Ivanna Yi

Name and title:

Ivanna Yi, Assistant Professor, Asian Studies

Academic focus:

Korean literature, culture, and performance 

Current research project: 

My current book project, “Continuing Orality and the Environment in Korean Literature,” examines the flourishing of Korean oral traditions such as p'ansori (epic dramatic storytelling) and sijo (lyric poetry) through transformative encounters with writing, the environment and recording technology. The monograph engages Indigenous perspectives and theories from the Americas to illuminate ways in which land has been treated as a sentient interlocutor rather than a commodity by Korean singers and writers both before and after the rise of global capitalism. 

Previous positions:

• Visiting Assistant Professor of Korean, Department of Asian Studies, University of Colorado Boulder, 2019-2020
• Korea Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow, East Asian Studies Program, Washington University in St. Louis, 2018-2019

Academic background:

• Ph.D., East Asian languages and civilizations, Harvard University, 2018 
• A.M., Regional studies-East Asia, Harvard University, 2011 
• B.A. English, Yale University, 2006

Last book read:

“Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings” by Joy Harjo

In your own time/when not working:

Listening to music and gathering with friends to play chamber music 

Courses you’re most looking forward to teaching:

Korean Literature and Performance: From P'ansori to K-Pop; Modern and Contemporary Korean Literature 

What most excites you about Cornell:

Collaborations across disciplines such as in the environmental humanities