Dean Discusses Curricular Review in Asia

In a relatively long hiatus from University Hall, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences William C. Kirby spent over a week on the road last month discussing the College’s curricular review on the West Coast and in Asia.

Kirby, who is also the Geisinger professor of history and a noted scholar of modern China, said during his time away from Harvard, he spoke with alumni groups in Hong Kong, Taipei, Los Angeles and San Francisco. His trip to Asia was appropriately timed to coincide with Chinese New Year celebrations on Jan. 22.

While in Hong Kong, Kirby had tea with about 25 members of the Harvard Club of Hong Kong (HCHK).

“The reception [was] held at a cozy teahouse in the Hong Kong park,” wrote Michelle M. Chen, the president of HCHK, about the Jan. 19 function in an e-mail. “The delegation enjoyed very much the traditional decor of the Chinese teahouse.”

Burbank Professor of Political Economy Dwight H. Perkins who accompanied Kirby to some of his events in Hong Kong, said that the attendees were generally “people who have been strong supporters of Harvard and the Asia Center in particular.”

Kirby wrote in an e-mail that his trip was part of an ongoing effort to “[get] advice from alumni groups around the country and indeed beyond about the curriculum review and other ongoing changes.”

Perkins said that Kirby was interested in obtaining opinions from outside of Cambridge.

“Alumni living overseas have different perspectives,” he said.

Chen, a graduate of the Kennedy School of Government, said that Kirby also briefed the alumni on Harvard’s attempts to increase students’ exposure to Asian society.

“Dean Kirby gave us an overview of some new curriculum introduced such as courses in Mandarin and Cantonese,” Chen wrote. “We also asked him to talk a bit about [the] recent visit by Premier Wen [Jiabao] of China.”

Wen’s Dec. 10 speech at Harvard Business School focused on economic development.

The speech was interrupted by an undergraduate protester who unfurled a Tibetan flag, chanting her support for a free Tibet.

Kirby also said he expects to visit Asia again later this year.

—Staff writer Joshua D. Gottlieb can be reached at jdgottl@fas.harvard.edu