1960-1970

1960

Itasaka Gen joins the faculty as Lecturer in Japanese. He and Hibbett assume stewardship of the Japanese program during Reischauer’s appointment as US ambassador to Japan (1961-66).

1961-65

James Hightower serves as Chair of FEL.

1964-66

Enrollment in East Asian related courses (Area Studies, not language) doubles. These numbers persist through the Vietnam years, with enrollment in the Rice Paddies course regularly exceeding 500 students. In 1966, Harvard has the greatest enrollment in East Asian courses of any major university in America. During this period the Rice Paddies course is reorganized into separate semesters on China and Japan , a division that remains today.

1965-70

Howard Hibbett serves as Chair of FEL.

1966

Joseph Fletcher is appointed Assistant Professor in the Department of Far Eastern Languages and teaches Harvard’s first course on the Manchu language.