Faculty

Associate Professor of Korean History

Office Phone Number: 848-932-6487
suzykim@alc.rutgers.edu

ON LEAVE 

Professor Kim began teaching Korean Studies at Rutgers in 2010 and has previously taught at Emerson College, Boston College, and Oberlin College after receiving her Ph.D. in Modern Korean History at the University of Chicago. Her manuscript Everyday Life in the North Korean Revolution, 1945-1950 (Cornell University Press, 2013) won the James B. Palais Book Prize in Korean Studies from the Association for Asian Studies in 2015. Covering the immediate post-colonial period of North Korean history from 1945 when Korea was liberated from Japanese colonial rule to 1950 before the start of the Korean War, the book focused on the local people's committees and mass organizations that were spontaneously organized and later centralized, reconstructing the beginnings of North Korean society through a micro-level study of everyday life.

She is currently working on a gender history of North Korea, covering broadly the visual culture of the postwar period from the 1950s to the 1990s. Her research interests include critical theory, gender studies, and oral history. Outside the academe, she has been an advocate for human rights and peace in Korea as Korea Country Specialist for Amnesty International USA, advisory board member for Truth Foundation (Seoul, Korea), and executive committee member of Women Cross DMZ.

Education

• Ph.D. University of Chicago
• M.A. University of Chicago
• B.A. University of California, Los Angeles

Areas of Specialization

• Modern Korean History
• North Korean Social History
• Critical Theory
• Gender Studies
• Oral History

Books

Selected Articles and Book Chapters

• Everyday Life in the North Korean Revolution, 1945-1950 (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2013)
• "Crossing Borders: a feminist history of Women Cross DMZ," The Asia-Pacific Journal, Vol. 13, Issue 33, No. 1 (August 17, 2015)
• (De)Memorializing the Korean War: A Critical Intervention, Cross-Currents: East Asian History and Culture Review No. 14 (March 2015), Guest Editor with Introduction: 51-62.
• "Specters of War in Pyongyang: The Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum," Cross-Currents: East Asian History and Culture Review No. 14 (March 2015): 124-151.
• "Marriage, Family, and Sexuality in North Korea," Routledge Handbook of Sexuality Studies in East Asia, eds. Vera Mackie and Mark McLelland (Routledge, 2015): 112-123.
• "Mothers and Maidens: Gendered Formation of Revolutionary Heroes in North Korea," Journal of Korean Studies Volume 19, No. 2 (Fall 2014): 256-290.
• "Understanding North Korea: Rimjin-gang Citizen Journalists out to cure the 'Sick Man of Asia'?" The Asia-Pacific Journal, 49-2-10 (December 6, 2010)
• "Revolutionary Mothers: Women in the North Korean Revolution, 1945-1950" Comparative Studies in Society and History Volume 52, No. 4 (October 2010)
• "(Dis)Orienting North Korea" Critical Asian Studies Volume 42, No. 3 (September 2010)
• Review of Famine in North Korea: Markets, Aid, and Reform by Stephan Haggard & Marcus Noland Journal of Asian Studies , Volume 69, Issue 1 (March 2010): 286-288
• "Teaching North Korea with Visual & Online Resources" Education About Asia , Volume 14:3 (Winter 2009)
• "Uncovering the Hidden Histories of the Korean War: An Interview with the Standing Commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Korea, Dr. Dong-Choon Kim" Korea Policy Institute, July 25, 2009
• "Hardliners Target Detente with North Korea" (co-authored with John Feffer) The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus (peer-reviewed e-journal), March 8, 2008

Courses Taught

• Contemporary Korean Cinema (01:574:230)
• Gender and Social Change in Korea(01:574:310)
• Introduction to Korean Culture (01:574:210)
• Korean Literature in Translation (01:574:221)
• North Korea in the Socialist and Post-Socialist Worlds (01:574:350 / 16:214:550)
• Seminar on Modern Korean History(01:574:470 / 16:214:555)

Selected Awards and Distinctions

• National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship, 2016
• Association for Asian Studies James B. Palais Book Prize, 2015
• National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Stipend Award, 2015
• Seoul National University Kyujanggak Fellowship, 2011-2012
• Korea Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2005-2006

Professional Affiliations

• Alliance of Scholars Concerned about Korea (ASCK)
• Amnesty International USA
• Association for Asian Studies (AAS)
• Korea Policy Institute (KPI)
• Truth Foundation