East Asian Legal Studies is a comprehensive academic program devoted to the study of the law and legal history of the nations and peoples of East Asia, their interaction with the United States, and their impact on global order. At the time of its founding in the mid-1960s, EALS was among the first such programs in the Western world. EALS faculty and affiliates conduct research on pressing legal issues and teach and advise students through courses, seminars and independent studies, while endeavoring to deepen public understanding of East Asia. EALS opens avenues for scholars, officials, public servants, judges, lawyers, and students from the United States and throughout East Asia to engage with one another and with their counterparts from the rest of the world. Over the years, EALS affiliates have gone on to become leading figures in academe, the judiciary, government, business and civil society here and abroad.
Harvard offers a broad range of courses, seminars, and independent study opportunities regarding law in East Asia. These draw on the Law School’s permanent faculty — including both specialists on East Asia and a large number of faculty with other expertise who increasingly are addressing issues central to the region — as well as distinguished visiting instructors from around the world.
EALS sponsors an active co-curricular program regarding international law, comparative law and legal questions pertinent to East Asia, both independently and in collaboration with other programs at the Law School and the University. We organize a wide variety of events, ranging from public talks for a broad audience, to small workshops to provide feedback on a scholar’s work in progress.
EALS provides fellowships and other support to enable faculty, students and scholars to pursue research on the law and legal history of East Asia and legal issues concerning international relations in the region or with the United States. EALS also awards the annual Yong K. Kim ’95 Memorial Prize to recognize students for their contributions to the EALS program and authorship of an outstanding paper. EALS plays a major role in supporting a world-renowned library collection of materials concerning Chinese, Japanese and Korean law and legal history, curated by two specialist librarians.
Each year, EALS hosts Visiting Scholars who pursue their own independent research projects on legal issues related to East Asia. We seek to bring together Visiting Scholars from across the world and a range of professional backgrounds, who both benefit from and enrich the HLS community.
Throughout times of geopolitical tension, EALS has consistently worked to provide thoughtful, honest, probing portrayals of the U.S. relationship with countries in East Asia and the implications thereof. Highlights include our lunchtime speaker series featuring leading scholars, practitioners, and officials; our conferences, including a Japanese law conference drawing experts from across the U.S., Japan and Europe; our research, including a recent book regarding human rights in Taiwan that received the American Society of International Law’s Certificate of Merit; our ever-evolving courses, such as “Re-imagining Global Order as Asia Re-emerges” or “Engaging China,” which encourage students to discuss some of the toughest international relations challenges in East Asia; and much more.
No summary of EALS’ work would be complete without an accounting of the Harvard Law School Project on Disability (HPOD) (opens in new tab). Over the past decade, EALS has been the administrative home to HPOD, which has won national and international recognition for its blend of scholarship, teaching and pro bono work on disability law, with particular attention to East Asia.