Institute of East Asian Studies

Faculty Chair

Steven Lee | Contact Steven

My research interests include American literature, comparative ethnic studies, Soviet and post-Soviet studies, and Northeast Asia during the interwar years. I am the author of The Ethnic Avant-Garde: Minority Cultures and World Revolution (Columbia UP, 2015), co-winner of the MLA’s Scaglione Prize for Comparative Literary Studies; and co-editor (with Amelia Glaser) of Comintern Aesthetics (University of Toronto Press, 2020), winner of the ACLA's René Wellek Prize.

A graduate of Amherst College and Stanford's MTL Program, I began my academic career as a Fulbrighter studying Soviet Korean culture in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. I currently chair Berkeley's Center for Korean Studies, have served as interim chair of the Asian American Research Center, and hold a courtesy appointment in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures.

Program Director

Kelsey R. Wong | Contact Kelsey

Kelsey Wong manages the Center for Korean Studies' events, programs, and administrative matters. She earned her B.A. in East Asian Studies at Wellesley College, with a focus on Korean Studies and Korean Language completed at Ewha Women's University in Seoul. She honed her program management skills as an Executive Committee Member in charge of the 5th Annual Korea-America Student Conference. Prior to joining the CKS team, she served as the Program Administrator for International and Executive Programs at the College of Natural Resources and spent two years at The Asia Foundation where she gained experience in Resource Development and administered the Luce Scholars Program.

Visiting Scholar Program Coordinator

Danna Kim | Contact Danna

Danna Kim manages the Center for Korean Studies' Visiting Scholar Program. She earned her B.S. in Apparel Design and Merchandising at San Francisco State University, while teaching a Joseon Dynasty Art History class with the Experimental College Club in her last two years. Prior to joining the CKS team, she was an art teacher with a focus in fiber arts to children and adults, teaching at an art studio in SF and from her home. She is also in a samulnori group called Kkiri Kkiri (끼리끼리), participates in art exhibitions, and hosts art workshops around the Bay Area.