As the tagline says, The Grand Narrative is about discussing Korean feminism, sexuality, and popular culture, and in the last 6 years has become one of the leading internet sources on those topics, getting mentions in such sources as TIME, The Washington Post, BUST, CNN, The Associated Press, and Jezebel. Since November 2010, I have also become a frequent public speaker too, regularly giving lectures at universities across Korea and overseas.
With my limited time and finances however, unfortunately I can’t provide as much coverage on as many issues as I would like, so I focus on my own research interests of advertising, the media, body-image, and girl-groups. But I do still try to keep readers up to date with the latest news through Twitter and the blog’s Facebook page, and I often provide translations of Korean sources in my posts, aiming to pass on news and perspectives that English speakers would otherwise never get exposed to.
On a more personal note, I arrived in Jinju in Korea back in May 2000, moved with my Korean girlfriend to Busan in September 2003, and have been there ever since. We got married in May 2004, and had Alice in June 2006 and then Elizabeth in August 2008. Before that, I was born in England in 1976, and spent most of my adolescence being repeatedly dragged between England, Australia and New Zealand by my parents, and, as I happened to be in the latter when they got divorced, graduated high school and went to (Auckland) university there. Technically, I’m still British, but I’ve spent most of my adult life in Korea.
Recent and Forthcoming Guest Lectures, Conference Presentations, Articles, and Media Appearances:
November 2010
— Wellesley College, Boston “An Introduction to Korean Gender Issues”
March 2011
— Royal Asiatic Society, Seoul “Gender Advertisements in the Korean Context”
April 2011
— Pusan National University “Gender Advertisements in the Korean Context”
May 2011
— University of California, Irvine “Girls’ Generation? Gender, (Dis)Empowerment and K-Pop” (for chapter in forthcoming Korean Popular Culture Reader by Duke University Press)
June 2011
— Pusan National University “Gender Advertisements in the Korean Context”
— Sejong University, Seoul “Gender Advertisements in the Korean Context”
July 2011
— The Korea Herald, “Should the Sexualization of Teens in K-Pop be Banned?”
— 4th Korea-America Student Conference, Pukyong National University, Busan “Gender Advertisements in the Korean Context”
— Deutschland Radio, “Wirtschaftsfaktor Girlband”
September 2011
— BUST, “South Korean Starlets Stuck with Offensive Bagel Girl Label”
November 2011
— Gwangju Foreign Language Network, Interview
December 2011
— Keimyung University, Daegu “Reflexivities and Embodiment” Seminar and Workshop
January 2012
— Sociological Images, “Thinking through Korean Appropriation of American Indians”
February 2012
— Busan Haps, “Korea’s Hidden Smokers”
March 2012
— Eurêka! Productions, “Le sexe autour du monde” documentary interview
April 2012
— Pusan National University “Gender Advertisements in the Korean Context”
— Busan Haps, “Why are There So Many Celebrities in Korean Ads?”
— Busan e-FM, “Let’s Talk Busan”
May 2012
— Pusan National University “Sex and Gender Stereotypes in Korean Advertising”
June 2012
— Busan Haps, “Goodbye Madame Butterfly, Hello Sexless Marriage”
August 2012
— Busan Haps, “The Empowerment of The Pill in Korea”
September 2012
— The Associated Press, “For S. Korean men, makeup a foundation for success”
October 2012
— Radiowa Trójka, Interview
— Pusan National University “Sex and Gender Stereotypes in Korean Advertising”
— CNN, “When fans go too far”
— Busan e-FM, “Let’s Talk Busan”
— Dongseo University “Sex and Gender Stereotypes in Korean Advertising”
— Busan Haps, “Censors in Retreat”
November 2012
— Busan e-FM, “Let’s Talk Busan”
— Busan e-FM Global Forum “Sex and Gender Stereotypes in Korean Advertising”
— Yonhap, “‘Ladygate’ incidents point to misogyny on the Korean Internet”
December 2013
— The Korea Herald, “Should pornography be censored?”
— Busan Haps, “K-girl Power: The emerging trend of empowerment and sexuality in K-pop”
January 2013
— Interview, The Morning Wave, Busan e-FM
February 2013
— Busan Haps, “Crossing the Lines: The Trends Reshaping Women’s Bodies in Korea”
March 2013
— 10 Magazine Book Club, Seoul “Revealing the Korean Body Politic”
April 2013
— Busan Haps, “Going Solo: The Korean trend of living alone”
October 2013
— “Girls’ Generation? Gender, (Dis)Empowerment and K-pop” in The Korean Popular Culture Reader, Duke University Press (co-written with Dr. Stephen Epstein)
