I spoke with The Korea Herald last quarter — already a few months ago — and this article came out. I had invited the reporter, Kim So-hyun, to visit the Gender Studies class I was teaching, and it must have left an impression on her because she leads the article talking about my class.
“A Volvo Trucks commercial featuring actor Jean-Claude Van Damme doing the splits, stretching his legs between two reversing trucks with Enya’s “Only Time” playing in the background, is shown to a classroom full of nearly 100 undergraduates at UCLA.”
Professor Ju Hui Judy Han asks the students what are the first words that come to their minds as they watch the clip. Some say “masculinity” while others mention “physical ability,” “control,” “power” and “engineering perfection.”
What the article leaves out is that after I show the Van Damme video, I always show the following “Palestinian version,” a spoof from Gaza.
That was the first class of the quarter on October 3, 2023. So. Much. Has. Changed.
Here are the new courses I'm teaching at UCLA this year. Gender, Religion, and Social Movements in Korea (Winter 2018), Gender, Travel, and Mobilities (Spring 2018), Geographic Narratives: Comics and Graphic Novels (Spring 2018). Looking forward, a little nervously!
I contributed an article on queer politics for a Journal of Asian Studies special forum on the South Korean candlelight protests 2016-17 along with Jennifer Jihye Chun (UCLA) on labor and Hyun Ok Park (York, Toronto) on Sewol, with an introduction by Albert L. Park (Claremont McKenna College). The issue…
Call for Papers and Proposals 2013 Im Conference of Korean Christianity, UCLA Center for Korean Studies: "Growth, Stagnation, Decline, and Renewal of the Protestant Churches in Korea, 1945-2013†Conference Date: April 19, 2013. Topics The conference aims to investigate growth and decline of the Christian churches in the post-Korean War Korea. It would include the…
