Eugene Park Named Korea Foundation Associate Professor in History

Eugene Y. Park has been named the Korea Foundation Associate Professor in History in the School of Arts and Sciences. He has also assumed leadership of the Center for Korean Studies at Penn.

Professor Park came to Penn from the University of California, Irvine. He completed his doctorate in East Asian languages and civilizations at Harvard in 1999, and has received numerous research grants and fellowships including: a 2007-08 Seoul National University Kyujanggak Institute for Korean Studies Fellowship; a 2003-2004 Korea Foundation Advanced Research Grant; a 1999-2000 Yale University Council on East Asian Studies Postdoctoral Fellowship; a 1996-1997 Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship; and a 1995-1996 Fulbright Fellowship.

His research interests focus on the sociopolitical history of early modern Korea, and his current work examines the chungin (‘middle people’) to address questions of modernity, identities, and agency. His book, Between Dreams and Reality: The Military Examination in Late Choson Korea, 1600-1894, was published by Harvard University Press in 2007.

The Korea Foundation Professorship was one of two chairs created in 1997 when the Korea Foundation awarded Penn a challenge grant to establish teaching positions dedicated to encouraging an understanding of Korea. The Korea Foundation was founded in 1991 to enhance international goodwill and friendship through a variety of international programs. Its mission is to foster a better understanding of Korea in the international community and to promote international friendship through exchange activities between the Republic of Korea and other countries.