DeBerniere Torrey

DeBerniere Torrey is an Associate Professor in World Languages and Cultures at the University of Utah, specializing in Korean studies through interdisciplinary research at the intersection of religious studies and literary analysis. With a PhD in Comparative Literature from Penn State University (2010), she has held academic positions at the University of Utah since 2011.

• Education:
  • BA in Liberal Arts (1989), Eastern Mennonite University
  • MA in Classical Liberal Arts (2000), St. John's College, Annapolis
  • PhD in Comparative Literature (2010), Penn State University

Her research focuses on early Korean Catholicism, exploring tensions between Confucian and Catholic paradigms through literary and religious texts. She analyzes how Catholic teachings reshaped gender roles, spiritual subjectivity, and cultural identity during Korea's transition to modernity.

Her scholarly works examine themes like soul judgment in Korea's first Bible commentary, martyr narratives in prison letters, didactic poetry, and women's agency in early Catholic communities. These publications reveal her expertise in comparative textual analysis and cross-cultural religious history.

She has received multiple external grants from the Academy of Korean Studies, Association for Asian Studies Northeast Asia Council, and Korea Foundation for archival research and teaching assistantship support.

• Professional Service:
  • American Academy of Religion - Korean Religions Group (2014-2020)
  • American Academy of Religion - Steering Committee (2012-2013)

She teaches Korean language, literature, and culture courses while maintaining active research on religious and literary transformations in Korean history.