Seungsook Moon
Professor Moon is a political and cultural sociologist, scholar of gender studies, and East Asianist specializing in South Korea. She grew up in Seoul, Korea and lived and worked in Boston and Cambridge, MA before moving to Vassar College. Her research evolved from feminist critiques of nationalism, militarism, democratization, and citizenship to globalization and transnationalism shaping militarism and civic agency, production and consumption of food and masculinities. She is a recipient of notable awards, including a Fulbright Scholars Award (2004-05), an inaugural endowed-chair visiting professorship at Harvard University (2014-15), and the Laboratory Program for Korean Studies Research Grant from the Academy of Korean Studies (2018-23). She was an Associate Editor of the Journal of Asian Studies and has served on the editorial boards of Gender & Society, Contemporary Sociology, Korea Journal, and Asian Women. She wrote and was consulted for articles published in the following news media: El Pais, The Economist, South China Morning Post, CNN Digital, El Periodico, Korea Herald, and Weekendavisen. In order to balance her cerebral and sedentary life, she has become an amateur Argentine Tango dancer.
Research and Academic Interests
Transnational Militarism; Citizenship, Civic Activism, and Social Movements; Food, Culture, and Globalization; Masculinities from Global and Transnational Perspectives
Departments and Programs
Courses
Soc 151 Introductory Sociology: Global and Transnational Perspectives
Soc 247 Modern Social Theory: Classical Tradition
Soc/AS 216 Food, Culture, and Globalization
Soc/AS/WMST 369 Masculinities: A Global Perspective
AS/Soc 111 Social Change in South Korea through Film
Resident Director’s Seminar: Food, Culture, & Globalization in London (London Program in Media & Culture, Sp. 2019)
Selected Publications
Books
Civic Activism in South Korea: the Intertwining of Democracy and Neoliberalism (Columbia University Press, 2024).
Obeor deor: je icha segyedaejeon buteo hyeonjekkaji migun jeguggwa hamgge saraon sam: (Seoul: Greenbee Press 2016): The co-edited volume listed below was translated into Korean under my supervision.
“Over There”: Living with the US Military Empire from World War II to the Present (Duke University Press, 2010; reprinted in 2017); co-edited this volume, single-authored three chapters of this volume, and co-authored Introduction and Conclusion.
Gunsajuuie gachin geundae: gungminmandeulgi, simindoegi, geurigo seongui jeongchi, Korean translation of the book listed below (Seoul: Alternative Culture Publication, 2007).
Militarized Modernity and Gendered Citizenship in South Korea. (Duke University Press; Politics, History, and Culture Series, 2005; reprinted in 2007).
Refereed journal articles and book chapters
For the list of entire articles and book chapters, please visit Professor Moon's Professional Website.
“Women’s Sexual Labor and Militarized Masculinity in the Cold War Alliance between South Korea and the U.S.” Oxford Handbook of East Asian Gender History, edited by Barbara Molony, Janet M. Theiss, and Hyaeweol Choi (Oxford University Press, 2024).
“Transnational Militarism and Ethnic Nationalism: South Korean Involvements in the Vietnam and Iraq Wars,” co-authored with Nora Kim. Critical Military Studies 8:4(2022): 409-427.
“Women’s Food Work, Food Citizenship, and Transnational Consumer Capitalism: A Case study of a Feminist Food Cooperative in South Korea," Food, Culture, & Society 25 (June 2022): 449-467.
“Race, Transnational Militarism, and Neocoloniality: The Politics of the THAAD Deployment in South Korea,” Security Dialogue 52(6): 512-528.
Photos
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