Jiyoon Pyeon

she/her/hers

[email protected]

Asian & Middle Eastern Studies

220 Folwell Hall

9 Pleasant St SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455

Collegiate Affiliation

Ph.D. Candidate,

Asian & Middle Eastern Studies

Moving Image, Media & Sound

Educational Background & Specialties

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Educational Background

Ph.D.: Asian Literatures, Cultures, and Media, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
Graduate Minor: Moving Image, Media, and Sound Studies, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
M.A.: Humanities - Cinema & Media Studies Option, University of Chicago, 2018
B.A.: Media Studies - Television & Film, Ewha Womans University, 2017

Specialties

Korean cinema and media
Modern and contemporary Korean cultural studies (including K-Drama, K-Pop, and transnational fan culture)
East Asian and transnational cinema
Genre studies
World cinema
Film style and aesthetics
Film and media industies

Publications

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Publications

Pyeon, Jiyoon. “Translating Darkness: Spatial Allegories and Film Noir Aesthetics in Asura: The City of Madness (2016).” Journal of Japanese & Korean Cinema 17, no. 1 (2025): 17–33. doi:10.1080/17564905.2024.2412488. (Most read article in Journal of Japanese & Korean Cinema, 2024)
Pyeon, Jiyoon. “Bong Joon Ho by Joseph Jonghyun Jeon.” University of Illinois Press, 2024. Journal of Korean
Studies 32, no. 1. Durham: Duke University Press (Forthcoming, March 2027).

Activities

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Activities

Research

INVITED ACADEMIC WORKSHOPS: “Transcending Genre Boundaries: A Genre Hybridization and Experiment in Korean Division Films, Swing Kids (2018),” RIKS Academy, Research Institute of Korean Studies, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea, August 2025 (*Presentation delivered in Korean).
UNIVERSITY COLLOQUIUMS: “Translating Darkness: Spatial Allegories and Film Noir Aesthetics in Asura: The City of Madness (2016),” SNU Junior Fellow Colloquium Series, International Center for Korean Studies, SNU Kyujanggak Institute, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea, March 2024.
UNIVERSITY COLLOQUIUMS: “Navigating Vernacular Genres: A New Perspective on Contemporary South Korean Cinema,” AMES Colloquium Series 2023, Department of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN, October 2023.
SELECTED CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS: “The Korean Wave in U.S. Colleges: Korean Pop Culture, Korean Language and Their Influence,” The 11th World Congress of Korean Studies: Korean Culture Shared with the World, The Academy of Korean Studies, Gyeonggi, South Korea, October 2022.
SELECTED CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS: “Contemporary South Korean Films’ Changing Trends on the Topic of North Korea,” Demystifying the Opaque: Academic Rigour, Epistemology, and the Study of North Korea, Korea Studies Research Hub, Asia Institute, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia, June 2022.
SELECTED CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS: “Permission to Speak: The Disguised Western-Centrism in the Discomfort toward BTS’s Full-English Songs,” Change, Adaptation, and Perseverance, 10th Annual World Languages Graduate Organization Conference, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, April 2022.
SELECTED CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS: “Genre Characteristics of the Korean Horror Renaissance: Based on an In-Depth Analysis on Whispering Corridors (1998) and A Tale of Two Sisters (2003),” Korean Women's Association for Communication Studies (KWACS) Annual Conference, Seoul, Korea, November 2018 (*Presentation delivered in Korean).
RESEARCH ASSISTANT: Debt Narratives: Resentment and Revenge in Neo-Feudal Media (faculty book project), Summer 2025.

Professional

Film Curator/Programmer: Summer in Korean Cinema, Korean Film Series Curated for the 2025 Summer Korean Language Program, Department of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN, July–August 2025.
Korean-English Interpretation Support: Breath of the Earth Film Screening, Q&A, Networking Event and Classroom Visit with Director Daehyun Kim, Department of Soil, Water and Climate, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN, April 2025.
Film Director Interview: Research Interview with Korean Film Director Kim Sungsoo (Asura: The City of Madness, 2016) to support doctoral dissertation analysis, which formed the basis for the following peer-reviewed publication: “Translating Darkness: Spatial Allegories and Film Noir Aesthetics in Asura: The City of Madness (2016).” Journal of Japanese & Korean Cinema 17, no. 1 (2025): 17–33. Seoul, South Korea, Summer 2022.

Awards

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Awards

Mary Griggs Burke Graduate Fellowship, Department of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, 2026
CLA Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship (Errett W. McDiarmid Graduate Fellowship), College of Liberal Arts, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, 2025
RIKS Academy Fellowship, Research Institute of Korean Studies, Korea University, 2025
Hide and Shohara Graduate Fellowship, Department of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, 2024
Harold Leonard Memorial Fellowship in Film Study, Graduate School Fellowship Office, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, 2023-24
SNU Kyujanggak Junior Fellowship, International Center for Korean Studies, Seoul National University, 2023
Mary Griggs Burke Graduate Fellowship in Japan and Korean Studies, Department of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, 2023
Rose Travel Fellowship in the Arts and Humanities for Creative Research in Asia, Department of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, 2022
Graduate Research Partnership Program fellowship, Department of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, 2021
College of Liberal Arts Graduate Fellowship, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, 2020-25
Moving Image Studies Fellowship, Moving Image Studies, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, 2020
Dean's Fund Award, Division of the Humanities, University of Chicago, 2018
Magna Cum Laude, Ewha Womans University, 2017
Dean's List (5 semesters), Fall 2016 · Fall 2015 · Fall 2014 · Spring 2014 · Spring 2013, Ewha Womans University

Courses

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Courses

AMES 3556 Korean Film and Media (Instructor)
AMES 3556 Korean Film and Media (TA)
KOR 1011 Beginning Korean 1 (Instructor)
KOR 1012 Beginning Korean 2 (Instructor)
KOR 3021 Intermediate Korean 1 (TA)
KOR 1011 Beginning Korean 1 (TA)