Deans’ Summer Research Fellowship (DSRF) Story: Jiae Kim

Author: Jiae Kim

What was your major research question for the DSRF project and where do you hope this project will go?

My major research question for the DSRF project was "How do Koryo Saram women in Uzbekistan understand their educational experiences, identities, and cultural belonging across generations?" Through interviews and archival work, I learned much about the community’s history and resilience. I discovered how Koryo Saram have both assimilated into Uzbek society and simultaneously yearn to maintain or reconnect with Korean culture. Many women expressed that their identity is layered, shaped by displacement and survival, but also by pride in their heritage. I also found that they place significant value on reconciliation efforts between the Korean government and Uzbekistan, particularly as a way to acknowledge the “lost time” of the past century. Next, I hope to expand this work into a broader oral history archive that documents diverse voices within the Koryo Saram community. I would also like to analyze how these narratives contribute to larger conversations about diaspora, cultural preservation, and transnational ties. Ultimately, I see this project informing both academic scholarship and policy discussions on education, migration, and cultural identity.

What challenges did you encounter during your research and how did you work through these difficulties?

One challenge I faced was the limited time I had in Uzbekistan, which prevented me from interviewing a more diverse pool of Koryo Saram across regions beyond Tashkent. To address this, I focused on building depth in the interviews I could conduct and made plans to return to the project in the future with a broader geographic scope. Another difficulty was figuring out how to best exhibit and share my findings. While I have not yet fully solved this, I am working on ways to present the stories more widely at Duke, through writing, presentations, or potentially a digital archive, so that the voices I recorded can reach broader audiences.

What sparked your interest in this field?

As a Korean who grew up in Russia and Uzbekistan, I became interested in Koryo Saram, a Korean ethnic minority living in Central Asia. Specifically, I was interested in Koryo Saram women's intergenerational identity, educational access, and migration history.

Curious about DSRF?

This project was made possible through the Deans’ Summer Research Fellowship (DSRF)—a unique opportunity for rising juniors and seniors in the Trinity College of Arts & Sciences to pursue funded summer research full-time!