, and public policies that advance eldercare in China.
Thanks to a generous gift from the Hou Family, we are excited to again welcome three Hou Family Fellows for Taiwan Studies: Jaewoong Jeon, Hsuan-Yu Lin, and Lev Nachman. Their research builds on the Center’s long-established expertise and scholarship on Taiwan.
The Center prides itself as a nexus of international collaboration and interdisciplinary research on Greater China. To this end, we welcome twenty-four new In-Resident Visiting Scholars and six new Non-Resident Associates in Research. Our Visiting Scholars and Associates in Research join us from different universities, research centers, and organizations from across the world, as well as from multiple academic disciplines, and they are key components of the Center’s engagement beyond Harvard.
Connecting our Campus
Our faculty and staff form the core of our on-campus community at Harvard, and I know they join me in welcoming our new affiliates. We especially hope that our own students, including our eight new graduate student associates, will take full advantage of connecting with our new visiting affiliates to learn about their differing areas of expertise.
We encourage our affiliates to make the most of their time here at the Fairbank Center. Whether through attending events in one of our nine public lecture series, visiting our exhibitions, using our world-class library services, collaborating on research projects, or meeting with other members of Harvard’s China Studies community, there are plenty of ways to become involved in the many available activities. We look forward to getting to know all of you over the course of the academic year.
I wish you all success and good health for the academic year.
Michael A. Szonyi 宋怡明
Director of the Fairbank Center, Frank Wen-Hsiung Wu Memorial Professor of Chinese History, Harvard University
費正清中國研究中心主任,哈佛大學吳文雄講席教授