Biography

My academic journey in the United Kingdom, California, New York, Russia, Japan, and Korea has led me to pursue an in-depth study of Korean popular performance. I studied Ballet (BA) at Pusan National University, and took ballet lessons at Novosibirsk Ballet School in Russia and the Joffrey Ballet School in New York.

I studied for a Dance Theory MA at the Korea National University of Arts. After graduating, I studied at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) as an international student for one year. In 2009-2010, I studied orientalism, globalization, and nationalism within Asian diaspora dances, particularly contemporary South Asian and Korean dances, in an MA at the University of Surrey.

Currently, I am doing a PhD in Media and Cultural studies at the University of Sussex and my research focuses on transnational flows in Korean popular performances such as K-Pop music video dance.

Role

PhD Candidate in Media and Cultural Studies

Member of the Sussex Centre for Cultural Studies (SCCS)

Member of the Centre for Research in Opera and Music Theatre (CROMT)

Member of Korean Artists Association UK (KAA)

President of the University of Sussex Korean Society (2012/13)

Qualifications

MA Dance Studies, University of Surrey, 2010

MA Dance Theory, Korea National University of Arts, 2008 (Distinction)

BA Ballet, Pusan National University, 2006 (First Class)

Activities

Co-Organiser, School of Media, Film and Music PhD Research in Progress Seminars (2012-13)

Conferences

Presenter, MeCCSA-PGN 2012

Topic: What is the ‘Korean-ness’ in Transnational Cultural Flows

Dates: 17^th-18^th Sep 2012, Loughborough University (Leicestershire, UK)

Presenter, Pop Moves

Topic: Transnational Flows in Korean Popular Performance

Dates: 29^th Oct 2011, University of East London (London, UK)

Presenter, Centre for Research on Nationalism, Ethnicity and Multiculturalism

Topic: Examining Identity and Nation in Diasporic South Asian and Korean dance

Dates: 28^th – 29^th June 2011, University of Surrey (Guildford, UK)

PhD Thesis: Transnational Flows in Korean Popular Performance

My research has pursued interdisciplinary and intercultural research in the globalized context of Korean popular performance. This research particularly explores the inter-cultural, cross-cultural and transnational flows in Korean musical dance-theatre and popular dance of music videos through the dancing bodies. The research will delve into Korean Wave (Hallyu), which is the spread of South Korean culture around the world, to examine the culture industry and the transnational popular culture phenomenon. 

This research has commenced with a historical mapping exercise to explore the relationship between political and social developments in Korean popular performance. It examines the ways in which Korean popular performance emerged as an identifiable cultural form and why Korean popular performance and Korean Wave have appeared on the global stage. The aim of this research is to investigate how Korean popular performance develops within the context of transnationalism and globalization using interpretive frameworks, which will shed light on case studies showing how Korean art forms move into the world.  

This research is related to changing cultural policies, and the transnationalization of Korean popular performance, which is influenced by the hybridization of screen dance in the relationship of sound, image and place. Accordingly, this research explores how Korean popular performance activities are a form of cultural production, which impacts everyday lives culturally, politically and economically. This research examines how Korean popular dance-theatre shapes public perceptions of cultural industries as well as how popular dance on music videos influence contemporary social and political debates.