Professor Kuriyama's research explores broad philosophical issues (being and time, language and experience, curiosity and desire) through the lens of specific topics in comparative cultural history. He is now working chiefly on two projects. One is a history of the notion and experience of tension, an examination of how tension, which was long considered a virtue-the proof of vitality and presence in the world-became a modern pathology, a mark of anxiety, and the root of all manners of illness. The other project spotlights the relationship between money and the body, and explores how the transformations in social relations caused by the spread of the money economy in the Edo period affected not just medical theory and practice, but also the intimate experience of pain and sickness. During 2005-06, he lectured on this latter project in a number of universities in the United States, as well as in China, Turkey, and Israel. He was also actively engaged in experiments with making movies on the computer, and probed the horizons that this new medium opens up for both teaching and scholarly presentation. He not only taught this form of movie-making to all his students at Harvard, but also held a number of workshops on this technique in the U.S. , Europe , and Japan.

GENERAL EXAMINATION FIELDS

History of East Asian Science and Medicine

Candidates must demonstrate broad knowledge of the development of science and medicine in East Asia, and have mastered the relevant secondary literature. They should further show in-depth knowledge of scientific and/or medical texts in one particular East Asian tradition. Familiarity with the history and historiography of science and medicine in Europe is also necessary. Prior seminar work with the examiner required.

Primary Research Languages

Classical Chinese required for all candidates; other requisite languages will depend on the candidate's area of focus.

SPRING COURSES

On leave in the spring.