Professor Suzy Kim is a historian and author of the prize-winning book, Everyday Life in the North Korean Revolution, 1945-1950 (Cornell 2013). Her work has appeared in positions: asia critique, Asia-Pacific Journal, Cross-Currents, Comparative Studies in Society and History, Gender & History, and the Journal of Korean Studies. Her latest book Among Women across Worlds: North Korea in the Global Cold War (Cornell 2023) was completed with the support of the Fulbright Program and the National Endowment for the Humanities. She is senior editor of positions: asia critique, and serves on the editorial boards of Journal of Korean Studies and Yŏsŏng kwa yŏksa [Women and History], the journal of the Korean Association of Women’s History. As a public scholar, she has been an advocate for social justice and peace in Korea with Amnesty International USA, Truth Foundation, and 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
- Global Cold War
- Transnational Feminisms, Gender, Sexuality
- Comparative Revolutions and Social Movements
- Visual Cultures
- Environmental Humanities
Books
Selected Articles and Book Chapters
- “A Return to the Futures of Times Past,” in The Shape of Time: Korean Art after 1989, eds. Elisabeth Agro, Hyunsoo Woo, and Taeyi Kim (Yale 2023), 22-41
- “North Korea Caught Between Developmentalism and Humanitarianism,” in Forces of Nature: New Perspectives on Korean Environments, eds. David Fedman, Eleana Kim, Albert Park (Cornell 2023), 87-103 [co-authored with Ewa Eriksson Fortier]
- “Pak Chŏng-ae (1907 – ?): From Red Labor Unions to the Korean Democratic Women’s Union,” in The Palgrave Handbook of Communist Women Activists around the World, ed. Francisca de Haan (Palgrave 2022)
- “From Violated Girl to Revolutionary Woman: The Politics of Sexual Difference from China to North Korea,” positions: asia critique 28, no. 3 (August 2020): 631-657
- “Choe Seung-hui Between Ballet and Folk: Aesthetics of National Form and Socialist Content in North Korea,” in Corporeal Politics: Dancing East Asia, eds. Emily Wilcox and Katherine Mezur (University of Michigan 2020), 203-222
- “Beyond Cold War Women: The Peace versus Freedom Debate Revisited,” Social Justice 46, no. 1 (Spring 2019): 65-78
- “The Origins of Cold War Feminism during the Korean War,” Gender & History 31, no. 2 (July 2019): 460-479
- “After Human Rights & the Liberal Order: Toward a New Theory & Praxis of Personhood,” Journal of Human Rights Studies 1(2) (December 2018): 65-106
- "Specters of War in Pyongyang: The Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum,"Cross-Currents: East Asian History and Culture Review 4, no. 1 (May 2015): 71-98.
- "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 19, no. 2 (Fall 2014): 256-290.
- "Understanding North Korea: Rimjin-gang Citizen Journalists out to cure the 'Sick Man of Asia'?"Asia-Pacific Journal (December 2010)
- "Revolutionary Mothers: Women in the North Korean Revolution, 1945-1950,"Comparative Studies in Society and History 52, no. 4 (October 2010)
- "(Dis)Orienting North Korea,"Critical Asian Studies 42, no. 3 (September 2010)
Courses Taught
- Global East Asia (01:098:250)
- East Asian Societies (01:098:444)
- Gender and Social Change in Korea (01:574:310)
- North Korea in the Socialist and Post-Socialist Worlds (01:574:350 / 16:217:550)
- Modern Korean History Seminar (01:574:470 / 16:217:555)
- Contemporary Korean Cinema (01:574:230)
- Introduction to Korean Culture(01:574:210)
Selected Awards and Distinctions
- Fulbright, 2020-2021
- National Endowment for the Humanities, 2016
- James B. Palais Book Prize, 2015
Professional Affiliations
- American Historical Association (AHA)
- Association for Asian Studies (AAS)
- Council of Editors of Learned Journals (CELJ)
- Institute for Research on Women (IRW)
- National Women’s Studies Association (NWSA)