Department of English

• Monday, June 15, 2015 - 2:00pm to 4:30pm

FBH, Faculty Lounge

Please join us for A. Yumi Lee’s dissertation defense next Monday, 15 June at 2pm in the Fisher-Bennett Hall Faculty Lounge.

Ms. Lee’s dissertation, “Someone Else’s War: Korea and the Post-1945 U.S. Racial Order” is a compelling examination of the Korean War as a staging ground for the rise and development of U.S. racial liberalism after World War II. The dissertation argues that the Korean War served as an arena for negotiating numerous national, regional, and global crises of Cold War struggle and domestic reorderings of race that far exceed current historical understandings of the conflict. Exploring literature by Ha Jin, Rolando Hinojosa, Toni Morrison, and Chang-rae Lee, and focusing in particular on the figure of the soldier, the project investigates how racial liberalism did not oppose but rather demanded acquiescence to U.S. empire.

In the first hour, the defense will begin with a public presentation by Ms. Lee of her research followed by an open conversation. In the second hour, the dissertation committee, which also includes co-chair Jo Park and Jed Esty, will meet privately with Ms. Lee to continue the conversation. Everyone is invited to gather for a celebratory toast at 4pm in the Faculty Lounge.