Investigating Power Dynamics in Korean History and Redefining Legal Narratives in Marriage
Dr. Jisoo M. Kim, Associate Professor of History, International Affairs, and East Asian Languages and Literatures, has been selected by the Harvard Radcliffe Institute as a fellow for the 2024–2025 academic year. A year-long Radcliffe fellowship provides the rare opportunity to intensely pursue ambitious projects in the unique environment of the Institute. Each fellowship class is drawn from some of the most thoughtful and exciting contemporary scholars in the humanities, sciences, social sciences, and arts—along with writers, journalists, playwrights, and other distinguished professionals. For this year’s historic 25th anniversary class, Radcliffe accepted just 3.3 percent of applicants.
Dr. Kim’s research interests lie in law, gender and sexuality, emotions, affect, and forensic medicine. At Radcliffe, she will conduct research at the Schlesinger Library and work on a book that investigates the criminalization of heterosexual intimacies and unequal power structures in marriage in Korean history. This year’s Radcliffe fellows will be part of a unique interdisciplinary and creative community that will step away from routines to tackle projects that they have long wished to move forward. Throughout the academic year, fellows convene regularly to share their work in progress with the community and public.
About: Jisoo M. Kim is Korea Foundation Associate Professor of History, International Affairs, and East Asian Languages and Literatures at George Washington University. She is Founding Director of the GW Institute for Korean Studies (2017-Present) and Founding Co-Director of the East Asia National Resource Center (2018-Present). She also serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Korean Studies. She specializes in gender, sexuality, law, emotions, and affect in Korean history. She is the author of The Emotions of Justice: Gender, Status, and Legal Performance in Chosŏn Korea (University of Washington Press, 2016), which was awarded the 2017 James Palais Prize of the Association for Asian Studies. She is also the co-editor of The Great East Asian War and the Birth of the Korean Nation by JaHyun Kim Haboush (Columbia University Press, 2016). She is currently working on a book project tentatively entitled Criminalizing Intimacy: Marriage, Concubinage, and Adultery Law in Korea, 1469-2015. She received her M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D. in East Asian Languages and Cultures from Columbia University.
About Harvard Radcliffe Institute: The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University—also known as Harvard Radcliffe Institute—is one of the world’s leading centers for interdisciplinary exploration. We bring students, scholars, artists, and practitioners together to pursue curiosity-driven research, expand human understanding, and grapple with questions that demand insight from across disciplines.
For more information, visit www.radcliffe.harvard.edu.