HomePodcastsSpider of Color: Korean-American Representation at the University of Richmond

Spider of Color: Korean-American Representation at the University of Richmond

As a 2017 School of Arts & Sciences Summer Research Fellow with the Race & Racism at the University of Richmond Project, double majoring in Journalism and French, Joshua Hasulchan Kim intended to focus his research on identifying Korean and Korean-American students throughout the history of the University of Richmond. Over some ten weeks of research, this task proved more difficult than Josh originally expected.

While his research in the Collegian archive and University Archives at the Virginia Baptist Historical Society connected him to a Westhampton College student named Seun Hi Kim (Class of 1975), these efforts did not result in the materials needed for a formal digital exhibit. To read more about Seun Hi Kim and Josh's research, check out his blog post on the topic here. Intending to locate and interview Seun Hi Kim, Josh soon found this goal difficult and had to change gears mid-summer.

Finding inspiration from the Expanding the Ivory Tower podcast by Victoria Charles, POC (Podcast of Color) by Rakeem Cunningham, John Cagandahan, Baize White, & Rene Hernandez, and the Race & Racism Project Omeka exhibit Chinese Student Experience by Scott Shim, Shira Smilie, and Alyssa Godley, Josh decided to create a podcast which narrated his research attempts and also the experiences of Korean-American students at the University of Richmond today.

His final audio piece contains a comprehensive history of the Korean-American experience, presents insight into his connection to Seun Hi Kim via the archive, and includes interviews with past and current UR students. 

Works Referenced

Chao, Steve and Liz Gooch. "The country with the world's worst drink problem." Al Jazeera, February 7, 2016. http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2016/02/country-world-worst-drink-problem-160202120308308.html

Connor, Phillip. "6 Facts about South Korea's growing Christian population." Pew Research Center, August 12, 2014. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/08/12/6-facts-about-christianity-in-south-korea/

Ferdman, Roberto A. and Ritchie King. "South Koreans drink twice as much liquor as Russians and more than four times as much as Americans." Quartz, February 2, 2014. https://qz.com/171191/south-koreans-drink-twice-as-much-liquor-as-russians-and-more-than-four-times-as-much-as-americans/

Kim, John H., ed. "In Observance of Centennial of Korean Immigration to the U.S." National Association of Korean Americans, 2003. http://www.naka.org/resources/history.asp

UMDArchives. "Various blog posts on Pyon Su." University of Maryland Archives. (2012-2015). https://umdarchives.wordpress.com/tag/pyon-su/ 

Zong, Jie and Jeanne Batalova. "Korean Immigrants in the United States." Migration Policy Institute, February 8, 2017. https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/korean-immigrants-united-states