Associate Professor Joanna (Jo) Elfving-Hwang

Research expertise

My research focuses on the body in Korean culture and society, and in my previous work I have examined how beauty work and cosmetic surgery in Korea relate to embodied and material expressions of performing social class and status, race and celebrity beauty work as a form of somatic entrepreneurship. Recently my work has examined social meanings attached to beauty work as the body ages, how middle aged men relate to technologies of the body in every day corporate contexts, and the semiotics of K-pop pop masculinities on stage. Her monograph drawing on the findings of project is titled Beauty Matters: the Body in Korean Culture and Society. 

I am also interested in the Australia-Korea connections through Colombo Plan assistance, and through cultural diplomacy and people-to-people links, and have a number of publications on this topic.

Broad areas of research expertise and interest (see below for a full list of publications):


BA (Hons), PhD (Sheffield University), SFHEA 

I am an Associate Professor of Korean Society and Culture in the Discipline group of Social Sciences in the School of Media Creative Arts and Social Inquiry (MCASI) at Curtin University. I am also Dean Global, Korea, with the Office of Deputy Vice Chancellor Global and the Director of the Korea Research & Engagement Centre at Curtin University.

I have 25 years of experience in the field of Korean Studies, and have been involved in developing academic networks in Australia, Germany and the UK. I have worked in major Universities in this area (Sheffield University, Leeds University, Frankfurt University and UWA) in various teaching, research, and leadership positions,  and with specific focus on developing internationalisation of the curriculum. I have served as the President, Vice President and Treasurer of the Korean Studies Association of Australasia (KSAA) over the past decade,  as an elected member in the Executive Board Member of the Australia-Korea Business Council of Western Australia (AKBCWA), Director of the Korea Research Centre of WA, and am currently a member of the Australia Korea Business Council Education Subcommittee. I have also worked to advocate for Korean language education in WA, and am currently leading a research project on this topic funded by the Australia-Korea Foundation.

In 2021 I was honoured to have been listed among one of the 60 Australians whom the Australia Korea Foundation (DFAT) deemed to have made a significant contribution to enhancing Australia-Korea relations. 

See my University webpage here: Associate Professor Jo Elfving-Hwang | Curtin University Staff Profile 

Email: joanna.elfving-hwang[at]curtin.edu.au


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Current and previous roles

Associate Professor of Korean Society and Culture, MCASI, Curtin University: 2022-present

Dean Global, Korea; Office of the Deputy Vice Chancellor Global, Curtin University: 2022-present

Major Coordinator, Korean Studies, MCASI, Curtin University: 2022-present

Associate Professor of Korean Studies, The University of Western Australia: 2012-2022: Other School Social Sciences service roles: Graduate Research Coordinator (2013-2015), Deputy Head of School (2014-2016), Acting Head of School (2014), Discipline Chair (2016), Deputy Head of School (Teaching & Learning 2017-2020), Director of the Korea Research Centre (2020-present). School Service roles as Graduate Research Coordinator (2013-2015), Deputy Head of School (2014-2016), Acting Head of School (2014), Discipline Chair (2016), Deputy Head of School (Teaching & Learning 2017-2020), Director of the Korea Research Centre (2020-present).

Assistant Professor (Junior Professor, W1) and Director of Korean Studies, Goethe Univesitaet Frankfurt am Main (Frankfurt University): 2010-2012

Researcher and Education Developer (Learner Autonomy), Centre for Excellence in Teaching & Learning at Sheffield Hallam University: 2008-2010

Korea Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow, Centre for Interdisciplinary Gender Studies at Leeds University: 2007-2008

Sessional Lecturer (Korean Literature and Society), School of East Asian Studies at Sheffield University, 2002-2010)


Publications

Monographs:

Elfving-Hwang, Joanna. Representations of Femininity in Contemporary South Korean Women's Literature (Dorset: Brill/Global Oriental, 2010) (ISBN 978-1-906876-02-9).  [Review of the book available in Acta Koreana Vol. 15, No. 2 (2012), pp. 415–19.]

Edited books:

Moore, Ivan, Kenisha Garnett, Joanna Elfving-Hwang and Chris Corker, eds. Centre for Promoting Learner Autonomy Case Studies, Vol. 1 (Sheffield: Sheffield Hallam University, 2010) (ISBN: 978-1-897851-17-3, 240 pages)  

2023

Fraschini, N., Elfving-Hwang, J. and Tao, Y. (forthcoming 2023) ‘Korean Language Education in Western Australia: Development and Challenges’ in Enabling Learning: Language Teaching for Australian Universities, eds John Kinder, Nicola Fraschini and Marinella Caruso (ANU Press)


2022

Park, H., Elfving-Hwang, J., Whitney, Y. (accepted for publication in 2022), ‘Why aid diplomacy eventually pays off : Lessons from Australia’s Demonstration Sheep Farm Project in 1970s South Korea‘, Melbourne Asia Review.



