Ji-Hyun AHN 

About Me

I am an Associate Professor of Media & Cultural Studies in the Graduate School of Communication and Arts at Yonsei University. Prior to joining Yonsei, I taught as both an Assistant and Associate Professor at the University of Washington Tacoma (2013–2026).

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My overall research interrogates the intersections of race, nation, and media in East Asia. Considering race as a fundamental principle shaping the global social order, my work examines the complex dynamics of racial globalization alongside the transnational circulation of media and cultural texts. My first monograph, Mixed-Race Politics and Neoliberal Multiculturalism in South Korean Media, traced how the increased visibility of mixed-race Koreans formulates a particular racial project in contemporary South Korean media. Building on this foundation, my forthcoming second book, Anti-Korea : The Cultural Politics of Aversion and the Making of New East Asia (under contract with Rutgers University Press), explores the rise of anti-Korean sentiment in postcolonial East Asia.

Beyond my research, I am dedicated to fostering globally engaged learning environments and scholarly communities. During my tenure at UW-Tacoma, I was a long-standing affiliated faculty member in the Global Honors Program, teaching courses on global media and developing curricula centered on transnational perspectives.

Further, as a recognized expert in the field with a strong commitment to public scholarship, I previously served as a Distinguished Speaker of Korean Studies for the Northeast Asia Council (NEAC) of the Association for Asian Studies (2020–2023). In this role, I delivered public lectures on Korean and East Asian media culture to support institutions expanding their Asian Studies programs. ​