Committee on Regional Studies East Asia

Committee Information

The Committee on Regional Studies—East Asia aims to make students broadly conversant with the societies of East Asia, and also to give them a sound knowledge of one of the languages of the area by directing the A.M. program including admissions, advising, fellowships, and degrees.

The Committee generally consists of faculty members with a specific area focus within East Asia. Their expertise and guidance are integral to the functioning of RSEA.

10 results

10 results

Alexander Zahlten
Chair, Committee on Regional Studies East Asia
EALC: Professor of East Asian Languages and Civilizations
Research Interests: Film and media in Japan; media ecologies in East Asia.
Alexander Zahlten headshot

Christina Davis
Edwin O. Reischauer Professor of Japanese Politics
Director of the Program on U.S.-Japan Relations at Harvard University
Research interests and teaching bridge international relations and comparative politics, with a focus on trade policy. Interests include the politics and foreign policy of Japan, East Asia, and the European Union as well as the study of international...
Christina Davis headshot

Thomas Kelly
EALC: Assistant Professor in East Asian Languages and Civilizations
Research interests: Late imperial Chinese literature: the interplay between the literary imagination and Chinese visual and material cultures in the early modern period. Current research examines practices of inscribing everyday objects in late Ming and...
Thomas Kelly

William C. Kirby
Professor, Department of History and Harvard Business School
Director, Harvard China Fund
RSEA Alumni Advisory Board 2022-
Research interests: modern Chinese political and economic history; history of the Republic of China and of the People’s Republic of China; Chinese foreign, economic and cultural relations. William C. Kirby is T. M. Chang Professor of China Studies at...
William Kirby headshot

Ya-Wen Lei
Department of Sociology: Professor of Sociology
Research interests : Political sociology, law and society, economic sociology, sociology of media and information technologies, sociology of work, labor and labor movements, science and technology studies, development, and Chinese studies
Ya-Wen Lei photo

Si Nae Park
RSEA, Director of Graduate Studies (through Fall 2025)
EALC: Associate Professor of East Asian Languages and Civilizations
Research Interests: Korean literature and literary practices within the Sinographic cultural space; the human voice and vernacular writing, narratives in late Chosŏn Seoul; history and historiography of Korean literature.
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Meg Rithmire
Harvard Business School: F. Warren MacFarlan Associate Professor of Business Administration
Business, Government, and International Economy unit at Harvard Business School
Research interests: The comparative political economy of development with a focus on China and Asia; the role of land politics, urban governments, and local property rights regimes in Chinese economic reforms; emerging markets and foreign investment; the...
Prof. Rithmire photo

James Robson
EALC: James C. Kralik and Yunli Lou Professor of East Asian Languages and Civilizations
Director, Harvard Yenching Institute
Research Interests: History of Medieval Chinese Buddhism and Daoism; issues of sacred geography, local religious history, talismans, religious art, and the historical development of Chan/Zen Buddhism.
James Robson

Victor Seow
RSEA, Director of Graduate Studies (Spring 2026)
Assistant Professor of the History of Science
Areas of Research: East Asian Studies, History of Environmental Sciences, Material Culture, STS, Technology and Society.
Victor Seow photo

Moira Weigel
Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature
Topics: Digital China, Film and Media, Science and Technology Moira Weigel is an Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature in the Department of Comparative Literature and a Faculty Associate of the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at...
Moira Weigel headshot