Elfving-Hwang, J. (2022). Pretty Tough: Reading Visual Aesthetics of K-Pop Masculinities. Hallyu! The Korean Wave (Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), London),


2021

Mackie, V., Baudinette, T., Chakraborty, M. N., Chan, D., Elfving-Hwang, J., Pendleton, M., & Suganuma, K. (2021). Remembering Romit Dasgupta. Portal: journal of multidisciplinary international studies, 17(1/2). https://doi.org/10.5130/pjmis.v17i1-2.7470


Elfving-Hwang, J. (2021). Man Made Beautiful: The Social Role of Grooming and Body Work in Performing Middle-aged Corporate Masculinity in South Korea. Men and Masculinities. https://doi.org/10.1177/1097184X20976730 (SSCI indexed journal)


Elfving-Hwang, J. (2021). The Body, Cosmetic Surgery and the Discourse of Westernization of Korean Bodies. In M. Craig (Ed.), The Routledge Companion to Politics of Beauty (1 ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429283734-31


Dean, P. & Elfving-Hwang J. (eds). (2021), ROK-Australia Defence and Security Ties: Prospects and Reflections on the 60th Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations [Special Issue], Black Swan Strategy Paper 1(1) (Perth: UWA Defence and Security Institute). Available online: https://defenceuwa.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Black-Swan-Strategy-Paper-Issue01_ROK-AUS.pdf


Elfving-Hwang, J. & Dean, P. (eds.) (2021), Toward Deeper Engagement: Prospects and Reflections on the 60th Anniversary of ROK-Australia Diplomatic Relations [Special Issue], Korea Research Centre Paper Series 1(1) (Perth: Korea Research Centre).


Elfving-Hwang, J. (2021), ‘Reflecting on 60 years of Academic Korea Expertise in Australia: (Missed) Opportunities and Challenges Ahead’, in Toward Deeper Engagement: Prospects and Reflections on the 60th Anniversary of ROK-Australia Diplomatic Relations [Special Issue], Korea Research Centre Paper Series 1(1) (Perth: Korea Research Centre), pp. 20-23.


Elfving-Hwang, J., Mendez, T., Monden, M. (November 3, 2021), ‘Where is Asia in ‘Fortress Australia’?’ Asian Currents: https://asaa.asn.au/where-is-asia-in-fortress-australia/ 


2020

Elfving-Hwang, J. (2020), ‘Media, Cosmetic Surgery and Aspirational Beauty Aesthetics of the Ageing Body in South Korea’ for a special edition of Asian Studies Review (‘Beauty and Whitening in Asia’), eds. D. Henley, N. Porath and A. Hardon 45(2): 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/10357823.2020.1736513


Elfving-Hwang, J. (2020). Competency as an Embodied Social Practice: Clothing, Presentation of Self and Corporate Masculinity in South Korea. In J. Hoegaerds, & K. Aarvik (Eds.), Making It Like Man: Men, Masculinities and the Modern Career, pp. 137-151 (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter). https://www.degruyter.com/view/title/551333


2019

Elfving-Hwang, Joanna, ‘K-pop fans are creative, dedicated and social - we should take them seriously’(July 2, 2019), The Conversation, https://theconversation.com/k-pop-fans-are-creative-dedicated-and-social-we-should-take-them-seriously-119300


2018

Elfving-Hwang, Joanna (2018). ‘K-pop Idols, Artificial Beauty and Affective Fan Relationships in South Korea’, in Handbook of Celebrity Studies, ed. Anthony Elliot (London and New York: Routledge), pp. 191-201


2017

Elfving-Hwang, Joanna (2017), ‘The Aesthetics of Authenticity: Corporate Masculinities in Contemporary South Korean Television Dramas,’ Asia Pacific Perspectives 15 (2): 55-79.


2016 

Elfving-Hwang, Joanna (2016), ‘Out, Down and Out? Beauty Work and Agency among Elderly Korean Women’, Journal of Aging Studies 38 (2): 6-15 (SSCI indexed, one of the leading journals in ageing studies).


Elfving-Hwang, Joanna and Jane Park (2016), ‘Australian Media, Korean Cosmetic Surgery and the Question of Race‘, Continuum 30(4):  397-407 (SSCI indexed) DOI:10.1080/10304312.2016.1141864.


Elfving-Hwang, Joanna ‘Darf man seinen Kindern eine Schonheitsoperation zum Abitur schenken?’ GEO Magazine (Germany), January 4, 2016, https://www.geo.de/magazine/geo-magazin/424-rtkl-moral-international-darf-man-seinen-kindern-eine-schoenheitsoperation


Fraschini, N., Elfving-Hwang, J. 2016, 'Main motivational components of Korean language students in a Australian higher education setting', Proceedings of the 1st Conference on Korean Language Education in Australia, (Sydney: The University of Sydney), pp. 48-66.


