Hamashita to present Reischauer Lectures

Established in 1986, the annual Reischauer Lecture series is sponsored this year by the Fairbank Center for East Asian Research and the Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies. Renowned international scholar Takeshi Hamashita will present the two remaining lectures.Hamashita, who holds a joint appointment at Kyoto and Tokyo universities, will speak on the theme “Changing Regions and Regionalism in East Asia: 15th to 20th Centuries: Transformation of the Tributary System and Maritime Asia.” At the conclusion of each lecture a Harvard faculty member will offer brief comments.The series, which began April 20, will run through April 22 in Harvard Hall, Room 104. Today (April 21), Harold Hitchings Burbank Professor of Political Economy Dwight Perkins will touch on “H.B. Morse and Maritime Customs in East Asia,” and on Friday (April 22), Francis Lee Higginson Professor of History and of East Asian Languages and Civilizations Philip Kuhn will examine “Inter-Regional Relations Through the Overseas Chinese.” Both talks start at 3:30 p.m. and are free and open to the public.