KRC Affiliate Students

Michelle Camille H. Correa graduated with a Master’s degree in Korean Studies, a joint international program by Chulalongkorn University in Thailand and Seoul National University in Korea, under the ASEAN University Network Scholarship. She also holds a M.A. in Communication and a B.F.A. in Creative Writing from Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines. She was a former KF Korean Language Training Fellow at Yonsei University’s Korean Language Institute.  

Michelle joined Curtin University in 2023 as the recipient of the KRC PhD scholarship. Her PhD project will focus on the intersection between migration, diaspora, and media through the case of the Korean diaspora who become celebrities in the Philippine entertainment industry. She will examine this under-explored facet of the Hallyu phenomenon that re-situates the site where Hallyu texts are produced – from South Korea to the margins of the Philippine entertainment industry.   

Before joining Curtin University, she was affiliated with the Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines as a Lecturer at the Department of Communication, where she conceptualized, developed, and taught the university’s Korean Film and Korean Wave electives.  

Haiqing Li undertook both her undergraduate and master's studies in Hong Kong. During her undergraduate program, she had the unique opportunity to participate in an exchange programme at Ewha Women's University in South Korea. This experience ignited her interest in Korean language and culture. She pursued a Master's degree at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, where her thesis focused on the critical discourse analysis of gender issues in Chinese and Hong Kong textbooks.

Currently, Haiqing is progressing in her academic journey as a PhD candidate at Curtin University's School of Media, Creative Arts and Social Inquiry. Her research now centers on the interplay between South Korean popular culture's portrayal of masculinity and the ways Chinese men navigate and integrate these representations within the societal, political, and economic contexts of China, all while maintaining their self-identity.

Catherine Taylor is working on Korea-Australia political economy in the context of green energy transition having received a Curtin Research Training Scholarship in 2023. She commenced her PhD research in March 2024 and is also in the orgnaising committee of the ASAA Biennial Conference.

Anahita Edwards Jones majored in English and Cultural Studies at UWA, graduating in 2018 and completed a diploma in Korean studies at UWA, graduating in 2022. 

In 2023 Anahita joins Curtin University as an Honours student. Her dissertation topic focuses on representations of gender and shifting gender narratives in K-Drama. 

Ji Eun graduated from the University of Western Australia in 2017 with a Bachelor of Arts, double majoring in European Studies and History. After attaining a Graduate Certificate in International Relations and National Security, Ji Eun decided to explore her South Korean heritage by studying Korean history. 

In 2023, she joined Curtin University as an honours student, focusing on women in 1920’s Korea and how they navigated modernity and individualism during colonial times. 

Sophia Ammali double majored in Political Science and International Relations and Korean Studies, and is interested in the academic fields of language, pop culture and politics. In 2023 she joins the Korea Research Centre team as a research assistant in the Development of Korean Language School Education in Western Australia Research Project. This DFAT-funded project focuses on language policy and Korean language education and investigates barriers to language learning in WA schools. 

In 2023 Sophia also joins Curtin University as an Honours student.

Mimansa Jethro graduated from the University of Western Australia with a double major in Political Science & International Relations and French Studies in 2021. In the final year of her bachelor’s degree, she undertook a unit run by Associate Professor Jo Elfving-Hwang which explored contemporary Korean society. Thanks to this class she became deeply fascinated by the cultural and social dynamics of modern-day Korea.

With a keen interest in the political landscape of the country, in 2023, Mimansa joins Curtin University as an honours student where she will pursue her dissertation on the topic of neoconservatism among young Korean men. Through her research she aims to explore how these individuals view traditional values and societal norms and how their beliefs impact their political and social behaviour.

Catherine Taylor is a recent Bachelor of Arts graduate from the University of Western Australia, having completed a double major in Political Science and International Relations and Korean Studies. In 2022, Catherine was awarded an AKS-KRC Undergraduate Essay Scholarship for her written contribution on navigating engagement narratives for the Australia-South Korea relationship and undertook internal language and political studies at Korea University’s International Summer Campus. 

She joins Curtin University as a Honours student in 2023, with a prospective dissertation topic concerning Western Australian and South Korean engagement in renewable energy collaboration.

Shu Zhu’s PhD project is a comparative study of how older Chinese and Korean migrants living in Perth, Western Australia experience their ageing bodies in the context of beauty work. Focusing on their lived experiences of ‘doing beauty’ and engaging with everyday beauty practices, this project will contribute to the current body of knowledge by providing a general understanding of how ageing bodies are perceived and experienced, particularly how beauty work and aesthetic care of self intersect with notions of wellbeing and positive ageing in later life in migrant contexts for older migrants of Korean and Chinese cultural backgrounds.   

Anisha Goodridge studied Marine Science and Korean Studies at UWA, graduating in 2021. She completed an Honours in Asian Studies with a research project combining both natural science and Asian studies interests. Her research project investigated the origins and evolution of the concept of ‘environmentalism’ in South Korea, hoping to identify the factors that have influenced its development and how environmentalism has influenced social/governmental projects.

Theo Mendez’s Honours project (Sem 2 2020 and Sem 1 2021) is an analysis of attitudes regarding Asia among young adults in Australia, focusing on their interactions with Asia through the ‘Asia literacy’ school curriculum and through popular culture. The research draws on interview data from three focus groups run with 14 participants who graduated from Australian high schools between 2016-2018. Thematic analysis of these interviews has produced two key findings. The first is that orientalist attitudes still play a key role in Australia’s relationship with Asia. Second, participants’ rigid understandings of cultural hybridity and authenticity refute the idea that increased Asian representation in popular culture precipitates greater cosmopolitanism. Together, these findings point to the conclusion that the underlying role of Asia in shaping Australian national identity has not fundamentally changed, despite shifts in popular culture consumption and school curricula. This highlights the need for transformative changes in education that aim to build genuine intercultural understanding among the next generation of Australians. 

Theo is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne.

King Sein studied  Political Science and International Relations, and Korean Studies at the University of Western Australia after which he undertook Honours in Asian Studies at UWA in 2021. His research project examined how South Korea’s soft power through cultural exports (such as Korean music, Korean dramas, Korean cuisine) had a positive impact on Asian Australian identity in Australian society. 

King graduated in 2021.