معرفی
Jina B. Kim is an Assistant Professor of English Language & Literature and of the Study of Women & Gender at Smith College. Her work bridges feminist disability studies, queer-of-color critique, and contemporary multi-ethnic U.S. literature, examining how disability intersects with race, gender, and class in American cultural production and policy.
Dr. Kim specializes in intersectional disability frameworks, particularly what she terms "crip-of-color critique," which examines how welfare policies and social structures disable communities of color. Her research explores self-care as radical politics, care infrastructure, racial capitalism, queer kinship networks, and disability justice movements. She brings a disability lens to contemporary American literature, analyzing works by authors like Audre Lorde, Jesmyn Ward, and Octavia Butler to envision alternate infrastructural arrangements that support marginalized communities.
Her recent publications demonstrate a clear trajectory examining disability through intersectional frameworks. From analyzing welfare policy impacts to exploring urban agriculture in Detroit and environmental justice in East Los Angeles, Kim's scholarship consistently centers the experiences of disabled people of color while challenging dominant narratives about care, work, and community. Her forthcoming book with Duke University Press, "Care at the End of the World," synthesizes these themes, demonstrating why radical disability politics and aesthetics are essential for navigating contemporary crises of care.
Dr. Kim has received significant recognition for her scholarship:
- Career Enhancement Fellowship from the Institute of Citizens and Scholars (formerly Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation)
- Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America Visiting Faculty Fellowship at Brown University
- Irving K. Zola Award for Emerging Scholars from the Society of Disability Studies
As an educator and public intellectual, Kim actively engages with disability justice movements and feminist-of-color communities. Her work has appeared in top journals across multiple disciplines including Signs, Social Text, GLQ, American Quarterly, and Disability Studies Quarterly. She is frequently invited to speak on disability culture, care politics, and anti-racist movements, demonstrating the real-world impact of her scholarship beyond academia.
