Summary
I am a historian of East Asia, with a focus on the politics and society of early modern Korea. After studying at UCLA and Harvard, I completed a postdoc with the Council on East Asian Studies at Yale and have held faculty appointments at the University of California, Irvine, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Nevada, Reno. I have also taught at Harvard, Korea, McGill, Seoul National, and Yonsei, as well as giving some 70 invited lectures, speeches, or presentations, including the 26th Annual Stanley Spector Memorial Lecture on East Asian History and Civilization at Washington University in St. Louis (2019). Major projects of nonprofits have consulted me, including Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (PBS), the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem). I co-chaired the organizing committee of the Eighth Biennial World Congress of Korean Studies (2016).
Research interests
My research examines political power and social status, especially as reflected in government service examinations, court ranks and offices, the disparity between ascriptive status and socioeconomic class and the evolution of family history narratives. While my scholarship using primary sources focuses on Korea, I maintain a broad, comparative perspective on periodizing global history. In this context, I enjoy reading and engaging in conversations about deep history, evolutionary biology and population genetics. My current projects explore (1) the role of animal symbolism in early state formation and (2) human–wild felid interactions.
Books
- The Routledge Handbook of Early Modern Korea. Edited volume. Routledge, 2025.
- Politics of Public Opinion: Local Councils and People's Assemblies in Korea, 1567–1894. By Kim Ingeol. Translation. Brill, 2024.
- Korea: A History. Stanford University Press, 2022.
- A Genealogy of Dissent: The Progeny of Fallen Royals in Chosŏn Korea. Stanford University Press, 2018.
- Peace in the East: An Chunggŭn’s Vision for Asia in the Age of Japanese Imperialism. Edited volume (with Yi Tae-Jin and Kirk W. Larsen). Lexington Books, 2017.
- A Family of No Prominence: The Descendants of Pak Tŏkhwa and the Birth of Modern Korea. Stanford University Press, 2014.
- Between Dreams and Reality: The Military Examination in Late Chosŏn Korea, 1600–1894. Harvard University Asia Center, 2007.
Journal articles and book chapters (select)
- “Japan and Korea, 1450–1850.” In The Cambridge History of War, Volume III, War and the Early Modern World, edited by David Parrott and Gábor Ágoston. Cambridge University Press, 2025.
- “Status and Class.” In The Routledge Handbook of Early Modern Korea, edited by Eugene Y. Park. Routledge, 2025.
- “Dynastic Change and Politicide in Early Modern Korea: The Chosŏn Persecution of the Koryŏ Wang, 1392–1413.” Journal of Asian History 51 (2017), no. 1: 55–85.
- “The Phantasm of the Western Capital (Sŏgyŏng): Imperial Korea’s Redevelopment of P’yŏngyang, 1902–1908.” International Journal of Asian Studies 12 (2015), no. 2: 167–191.
- “Old Status Trappings in a New World: The ‘Middle People’ (Chungin) and Genealogies in Modern Korea.” Journal of Family History 38 (2013) no. 2: 166–187.
- “Status and ‘Defunct’ Offices in Early Modern Korea: The Case of Five Guards Generals (Owijang), 1864–1910.” Journal of Social History 41 (2008), no. 3: 737–757.
Courses taught
- HIST 209: World History II
- HIST 211: History of East Asia I
- HIST 306: History of Korea
- HIST 448A/648A: Korea and Empires, 1864–1945
- HIST 488C/688C: Topics in Nature and Culture: Genes, Environment, and Global History
- HIST 499B: Applied History
- HIST 703: Advanced Studies in History
- HIST 705: Graduate Readings in History
Education
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Ph.D., East Asian Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University, 1999
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A.M., Regional Studies East Asia, Harvard University, 1993
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B.A., History, University of California, Los Angeles, 1991