# Featured Courses Spring 2027 ![EASTD 194 Historical Legacies in East Asian Politics course poster S27](/sites/g/files/omnuum3111/files/2026-10/EASTD%20194%20Historical%20Legacies%20in%20East%20Asian%20Politics%20course%20poster%20S27.jpg) ### [EASTD 194: Historical Legacies in East Asian Politics](https://locator.tlt.harvard.edu/course/colgsas-218171/2026/spring/15870) Taught by Prof. Daniel Koss How does the historical past shape politics in the present? East Asia and its recent political developments provide a most striking universe of cases, where legacies of the past influence both domestic politics and international relations. Located at the intersection of history and political science, this course is grounded in theories of institutional development, introducing concepts such as path dependence, critical junctures, and unintended consequences. Beginning with China, the course discusses explanations of development successes grounded in grand narratives going far back in time; the impact of cultural norms, imperial techniques of statecraft, revolutionary practices; the uses and abuses of history in the service of the party state; and the long-term impact of Christian missionaries, Japanese colonizers, and a decade of warfare. Through the case of Japanese domestic politics, we explore how tradition is transmitted through habits and memories of individuals; through institutions such as the perennial ruling party; and through a broadly defined civil society. As examples of critical junctures, we will discuss North Korea’s early postwar history and South Korea’s democratization process, discovering their enduring influences on both political systems. Turning to international relations, this course asks whether foreign and security policy is the result of a deeply rooted strategic culture, how diplomats maneuver the divisions over historical guilt of World War II, and what narratives such as the “century of humiliation” reveal about actors’ strategic thinking. Throughout the course, we will pay attention to regional linkages. ## EASTD 197: China's Cultural Revolution ![EASTD 197 China's Cultural Revolution S27](/sites/g/files/omnuum3111/files/2026-10/EASTD%20197%20course%20poster%20S27.jpg) Taught by Prof. Daniel Koss [Canvas Site](https://locator.tlt.harvard.edu/course/colgsas-212976/2026/spring/16120) This course introduces a cataclysmic movement that brought the People’s Republic of China to the brink of anarchy: The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). The first part looks at historical precursors, including rebellion in the imperial era, political movements in the Republican Era, Communist campaigns and purges, as well as the Great Leap Forward famine that cost tens of millions of lives. Paying equal attention to elite politics at Mao Zedong’s “court” and the lived experiences of ordinary citizens, the second part focuses on the evolution of the turmoil, once Mao had called for “bombarding the headquarters” of his own party state, discussing the “Gang of Four,” the “attempted coup” by Lin Biao, the Red Guards and the worker rebels in Shanghai, local power seizures and factional warfare, military crackdowns, and the return to order. The third part begins with the reception of the movement abroad, and focuses on its afterlives, including the quasi- pluralist lessons drawn in the immediate aftermath, the role of Cultural Revolution legacies in decisions such as the violent crackdown on the Tiananmen protesters in 1989, and memory politics under Xi Jinping. No language requirement. ## KORLIT 110: Classical Korean Literature ![poster spring 2027 korlit 110 Classical Korean Literature](/sites/g/files/omnuum3111/files/2026-10/poster%20spring%202027%20korlit%20110.jpg) Taught by Prof. Si Nae Park [Canvas Site](https://locator.tlt.harvard.edu/course/colgsas-156592/2026/spring/15938) Introduction to the literature and literary culture of the Chosŏn period (1392-1910) through deep, slow, and close reading, creative writing, and an exploration of authentic materials held by the Harvard-Yenching Library, Harvard Map Collections, and Harvard Art Museums. Students will gain a solid understanding of key literary forms, motifs, techniques, works, and modes of textual circulation while critically engaging with questions of history of reading, canon formation, cultural heritage, and world literature. All readings are in English, and no knowledge of Korean culture and history is expected. ## CHNSHIS 146: The Modern History of Rural China ![CHNSHIS 146 The Modern History of Rural China Spring 2027](/sites/g/files/omnuum3111/files/2026-10/2027%20CHNSHIS%20146%20poster%20v2.jpg) **JAPAN 106B: Introduction to Kambun** Taught by Prof. Michael Szonyi [Canvas Site](https://locator.tlt.harvard.edu/course/colgsas-224291/2026/spring/12892) [Read an article about this course here!](https://fairbank.fas.harvard.edu/research/blog/faculty-spotlight-how-role-playing-is-helping-professor-michael-a-szonyis-students-understand-chinas-land-reform/) [Watch the trailer!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsYDR2yLPdI) It’s only in the last twenty years that China has become known as a place of cities and factories. Before then, the majority of Chinese people lived not in cities but in villages in the countryside, and made their living from agriculture. This lecture/discussion course, intended mainly for undergraduates, will introduce you to the modern history of rural China. We’ll approach that history chronologically, thematically, and historiographically. No background knowledge of China is required, but the course might interest you even if you have some previous background, because it will show you the People’s Republic of China from a very different angle than what you’ve likely encountered before: that of its villages and the people who live in them. You’ll come to appreciate their perspective better through taking their role in two interactive games. You’ll also learn why the fate of China’s countryside matters to the future not only of China but also the whole world. ## Japan 106A: Classical Japanese ![JAPAN 106A Classical Japanese](/sites/g/files/omnuum3111/files/2026-08/Classical%20Japanese%20Poster.jpg) **JAPAN 106A: Classical Japanese** Taught by Danica Truscott [Canvas Site](https://locator.tlt.harvard.edu/course/colgsas-110782/2026/fall/11606) In this course, we will learn and practice reading the fundamental grammatical patterns of classical, or literary, Japanese (bungo). From Murasaki Shikibu’s The Tale of Genji to Bashō’s famous haiku, this linguistic form appears in a wide variety of Japanese literature. In fact, traces of classical Japanese can still be found in modern Japanese and are often employed in news articles and song lyrics. As we read poetry, short stories, diaries, and more, students will not only gain the ability to read premodern vernacular texts with the aid of a dictionary, but will also develop a deeper appreciation for Japanese language and culture across the ages. ## EASTD 271: Language, Script, & Power in East Asia ![EASTD 271 Language Script and Power in East Asia](/sites/g/files/omnuum3111/files/2026-10/eastd%20271%20language%20ideologies.jpg) Taught by Prof. Si Nae Park [Canvas Site](https://locator.tlt.harvard.edu/course/colgsas-156593/2026/spring/15939) In this graduate seminar, students will explore the ways in which debates and negotiations about languages, writing systems, and linguistic and script diversity in East Asia matter in the formation and dispersal of imagined communities, establishment of and challenge to political power, social reproduction, and more. The course’s wide-ranging readings are culled from diverse fields and disciplines including the history of writing, reading, and the book in East Asia (China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam); linguistic anthropology; sociolinguistics; and studies of modernity/modernism and of colonialism and post colonialism. Examining the relationships between language, culture, and society in societies of East Asia in the past and the present, students will develop comparative (cross-regional, cross-temporal, and cross linguistic/script) and interdisciplinary approaches to the study of East Asia. This seminar is not a language or linguistics course. All readings are in English. ## Uyghur and Chaghatay Courses ![Uyghur and Chaghatay Courses Fall 2026](/sites/g/files/omnuum3111/files/2026-04/Uyghur%26Chaghatay_Fall2026.jpg) ## Japanese Courses ![Japanese Courses Fall 2026](/sites/g/files/omnuum3111/files/2026-04/Japanese%20%20Program%20Poster_2026%20Fall.jpg)