So-Rim Lee

Headshot Of So-Rim Lee

Korea Foundation Assistant ProfessorGender and Performance in Modern and Contemporary Korea

215-898-3295

806 Williams Hall

Office Hours
Spring 2025: MW 3-4:30 PM
Education

PhD, Theater and Performance Studies, Stanford University

MA, Text and Performance, RADA-Birkbeck, University of London

MA, English Literature, Seoul National University

BA, Film Studies, Columbia University

Research Interests

My research explores the politics of embodiment (living in and with a body) in Korea and the Korean diaspora from the intersection of performance studies, visual and media studies, queer/disability politics, and feminist activisms. I have written on gender and racial politics in multimedia art, photography, K-pop, reality television, and ASMR videos on YouTube. I am currently completing a book manuscript examining the cultural discourses of plastic surgery in Korea through the framework of remedy.

Courses Taught

Introduction to Korean Civilization (EALC/HIST 0060)

Gender and Sexuality in Korea (EALC/GSWS 7471)

New Korean Cinema (EALC/CIMS 1371/6371)

Art, Pop, and Belonging: Or, How to Talk about Korean Popular Culture (EALC 1379)

Selected Publications

Refereed Articles and Book Chapters

Reviews

Public Scholarship

  • “By the Skin of Our Teeth: Surviving the Eating Disorder Closed Wards of Gangnam.” Co-authored with Jeannie Park. Detours: A Decolonial Guide to Koreaeds. Crystal Mun-hye Baik, Ju Hui Judy Han, Jinah Kim, and Young Gyung Paik. Forthcoming from Duke University Press, 2025.
  • “ASMR—Digital Intimacy and Care,” in Watch & Chill 2.0: Streaming Senses exhibition catalogue. Seoul: Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, 2023.
  • Setting the Stage: Korean Women Artists on Performance and Beauty" in Ideas: Asia Art Archive Online Journal. September 4, 2019.
  • How ‘Gangnam Style’ Saved My Life” in Zócalo Public Square. July 15, 2019.  
  • Interview of Valery Jung Estabrook,” in AKAA: The Archive of Korean Artists in America. April 26, 2019.

  • 유학생과 난민 International Students and Refugees,” 경계없는 페미니즘: 제주 예멘 난민과 페미니즘의 응답 Feminism Without Borders: A Response to the Yemeni Refugees in Jeju. ed. Kim Sŏnhye. Seoul: Waon, 2019.

Affiliations

Executive Board, The Program in Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies

Executive Board, James Joo-Jin Kim Center for Korean Studies

Graduate Groups in Comparative Literature and Literary Theory