Wang slowly warmed to the audience, especially after a white woman with a baby perched in her arms inquired about his health in halting Mandarin.

He occasionally helped his translator withEnglish phrases and demonstrated the breadth ofhis scholarship by quoting Churchill's famousquip: "Democracy is the worst system except forall the others."

Donning a navy blue suit, starched white shirtand tie, Wang sat stiffly between a translator andMerle D. Goldman, an associate of the FairbankCenter and professor at Boston University.

While serving time in a prison camp, Wang saidhe read Weatherhead University Professor Samuel P.Hungtington's Clash of Civilizations andGoldman's Sowing the Seeds of Democracy inChina, which features Wang in his role as aleader in the 1989 demonstrations.

He said he was able to read the works,including another book that presented anunfriendly view of China, because his jailers didnot understand English.

Wang received a copy of Goldman's book fromWang Jungtao, another dissident and Wang's mentor,who later arranged for Wang Dan's visit toHarvard.

According Goldman, Wang will take ESL coursesat Harvard Summer School.

Wang said he hopes to pursue a doctorate inmodern Chinese history at Harvard during his exilein America.

"The reason I'm interested in studying hardright now is to be better able to participate infuture democracy movements," Wang explained