Haesook Kim

Biography

I was born in Korea and grew up just after the 1951 Korean War. I received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English language and literature in 1973 and a master’s degree in sociology from Ewha in 1975 from Ewha Womans University in Seoul, where my thesis concerned black nationalism in America. In 1977, I was granted a scholarship to study at Columbia University where I pursued a second master’s in sociology, which I completed in 1979. I became interested in law while studying at Columbia University and wrote my Ph.D. thesis, “Dynamics of Gender and Legal Professions: The Case of Women Jurists of South Korea,” receiving my Ph.D. from Columbia University in 2000. My major field of interest is law and society, and I have been specializing in studying women’s entry into the field of law in East Asia. Other areas of professional interest are gender studies; race and ethnicity; and East Asian studies, including religions and shamanism as well as East Asian art and cinema. I began teaching at Long Island University’s Brooklyn Campus in 1994 and became associate professor of sociology in 2002. In 2006, I initiated the Asian Studies Program, introducing a minor in Asian studies into the Campus’ curriculum. I presently serve as chair of the Program. Through the Asia Forum Guest Lecture Series, I have brought a number of distinguished guest lecturers to the Brooklyn Campus. During my sabbatical year in 2004-2005, I accepted a position as visiting professor at Peking University and another at Nanjing University in China. I returned to lecture at Nanjing University during the summer of 2007. For Spring 2010, I have been invited to Ewha Womans University, where I will be a visiting professor. Since 1983, I have presented lectures concerning East Asia at many venues including Harvard University, Seoul National University, Cornell University, University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University, Mills College, Pitzer College, Bard College, CUNY Graduate Center, Howard University and Ewha Womans University. I received a number of research and travel grants from Long Island University as well as a major grant from the Korea Foundation to produce a book manuscript on the entry of women into the legal professions in Korea. In October 2009, I submitted “A Place in the Sun: Women’s Entry into the Legal Professions in Korea, 1952-2009” to the Korea Foundation, and the manuscript is now being considered for publication by the University of Washington Press.

Research Interest

Law and Society; Gender Studies; East Asian Studies; Korean Studies; Race and Ethnicity