New Books Network
Korean Studies
East Asian Studies September 7, 2021

Imperial Romance

Fictions of Colonial Intimacy in Korea, 1905-1945

Su Yun Kim

Hosted by Ed Pulford
As in colonial situations elsewhere, Korean experiences of Japanese empire featured many attempts by the imperial authorities to regulate intimate aspects of Korean life, including intermarriage between colonizer and colonized …

Korean Studies

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Interviews with scholars of Korea about their new books.

Asian Review of Books September 2, 2021

North Korea: Like Nowhere Else

Two Years of Life and Photos from the World's Most Secretive State

Lindsey Miller

Hosted by Nicholas Gordon
It’s a cliche to call North Korea the most isolated country in the world. Those of us living outside the country often have very little idea of what life there …
Anthropology August 24, 2021

Glossolalia and the Problem of Language

Nicholas Harkness

Hosted by Amir Lehman
Speaking in tongues, also known as glossolalia, has long been a subject of curiosity as well as vigorous theological debate. A worldwide phenomenon that spans multiple Christian traditions, glossolalia is …
Gender Studies August 18, 2021

Tastes Like War

A Memoir

Grace M. Cho

Hosted by Ann Choi
The US military camptowns were established shortly after the Second World War in 1945, appropriating the Japanese comfort stations. The Korean government actively supported the creation of camptowns for its …
East Asian Studies May 7, 2021

Empire and Righteous Nation

600 Years of China-Korea Relations

Odd Arne Westad

Hosted by Ed Pulford
Being arguably each side’s most enduring international bond, the China-Korea relationship has long been of great practical and symbolic importance to both. Moreover, as Odd Arne Westad observes in his …
Political Science May 3, 2021

Mobilizing for Development

The Modernization of Rural East Asia

Kristen E. Looney

Hosted by Susan Liebell
Dr. Kristen Looney’s Mobilizing for Development: The Modernization of Rural East Asia published by Cornell University in 2020 interrogates how countries achieve rural development and offers a new way of …
World Christianity April 30, 2021

Understanding Korean Christianity

Grassroot Perspectives on Causes, Culture, and Responses

K. Kale Yu

Hosted by Byung Ho Choi
The cultural landscape plays a momentous role in the transmission of Christianity. Consequently, the global expansion of the church has led to the increasing diversification of world Christianity. As a …
Nordic Asia Podcast February 19, 2021

K-Pop and the Korean Wave with Jimmyn Parc

Jimmyn Parc

Hosted by Satoko Naito
Jimmyn Parc of Sciences Po speaks with Satoko Naito of the University of Turku about the global popularity of K-Pop and the history of the Korean Wave (Hallyu), highlighting significant factors …
East Asian Studies February 17, 2021

Comfort Women Activism

Critical Voices from the Perpetrator State

Eika Tai

Hosted by Nathan Hopson
Eika Tai’s Comfort Women Activism: Critical Voices from the Perpetrator State (Hong Kong University Press, 2020) tackles the complex histories of Japanese “military sexual violence” and the activism by women …
Law February 8, 2021

Asia's New Geopolitics

Essays on Reshaping the Indo-Pacific

Michael R. Auslin

Hosted by Jane Richards
Is the Indo-Pacific already the most dominant in terms of global power, politics, and wealth? In his newest book, Michael R. Auslin considers the key issues facing the Indo-Pacific which have ramifications …
East Asian Studies January 25, 2021

Constructing Empire

The Japanese in Changchun, 1905–45

Bill Sewell

Hosted by Daigengna Duoer
What happens to everyday-life in a city when it becomes subsumed into an empire? Who becomes responsible for the everyday building and management of the new imperial enclave? How do …
East Asian Studies January 21, 2021

Being in North Korea

Andray Abrahamian

Hosted by Ed Pulford
As well as presenting practical challenges, addressing the question ‘what is it like in North Korea?’ raises ethical concerns around who is entitled to interpret life in a place so …
East Asian Studies January 13, 2021

Seeing Like a Child

Inheriting the Korean War

Clara Han

Hosted by Ann Choi
Intertwining autobiography and ethnography, Clara Han’s touching new book Seeing Like a Child: Inheriting the Korean War (Fordham University Press, 2020) asks how scholarship can be transformed from a child’s …
Economics January 8, 2021

Money Games

The Inside Story of How American Dealmakers Saved Korea's Most Iconic Bank

Weijian Shan

Hosted by Andrea Bernardi
Money Games: The Inside Story of How American Dealmakers Saved Korea’s Most Iconic Bank (Wiley, 2020) by Weijian Shan’s, is a riveting tale of one of the most successful buyout deals ever …
East Asian Studies December 22, 2020

Seeds of Control

Japan’s Empire of Forestry in Colonial Korea

David Fedman

Hosted by Nathan Hopson
David Fedman's Seeds of Control: Seeds of Control: Japan’s Empire of Forestry in Colonial Korea (University of Washington Press, 2020) is hard to categorize. In a good way. Put simply, it is …
East Asian Studies December 16, 2020

The Cost of Belonging

An Ethnography on Solidarity and Mobility in Beijing's Koreatown

Sharon J. Yoon

Hosted by Ann Choi
How vulnerable can you be as a researcher? Why, in a commercially successful city like Wangqing, are Chinese Koreans more successful in their businesses than entrepreneurs from Korea who often …
Gender Studies November 25, 2020

Embodied Reckonings

“Comfort Women,” Performance, and Transpacific Redress

Elizabeth Son

Hosted by Ann Choi
In a bustling city-center of Seoul, women in yellow vests protesting over the “final” resettlement between the Japanese and Korean governments every Wednesday is an iconic sight, testifying to the …
Gender Studies October 23, 2020

Elusive Belonging

Marriage Immigrants and 'Multiculturalism' in Rural South Korea

Minjeong Kim

Hosted by Ann Choi
Studies on marriage migration often portray marriage migrants as victims of globalization and patriarchy. Although there are intersecting oppressions among female migrant workers, the tendency to conflate marriage migration with …
Buddhist Studies July 28, 2020

From the Mountains to the Cities

A History of Buddhist Propagation in Korea

Mark A. Nathan

Hosted by Trevor McManis
From the Mountains to the Cities A History of Buddhist Propagation in Korea (University of Hawaii Press, 2018), written by Mark A. Nathan, is a history of P’ogyo (Buddhist Propagation) …
Buddhist Studies May 12, 2020

Doctrine and Practice in Medieval Korean Buddhism

The Collected Works of Ŭich’ŏn

Richard McBride II

Hosted by Trevor McManis
Today I talked to Richard McBride II about Doctrine and Practice in Medieval Korean Buddhism: The Collected Works of Ŭich’ŏn (University of Hawaii Press, 2016). The book is a comprehensive …