The Sophomore Tutorial in East Asian Studies (EAS 97ab) provides students with a broad introduction to the cultures, literatures, philosophies, religions, histories and societies of East Asia, especially China, Japan and Korea. EAS 97ab also aims to introduce students to the major conceptual and methodological issues that occupy scholars in the field of East Asian Studies in the academy today.  EAS 97ab is a one semester spring course.

Students who take the tutorial will gain knowledge of the various sub-disciplines and issues that orient the field as a whole, and equipped to proceed to further, more specialized studies. The Sophomore Tutorial in East Asian Studies is open to non-concentrators. There is no better way to sample the serious study of East Asia at Harvard.

For more info please contact the Tutorial Office at 617-495-8365

East Asian Studies 97ab. Introduction to East Asian Civilizations
Catalog Number: 2337
Michael A. Szonyi and members of the Department
Half course (spring term). Hours to be arranged.
This course looks at some of the elements (philosophy and religion, art and literature, statecraft and technology) that are shared by the various regional cultures of East Asia (China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam), and the ways in which these vary in each of these cultures. We also look at the way in which the countries of East Asia have impacted each other in the process of modernization, and at their divergent paths towards globalization.
Note: Required of sophomore concentrators and secondary field candidates. Open to freshmen.

Junior tutorials build on the general foundation developed in the sophomore tutorial and allow students to focus their field of study according to their primary country of interest and the particular topics they wish to pursue.  Juniors take an EAS 98 offering or a replacement seminar course approved by the Director of Undergraduate Studies.  East Asian Studies will offer the following Junior tutorials for 2011-2012.  

[East Asian Studies 98a. Tutorial--Junior Year: State-Society Relations in Modern China]
Catalog Number: 0964
Elizabeth J. Perry
Half course (spring term). Hours to be arranged.
Junior Tutorial for students in the China Social Science track.
Note: Expected to be given in 2012–13. EAS 98a, 98b, 98d, 98g or a substitution approved by the Director of Undergraduate Studies is required for all EAS concentrators. Preference to EAS concentrators but open to Government concentrators.

East Asian Studies 98b. Junior Tutorial--State and Society in Contemporary Japan
Catalog Number: 8288
Susan J. Pharr
Half course (fall term). Tu., 3-5 with an additional hour to be arranged.
Junior Tutorial for students in the Japan Social Science track. For students with an interest in the society, economy, politics, and popular culture of contemporary Japan.
Note: EAS 98a, 98b, 98d, 98g or a substitution approved by the Director of Undergraduate Studies is required for all EAS concentrators. Preference to EAS students but open to Government concentrators.

East Asian Studies 98d. Junior Tutorial--The Political Economy of Modern China
Catalog Number: 4800
Nara Dillon
Half course (fall term). W., 2–4.
Junior Tutorial for students with an interest in China Social Sciences. After an introduction to the historical context of China’s development, this course will focus on the political economy of reform in the post-Mao period. Some of the topics covered include democracy, the 1989 Tiananmen protests, the rise of entrepreneurs, the role of labor, rural-urban migration, and the Internet.
Note: EAS 98a, 98b, 98d, 98g or a substitution approved by the Director of Undergraduate Studies is required for all EAS concentrators. Preference to EAS students but open to Government concentrators.

East Asian Studies 98f. Junior Tutorial —The Study of East Asian Religions
Catalog Number: 94577
James Robson
Half course (fall term). Tu., at 2.
This tutorial is designed to deepen and extend the student’s knowledge of the study of East Asian religions. It will build on the student’s foundational understanding of the development and history of Buddhism, Daosim, Confucianism, Shinto, and various forms of popular religion, by situating that material in the context of larger issues in the study of East Asian religions. The overarching concern within this tutorial will be on reading and discussing methodologically oriented scholarship that will introduce the student to new and intellectually engaging approaches to the various traditions covered.
Note: EAS 98a, 98b, 98d, 98g or a substitution approved by the Director of Undergraduate Studies is required for all EAS concentrators
Prerequisite: Culture and Belief 33: Introduction to the Study of East Asian Religions. If students have not previously taken this course, they are required to attend those lectures concurrently with this tutorial.

East Asian Studies 98g. Junior Tutorial: What is "Japanese Modernity"?: Modern Japanese Literature and Culture - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 58904
Tomiko Yoda
Half course (fall term). Tu., at 2. EXAM GROUP: 16
Using a variety of primary and secondary sources, the course examines how modernity has been articulated in Japanese literary and intellectual discourses since the late nineteenth century to the end of World War II. The topics include: nation-building, imperial expansion, conceptualization of modernity versus pre-modernity, Japan and the West, Japan and Asia, class and gender construction, urbanization and mass culture, anti-modernism. Most of the reading assignments are in English but we will read some selected materials in Japanese.
Note: EAS 98a, 98b, 98d, 98g or a substitution approved by the Director of Undergraduate Studies is required for all EAS concentrators.

Senior tutorial is a full-year course for those seniors writing honors theses. Students work in individual tutorials with a faculty advisor and a tutor. You are encouraged to make use of materials in East Asian languages in your research to the best of your abilities. Preparing for an honors thesis should begin in the junior year. Students should discuss potential thesis topics with professors and tutorial instructors and further explore these topics in papers written for tutorials or other courses.

Harvard offers several grants to allow students to travel to East Asia in the summer between the junior and senior years. (Information on grant opportunities is available here and in the EAS office). As applications are due as early as late February, students should begin thinking about topics and writing a proposal early in the spring semester, or before. 

Copies of recent EAS theses can be found in the EAS tutorial office at 9 Kirkland Place.

Guidelines for thesis writing

Thesis Schedule

Past EAS thesis topics

*East Asian Studies 99. Tutorial — Senior Year
Catalog Number: 0384
Michael A. Szonyi and members of the Department
Full course. Hours to be arranged.
Thesis guidance under faculty direction.
Note: All students writing an EAS or joint EAS thesis will attend a research and writing workshop that meets twice each term.