Sun Joo Kim was born in South Korea and lived there until she graduated from Yonsei University with a B.A. in history in 1984. She immigrated to the United States that same year and began her graduate training in September 1988 at the University of Washington, earning a master's degree in Korean history in June 1992. In June 2000, she received her doctoral degree in Korean history from the same university. Her dissertation titled "Marginalized Elite, Regional Discrimination, and the Tradition of Prophetic Belief in the Hong Kyŏngnae Rebellion" proposes to provide a comprehensive and integrated view of the causes and developments of the rebellion, not only by examining the rebellion itself, but also by exploring the social, political, economic, and cultural conditions during the late Chosŏn period that led to the rebellion. The book titled Marginality and Subversion in Korea: The Hong Kyŏngnae Rebellion of 1812, which grew out of this dissertation, was published by the University of Washington Press in 2007.

Her research on the Hong Kyŏngnae Rebellion has led her to expand her academic horizon to the field of peasant rebellions in nineteenth century Korea, as well as local history of the northern region of the Korean peninsula. She has published a number of articles on various topics of social and cultural history of Chosŏn Korea in prestigious journals such as the Journal of Asian Studies, Journal of Korean Studies, and Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies.

Her research interests in the local history and culture of Korea's northern provinces led her to organize "The Northern Region, Identity, and Culture," a three-year project (2003-6) which intends to create an international forum for interdisciplinary exchange between the social sciences and humanities. The aim is to stimulate academic interest in the historical experiences, cultural variances and transformations, and literary expressions of the peoples and cultures of the northern region. Two workshops (in June 2004 and February 2005) and an international conference (in October 20-21, 2005) were held at Harvard University. Professor Kim is the editor of the conference volume tentatively titled, The Northern Region, Identity, and Culture, which will be published by the Center for Korean Studies at the University of Washington, as a joint publication of the University of Washington Press and the Seoul National University Press.

She has received a number of fellowships and scholarships since her graduate years: Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship (FLAS) (1989-91, 1992-3, 1994-5); Social Science Research Council Doctoral Research Fellowship (1993-4); Association for Asian Studies Northeast Asia Council Small Grants for Korean Studies (2000-1); Korea Foundation Advanced Research Grant (2003-4 and 2006-7); Korea Research Foundation Overseas Korean Studies Grant (2004-6); and various small and large grants from the University of Washington and Harvard University.

In 2001, she began teaching Korean history as Assistant Professor of Korean History at the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University, where she was promoted to Associate Professor of Korean History in 2005, and then to Professor of Korean History in 2008.

PUBLICATIONS

Marginality and Subversion in Korea: The Hong Kyŏngnae Rebellion of 1812
Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2007.

Editor: The Northern Region of Korea: History, Identity, and Culture
Seattle: Center for Korea Studies Publications, University of Washington Press, 2010.

GENERAL EXAMINATION FIELDS

Premodern Korean History

Candidates are expected to have a broad knowledge of the social, political, economic, cultural and intellectual developments in the history of premodern Korea. Familiarity with major secondary literatures in English and the general scholarly trends in Korean and Japanese scholarship is also expected. Students for whom this is the primary field are expected to have written at least two graduate seminar papers in this area.

Primary Research Language

Fluency in modern Korean and ability to read classical Chinese and Japanese. Students will satisfy language requirements through source reading seminar courses.

SPRING COURSES

On leave in the spring.

LINKS

Gateway to Premodern Korean Studies

ACLS Collaborative Research Fellowship 2009 (with Jungwon Kim)

LECTURES

Special 50th Anniversary Lecture in Celebration of Edward W. Wagner's Appointment at Harvard University:

Edward W. Wagner and His Legacy: Toward New Horizons in the Research of Korean History September 29, 2008 - text