Since the 1960s, Jerome A. Cohen has been one of America’s foremost voices on China. As professor at Harvard Law School, he founded the study of Chinese law in the U.S. Over his career he has advocated for human rights, encouraged legal reforms, mentored students — including future president of Taiwan Ma Ying-jeou — and brokered international crises. He assisted the Chinese civil rights activist Chen Guangcheng who escaped from house arrest in 2012, and advised foreign companies who first began to pursue business in China in the 1980s.

These are just some of the stories that Cohen tells in his compendious memoir Eastward, Westward (Columbia University Press, 2025), and which he will share with us on stage at this exclusive book talk. Cohen will be joined by Katherine Wilhelm, executive director of the U.S.-Asia Law Institute and adjunct professor at NYU School of Law, and Orville Schell, Arthur Ross Director of the Center on U.S.-China Relations at Asia Society.

Jerome A. Cohen is professor emeritus at New York University School of Law, where he is also founder and faculty director emeritus of the U.S.-Asia Law Institute. He is an adjunct senior fellow for Asia studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. Cohen is the author of several books on Chinese law, and for many years he was a practicing lawyer focused on China.

Katherine Wilhelm is executive director of the U.S.-Asia Law Institute, an adjunct professor at NYU School of Law, and editor of the institute’s online essay series, USALI Perspectives. She is an expert on China’s legal system, public interest law organizations, and civil society.

Orville Schell is the Arthur Ross Director of the Center on U.S.-China Relations at Asia Society. He is a former professor and Dean at the University of California, Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism. He is the author of 15 books, 10 of them on China.

This event is co-sponsored by China Books Review and the U.S.-Asia Law Institute at NYU.