Underwood International College

Associate Professor of Asian Studies 

Profile

Henry Em is associate professor of Korean history in the HASS/Asian Studies Division of UIC. He received his BA, MA, and PhD (History, 1995) from the University of Chicago. From 1995 to 2013, he was assistant professor at UCLA and University of Michigan, and associate professor at NYU. He was a Fulbright Senior Scholar to Korea (1998-1999) and a visiting professor at Centre de Recherches sur la Corée, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris (2000). Professor Em began teaching at Yonsei University in 2013. His recent publications include “Killer Fables: Yun Ch’i-ho, Bourgeois Enlightenment, and the Free Laborer,” Journal of Korean Studies, 25:1 (March, 2020); The Unending Korean War, a special issue of positions: asia critique co-edited with Christine Hong, 23:4 (Winter, 2015), and The Great Enterprise: Sovereignty and Historiography in Modern Korea (Duke University Press, 2013).

Education

Ph.D. in History, University of Chicago, 1995
M.A. in East Asian Studies, University of Chicago, 1986
B.A. in East Asian Studies, University of Chicago, 1982

Courses and Current Research Areas

UIC
ASD:  Introduction to Asian Studies
              AS LHP: The Korean War
              AS LHP: Cold War in East Asia
              AS LHP: Capitalism and its Critics; Korea 1920-Present
              Historiography on Korea