Dr. Seungsook Moon, Vassar College
April 6, 2014 (Sun) 3:00 – 5:00 p.m.
UNM Continuing Education Auditorium

In recent decades Asian countries produced a handful of women presidents and women prime ministers. Most recently in 2012 South Korea elected Park Geun-hye to the presidency. These women leaders intrigue many people in the world because Asian societies are stereotypically known for persistent traditions of patriarchy and because national politics in general has been dominated by men. Drawing upon the current example of South Korea and other Asian countries, Dr. Seungsook Moon will examine how these women leaders can make a difference and often failed to do so and why.

Dr. Seungsook Moon is Professor of Sociology at Vassar College where she served as Chair of the department and Director of Asian Studies Program. She is the author of Militarized Modernity and Gendered Citizenship in South Koreaand co-editor and a contributor of Over There: Living with the U.S. Military Empire from World War II to the Present. As a political and cultural sociologist and scholar of gender studies specializing in South Korea, she has published numerous articles on such topics as citizenship, military service and militarism, civil society and social movement organizations, collective memories, globalization, and food. She is a recipient of the Fulbright Scholar Award and the Korea Book Review Editor of the Journal of Asian Studies. She has been also widely consulted by news media, including CNN, El Periodico (Spain), Korea Herald (South Korea), and Weekendavisen (Denmark).

Supported by New Mexico Humanities Council, Sandia National Labs, UNM, Feminist Research Institute & Anderson School of Management