Anthropologist and Lecturer in Korean and Japanese studies, University of Sheffield
I am a social and cultural anthropologist who joined SEAS in September 2016 after completing a PhD in anthropology at the Australian National University. I lecture on North Korean society, migration, and history; Migration and Northeast Asia, and food and anthropology.
My research explores Cold War and contemporary migration to and from North Korea (DPRK), and the significance of intergenerational memories of movement and resettlement in shaping a diasporic, North Korean identity. I contextualise this migration within the larger geo-political processes and historical forces that shaped the latter half of the twentieth century in Northeast Asia, and the epoch defining challenges that continue to cast a long shadow on relations between North Korea, South Korea, and Japan.
I lived in Korea for a total of six years, including time studying at Busan National University, Yonsei, and Seoul National University (MA degree). I lived in Osaka for a year during my doctoral research, during which time I was affiliated with the Osaka University of Economics and Law. Within Sheffield’s School of East Asian Studies I teach into the Korean Studies undergraduate programme as a degree lecturer. I am also the seminar series coordinator for SEAS, promoting the continued exchange of ideas on topics related to East Asia throughout the UK, and beyond.
Four challenges for Moon Jae-in, South Korea's new president
May 10, 2017 00:21 am UTC| Insights & Views Politics
Democrat Moon Jae-in is the new president of South Korea. Moon, a former special forces soldier turned human rights lawyer, won a snap election, following months of mass protests that ousted President Park Geun-hye last...
South Korea's next president faces a belligerent north and a confused US
May 05, 2017 01:10 am UTC| Insights & Views
South Korea is under serious pressure on two fronts. Internationally, Seoul and its allies are scrambling to head off the threat from North Korea, which some fear is ramping up for another nuclear test but the South...
Should we really be so afraid of a nuclear North Korea?
Feb 06, 2017 17:55 pm UTC| Insights & Views
The common thinking is that North Koreas nuclear programme poses a threat to global peace and diverts economic resources from an impoverished population. North Korean leaders are depicted in the Western media as a cabal of...
South Africa’s plan to move away from coal: 8 steps to make it succeed
Germany lowers voting age to 16 for the European elections
IceCube researchers detect a rare type of energetic neutrino sent from powerful astronomical objects