Historian To Return to Alma Mater

Shigehisa Kuriyama ’77, a renowned expert on the history of Chinese and Greek medicine, will join the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations next year as the Reischauer Institute Professor of Cultural History.

Kuriyama, who received his bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees from Harvard, has spent the last 11 years as a researcher at the International Research Center for Japanese Studies in Kyoto.

“I miss the intellectual stimulation of American university life,” Kuriyama said. “I’ve been in a research institution for about the last 11 years...I was interested in getting back to teaching.”

He is currently scheduled to teach four classes during the 2005-06 academic year. In the fall, he will teach East Asian Studies 170, “Medicine and the Body in East Asia and in Europe” and Japanese History 260r, “Topics in Japanese Cultural History.” In the spring, he will tackle East Asian Studies 230, “The History of East Asian Medicine: Proseminar” and Japanese History 130, “Edo Japan in the History of Curiosity.”

Kuriyama, a former resident of North House (now Pforzheimer House), received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, but his Ph.D. was awarded in 1986 by the History of Science Department.

Higginson Professor of History and of East Asian Languages and Civilizations Philip A. Kuhn said that Kuriyama’s ability to make ties between East Asian studies and the history of science is one of his greatest strengths.

“He’s been on our radar screen for a long time,” said Kuhn, who chairs his department. “His field was of great interest to us, because it broadens our curriculum towards the history of science in Asia.”

Kuhn added that he expected Kuriyama to make a smooth transition from the Japanese academic environment to America.

“He was brought up in our society and at Harvard,” said Kuhn. “It will be like coming home.”

Professor of the History of Science Everett I. Mendelsohn said he remembers Kuriyama from his time as a graduate student.

“He was obviously bright,” Mendelsohn said. “What was interesting to those of us in the department was the way he moved across cultures. I think it’s a real coup for Harvard in getting someone who has this ability.”

Kuriyama is perhaps best known for his 1999 book, The Expressiveness of the Body and the Divergence of Greek and Chinese Medicine, which Mendelsohn called a “tour de force.”

The book was awarded the Oriental Medicine Journal Award and the American Association for the History of Medicine’s William H. Welch Medal.

Before taking a position at the International Research Center for Japanese Studies, Kuriyama held teaching positions at the University of New Hampshire and Emory University.

Kuriyama will officially begin his position at Harvard on July 1.

—Staff writer Evan H. Jacobs can be reached at ehjacobs@fas.harvard.edu.