2018 - 2019 Postdoctoral Associates

Young Sun Park was born and raised in South Korea. She received her Ph.D. in History from the University of Southern California in 2018.  Dr. Park’s research focus is on the history of childhood and the institutionalization of children in need, including the symbolic meanings they carried in Korean society. By analyzing the way of institutionalizing particular children labeled as “undesirable,” such as orphans and vagrant children, her research reveals central features in the relationship between the institutionalized treatment of undesirable children, on the one hand, the family, the state, and external forces, on the other, in the shaping of modern Korea. 

While at Yale, Dr. Park prepared her dissertation for publication. She also taught a class on cinematic dramatization of gender in the context of modern Korean history in Fall, 2018.