Courses

Students in the Ph.D. program in East Asian art  spend two years completing coursework before sitting  for the General Exam by the end of the G3 year. Course offerings are abundant at Harvard and are selected in close consultation with faculty advisers to ensure that students fill in gaps where necessary, delve deeply into specialized areas and practical training, and expand their horizons by putting their work in broad humanistic context. Coursework and term papers are the building blocks for the dissertation and future scholarly work and they provide a space to test out ideas, to strengthen one's analytical rigor,  and to develop new conceptual frameworks.


Featured Courses by Region

China

Horse SculptureCourses cover the entire range of Chinese art including early tombs, Buddhist cave shrines, scroll paintings from the Song to the modern era, and conceptually focused seminars. View courses


Korea

Moon Jar

Past courses have been offered by vising faculty on Korean ceramics and Buddhist art. The Harvard Art Museums holds one of the largest Korean art collections in the United States. View courses

Japan

PeacockCourses include surveys on the history of Japanese art, woodblock prints, and architecture. Graduate seminars focus on themes such as narrative painting, gender and sexuality in Japanese art, Edo painting, sculpture, medieval ink painting, and the modern period. View courses

East Asia

East AsiaProfessors Yukio Lippit, Eugene Wang and South Asian Art Professor Jinah Kim currently jointly teach an undergraduate survey course on Buddhist monuments. Interregionalism is an important component in all of the courses taught in the program. View courses