Full Details

Thursday, September 5

What is K-Pop?
Time:
5:30 pm
Presenter:
Professor Suk-Young Kim
Location:
125 Frick Fine Arts Auditorium
Sponsored by:
Asian Studies Center along with AAS Northeast Asia Council of Korean Studies
Contact Email:
asia@pitt.edu

K-pop is a dynamic field with many faces: for the South Korean government, it is a prominent tool for the nation to promote its growing influence through soft power; for Asian American youth it provides an occasion to claim their cultural coolness; for industry insiders and consumers, it presents a unique entertainment form where various media formats converge; for business communities, it provides effective marketing opportunities. By taking into consideration these various factors that comprise what we call K-pop, this talk explores its dynamic history, practice, and cultural implications.

Dr. Suk-Young Kim is Professor of Theater and Performance Studies at UCLA where she also directs Center for Performance Studies. She is the author of Illusive Utopia:Theater, Film, and Everyday Performance in North Korea(Michigan, 2010), DMZ Crossing(Columbia, 2014), and most recently,K-pop Live: Fans, Idols, and Multimedia Performance (Stanford, 2018). Her scholarship has been recognized by the James Palais Book Prize from the Association for Asian Studies, the Association for Theater in Higher Education Outstanding Book Award, and ACLS/SSRC/NEH International and Area Studies Fellowship.