University of California Santa Barbara Scholar Wins Award for Book on North Korea

Suk-Young Kim, a professor of theater arts at the University of California at Santa Barbara, has won the James Palais Book Prize from the Association for Asian Studies. The prize, established in 2010, honors a book written in English on some aspect of Korean studies. Professor Kim was honored for her book, Illusive Utopia: Theater, Film, and Everyday Performance in North Korea (University of Michigan Press). The book analyzes how the North Korean government uses film and other media to regulate society.

Professor Kim holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Russian literature from Korea University. She earned a Ph.D. in Slavic languages and literature from the University of Illinois and a Ph.D. in interdisciplinary theater and drama at Northwestern University.