James Joo-Jin Kim Center for Korean Studies
The James Joo-Jin Kim Program in Korean Studies is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2020-2021 Undergraduate Fellow Award. The award is aimed at students who are involved in the study of Korea and interested in active participation in the university’s Korean Studies program. Fellows are selected on the basis of academic merits and demonstrated interest in Korean Studies.
Hannah Byun (top left)
Hannah Byun is a Junior at the University of Pennsylvania studying Economics with minors in International Relations. In addition to being a Kim Program Undergraduate Fellow, she is an intern for The Think Tanks and Civil Society Program at the Lauder Institute. Her main areas of study are in International Economics, Economic Foreign Policy, International Affairs, and National Security. Her experiences as a dual-citizen of Korea and the United States shaped her interest in international politics and economy, most specifically in East Asia. Hannah's perceptions on how flexible she was to different cultures and her interest in Korean issues sprung when she went to North Korean defectors' church in South Korea. Through this experience, she became aware of North Korean politics and the ongoing struggle for the reunification of the Korean peninsula. Through her work at the North Korean Defector Mentoring Program, she has solidified her convictions about reunification and committed herself to continue her efforts to raise awareness. She is particularly interested in Korea's economic and diplomatic relations with the U.S., North Korea, and other countries. As an Undergraduate Fellow, she hopes to raise awareness of the Korean culture and history by helping the Penn community to explore political and social analysis.
Joseph Chong (top middle)
Joseph first became interested in Korean studies during his junior year at Penn, when he decided to take a Korean language course. Although he was raised in a Korean-speaking household, he never felt that he had taken the time to properly learn the language or study Korea's rich history and culture. At Penn, Joseph found himself immersed in not only Korean language courses, but history and cinema as well. He continues to pursue Korean studies as a 2020-21 Undergraduate fellow, hoping to enrich his knowledge through research on how Americans' perceptions of Korea has evolved over the recent decade. Joseph is also on the pre-med track as a biochemistry major. He works in a laboratory affiliated with the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, studying craniofacial diseases in humans using mice. He hopes to become an orthopaedic surgeon who can effectively communicate with Korean patients in the future.
Sarah Jeon (top right)
Sarah is a sophomore who hopes to have a career in law in Korea. However, having attended a foreign language high school and being an international student, she felt that she wouldn’t have enough understanding of the country’s history and culture to fit into the country’s business culture. In her freshman spring, she took a class in Korean Literature, which, with the professor’s detailed explanation of the readings and Korean history, quickly became her favorite class and led her to apply to the program. Through the fellowship, Sarah hopes to learn about Korea in more detail and help promote the program to others who may be interested. Aside from being a Kim Program Undergraduate Fellow, Sarah is in K-Beats, Penn’s K-pop dance group, on the board of Wharton Korea Undergraduate Business Society, a member of Wharton Asia Exchange, and a Silverman Fellow, through which she volunteers twice a week at a West Philly elementary school.
Nicole Kim (bottom left)
I was born in Los Angeles, California. My parents never sent me to Korean school, so I learned the language and the traditions from my parents. I went to a predominantly Hispanic high school, so I wasn't exposed to much of my culture. Coming to Penn, I knew I wanted to get involved in the Korean community on campus. During my first semester as a freshman, I took a course called "Korean Popular Culture", and learned so much about the history of Korea that I hadn't known before. Learning about the Gwangju movement was what really sparked my interest in learning about Korean history. I took "Korean for Heritage Speakers II" this year, and was able to greatly expand my writing, reading, and speaking skills. I hope to study abroad in South Korea some day during my time at Penn, so that I can absorb more of my culture and my identity as a Korean. Through the James Joo-Jin Undergraduate Fellowship, I look forward to becoming more aware of the different issues happening in Korea through the Korean Studies Colloquium.
Elena Tisnovsky (bottom right)
Elena is a current sophomore majoring in Political Science and minoring in Korean Studies. Her fascination with Korean language and culture stemmed from a somewhat random event two years ago, when she selected it out of eight other languages offered when applying to the National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y), a U.S. Department of State-funded scholarship aimed at encouraging American high school students to study languages critical to national security. After living in Jeonju with a host family and studying at Shinheung High School, she fell in love with Korean language and culture. She has continued to study Korean formally through the James Joo-Jin Kim Department of Korean Studies at Penn and secured a board position with Penn for Liberty in North Korea (LiNK,) the Penn chapter of an international non-profit dedicated to helping North Korean refugees safely relocate to freedom. Now, in her sophomore year, Elena is thrilled to become even more involved with Korean Studies with the Kim Fellowship.