About
Hajin Jun is the James B. Palais Assistant Professor of Korean History with a joint appointment in the Department of History and the Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington. She specializes in the history of modern Korea, the Japanese empire, and Christianity in East Asia.
Her educational background includes:
- Ph.D. in History from Stanford University
- B.A. in History and Political Science from the University of Michigan
Professor Jun's research centers on modern Korean history, with a focus on the social and cultural dynamics during the Japanese colonial period. She investigates how religious rituals, particularly Protestant marriage, funerary, and ancestral rites, became contested spaces where Korean cultural nationalists, Protestant leaders, and Japanese colonial authorities vied for influence. Her work illuminates the complex interplay between religion, culture, and power in shaping modern Korean identity.
Her recent scholarship examines religious difference in colonial Korea, demonstrating how ritual reform was intertwined with broader struggles over national identity and colonial governance through analysis of marriage, funerary, and ancestral rites.
Professor Jun advises graduate students in modern Korean history, guiding them through key historiographical debates on Korean nationalism, Japanese colonization, decolonization, and the division of Korea. Students develop expertise through required coursework (HSTAS 581) and directed readings, with Korean-language proficiency mandatory for primary specialization.
