# Junior Tutorials

**Source**: https://eas.fas.harvard.edu/junior-tutorials
**Parent**: https://eas.fas.harvard.edu/area-courses

Junior tutorials build on the general foundation developed in the sophomore tutorial and allow students to focus their field of study according to their primary country of interest, and the particular topics they wish to pursue. The Junior Tutorial can be an important step in conceptualizing a Senior Thesis topic and learning how to conduct advanced research.

Juniors take an EASTD 98 offering or a replacement seminar course approved by the Director of Undergraduate Studies. The Junior tutorial replacement must meet the following criteria:

- It must be a small seminar
- It must have a 15-page paper requirement (not counting notes and bibliography)
- It must receive approval from the Director of Undergraduate Studies and the instructor.
- At the end of the semester, student must submit their final paper for the course to the Director of Undergraduate Studies, cc'ing the EAS Coordinator or [eas@fas.harvard.edu](mailto:eas@fas.harvard.edu), to confirm they have fulfilled EASTD 98 requirements.

You can discuss possible course options and request course approval by emailing the Director of Undergraduate Studies, Professor Shigehisa Kuriyama, at [hkuriyam@fas.harvard.edu](mailto:hkuriyam@fas.harvard.edu) (please CC Naia Poyer, [naia\_poyer@fas.harvard.edu](mailto:naia_poyer@fas.harvard.edu)). Be sure to include a syllabus for the course(s) in question. East Asian Studies will accept the following Junior tutorials for Fall 2025-Spring 2026:

## FALL 2025

### [EASTD 198: Political Parties of East Asia](https://canvas.harvard.edu/courses/156882) Daniel Koss

East Asia has been home to an astonishing assortment of political parties, covering the spectrum from democratic to authoritarian institutions, including some of the world’s most sophisticated and resilient political organizations. We begin with China’s Communist Party, revisiting its foundation in 1921, its rise during the Sino-Japanese War 1937-45, and its transformation from a revolutionary party to a party in power; then turn to the present day to cover the deep reach of the party into society, the activities and functions of ordinary members, as well as the dynamics of the leading echelons. The second part of the course focuses on Japan, including the origins of political parties in the late 19th century, the post-War emergence of the perennial ruling party, the age of grand money politics under Tanaka Kakuei, the electoral reform of 1993, and the origins of the party’s current strength. The third part consists of case studies, covering contemporary parties in North and South Korea, parties in Taiwan before and after the democratic transition, as well as parties in Malaysia and Vietnam, with their multiple connections to East Asia. The course also puts East Asian parties into a comparative perspective to other world regions.\

## SPRING 2026

### [EASTD 98K: Economic Governance in East Asia](https://locator.tlt.harvard.edu/course/colgsas-218174/2025/spring/15709) Daniel Koss

East Asia has given rise to models of development with distinct visions for the relationship between the state and the market. Hallmarks of the designs are powerful ministries, gigantic conglomerates, state-supervised labor unions, and spectacular corruption. The first part of the tutorial revisits four decades of “miraculous” growth in Japan and the Asian Tiger economies (South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore), in order to illuminate underlying development strategies from a political science perspective, including through theories of late industrialization and varieties of capitalism. The second part of this course focuses on China, whose strategists have drawn on its neighbors’ experience. It highlights the vast differences between economic regions in China (the Pearl River versus the Yangtze Delta, versus lagging Western regions), as well as the significant transformation of the country’s approach over the last three decades. Students will develop a deeper comprehension of phenomena such as national champions, tycoons in the digital economy, Communist party control, international expansion, and slogans such as “Made in China 2025.” Throughout the course, we will occasionally go back in time to historical foundations of economic governance. This junior tutorial provides individualized support in the research process toward a final paper.\

## *May be counted as Junior Tutorial only with instructor permission and extended final paper assignment:*

### [KORHIST 115: Korean History Through Film](https://locator.tlt.harvard.edu/course/colgsas-108233/2025/spring/20068) Sun Joo Kim

This course is to examine history of premodern Korea through select Korea's contemporary feature films. Films and dramas with historical themes and personages have been very popular in Korea. We will examine the content of the films, and investigate how ``true'' or ``false'' they represent Korea's past, how they imagine and invent Korea's past, in what ways films are useful in better understanding Korean history, people's lives and practices.

*Students taking KORHIST 115 as their Junior Tutorial will be required to submit their final research paper to the DUS to confirm they have fulfilled the extended paper requirement.*

## Other courses that have counted toward the EASTD 98 requirement:

CHNSHIS 146: The Modern History of Rural China (extended paper was needed)

CHNSLIT 289: From Late Tang Poetry and Poetics into the Song Dynasty

EASTD 98D: The Political Economy of Modern China

EASTD 98L: The Art of Original Research on East Asia

EASTD 152: Tea in Japan / America (extended paper was needed)

EASTD 194: Historical Legacies in East Asian Politics

EASTD 196: Political Geography of China

EASTD 197: China's Cultural Revolution

HIST 1023: Japan in Asia and the World

KORHIST 115: Korean History Through Film (extended paper was needed)

SOCIOL 1181: Social Change in Modern Korea