Author Archive
Yongusil 95: The Korean Wave and Identity in the Land of Liberty
K-pop isn’t just about the music. Summarizing her findings from her recently defended doctoral dissertation, “’Black American, heart American’: Non-Korean identities in U.S. Korean Meetup groups,” Dr. Sherri Ter Molen explains how the Korean wave has changed the everyday lives of ordinary Americans.
Yongusil 59: Like a Slow-Moving Aircraft Carrier: Victor Cha’s Outlook on China’s North Korea Foreign Policy
Victor Cha, author of The Impossible State, has been on the lecture circuit with new thoughts on North Korea’s collapse. Sherri Ter Molen caught up with him at the University of Chicago’s Paulson Institute.
Sino-NK 2013 Rewind: Pop Politics and the Narrative of the Bizarre
Sherri L. Ter-Molen takes the “outside” tack on North Korean cultural production and media engagement in 2013. From Dennis Rodman to Jang Sung-taek via Angry Birds and the Samjiyon.
Benoit Symposium: Capitalist Dreams in the Communist Utopia: North Korea’s The Schoolgirl’s Diary
Engaging with a contemporary North Korean film, Sherri Ter Molen unpacks the usage of symbols derived from foreign–and what are often seen as hostile–sources within a distinctly North Korean cultural product.
The Korean Wave’s Northern Undertow: Cultural Hybridity and the Moranbong Band
Sherri L. Ter Molen examines the potential for the Moranbong Band, the North Korean all-girl musical performance group formed in 2012, to increase DPRK soft power by appealing to foreign audiences.