Sandra Park is a historian of modern Korea, US empire in East Asia, and religion and the Cold War. Her current book project, titled Anointed Citizens: Christianity, Cold War, and the Violent Making of US Empire in Korea, examines the politics of Christian rescue and conversion in the passage of North Koreans into "Free" South Korea—and their transformation from the enemy to good citizens-to-be—at the crossroads of Cold War nation-building and empire-making. An exploration of the moral politics of Christianity and political belonging, Park's research shows that the violent conditions of the Korean War (re)defined the place of religion in modern political life for both Koreans and Americans. Park's previous work on religion and socialist secularization in revolutionary North Korea appeared in the Journal of Korean Studies, and for her second book project, she is interested in exploring the coherence of religious freedom as a distinct category in the context of divided, Cold War Korea.
At the University of Arizona, Dr. Park teaches courses on modern and contemporary Korea, religion and politics in Korea and East Asia, and East Asian history, culture, and society.
Before joining the University of Arizona, Sandra Park was a Postdoctoral Fellow with the Institute for Korean Studies at George Washington University. She holds a PhD in History from the University of Chicago, where she also received an MA and BA. As a first-generation and Asian American scholar, she is committed to inclusive, accessible teaching and mentoring students from marginalized backgrounds.
Publications
Articles:
"A Reverend on Trial: Debating the Proper Place of Christianity in the North Korean Revolution," Journal of Korean Studies 25, no. 2 (2020): 379–405.
Web Essays:
"Bound by Freedom: Oh Chong Song's Escape and the Mirage of "Free" Korea," Not From Here: Immigration and Ethnic History Society Blog, June 10, 2021.
"Christianity, Citizenship, and American Empire in the Korean War," American Religion Online Supplements, February 17, 2021.
"Finding the Taejon Massacre in Independence, Missouri," #AsiaNow (Association for Asian Studies Blog), March 24, 2020.