2015

Elfving-Hwang, Joanna (2015), ‘Disaster Narratives in Contemporary South Korean Cultural Imaginary‘, Korea Journal 55(3), 8-29 (SSCI indexed)


2014

Elfving-Hwang, Joanna and Jane Park, 'Does Everyone Just Want to Be White?', Asian Currents (April 2014), pp. 33-34. Available online: https://www.academia.edu/7084785/Does_Everyone_Just_Want_to_Be_White_A_critique_of_recent_de-racialisation_surgery_discourse_in_Australian_media_with_Jane_Park_University_of_Sydney_pp._33-34


2013

Elfving-Hwang, Joanna (2013), ‘South Korean Cultural Diplomacy and Brokering ‘K-Culture’ outside Asia‘, Korean Histories 4(1), 14-26.


Elfving-Hwang, Joanna (2013), ‘Cosmetic Surgery and Embodying the Moral Self in South Korean Popular Makeover Culture," The Asia-Pacific Journal, 11(24), 1-11.


Elfving-Hwang (2013), Joanna ‘Transnational Sport: Gender, Media, and Global Korea’ by Rachael Miyung Joo, Pacific Affairs 86(4), 930-93 (Book Review)


2012

Elfving-Hwang, Joanna and Ruth Holliday (2012), 'Gender, Globalization and Aesthetic Surgery in South Korea', Body and Society 18(2), 58-81. This article was nominated as an article of ‘key importance to the field of sociology’ in 2014 (www.sociologyresearch.org) and has been on list of most-read articles of the journal since its publication in 2012.


Elfving-Hwang, Joanna (2012), ‘Crisis of Gender and the Nation in Korean Literature and Cinema’ by Kelly Y. Jeong, Journal of Asian Studies, 71(4), 1160-62 (Book Review)


2011

Elfving-Hwang, Joanna (2011).  ‘Cross-border representations in North and South Korean Cold War Literatures’, in Global Cold War Literatures: Western, Eastern and Postcolonial Perspectives, ed. Andrew Hammond (London and New York: Routledge), pp. 44-57. 


Elfving-Hwang, J. (2011) Not So Soft After All: Kkonminam Masculinities in Contemporary South Korean Popular CultureConference Proceedings of the KSAA 7th Biennial Conference, Paper no. P049 (CD Rom, 2011) (ISBN 978-0-7334-3079-4), 21 pages


Elfving-Hwang, J. (2011), ‘Responses to “Korean Literature in English Translation: The Next Ten Years”’, Korean Literature into The World: Proceedings of the 5th International Translators’ Conference 2011 (Seoul: Korean Literature Translation Institute, 2011), pp. 208-13.


2010

Elfving-Hwang, Joanna (2010), ‘Who Ate Up All the Shinga?’ by Park Wan-Suh, _List, Books from Korea, Vol. 7, p. 34. (Book Review)


2009

Elfving-Hwang Joanna, Kenisha Garnett and Ivan Moore (2009). ‘Learner Autonomy and Professional Development: Enabling Learning and Teaching Innovations through Engaging with a Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning’ (as lead author,), in Improving Student Learning: For the Twenty-First Century Learner, ed. Chris Rust (Oxford: Oxford Brookes University) (ISBN: 1 873576 79 3), 116-27.


'Developing Communities of Practice: the Role of a Centre for Excellence in Fostering Staff and Student Communities' (with Ivan Moore and Kenisha Garnett), EvidenceNet [online] (York: The Higher Education Academy, 2009), Available from: http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/York/documents/events/annualconference/2009/papers/Ivan_Moore_innovation_paper.doc 


2008

Elfving-Hwang, Joanna (2008). 'The Improper Desire for Knowledge: De-gendering Curiosity in Contemporary Korean Women’s Literature', in Korea: The Past and the Present, eds. James Hoare and Susan Pares (Dorset: Global Oriental), pp. 446-454 (ISBN 1-901903-54-0)


Elfving-Hwang, Joanna (2008), ‘There Petal Silently Falls’ by Ch’oe Yun, Acta Koreana, Vol. 11 No. 3, pp. 261-265. (Book Review)


2006

Elfving-Hwang, Joanna (2006), 'The Improper Desire for Knowledge: De-gendering Curiosity in Contemporary Korean Women’s Literature', The British Association of Korean Studies Papers, Vol. 10, pp. 107-118.

 

2003

Elfving-Hwang, Joanna (2003), 'The Fantastic as a Tool for Subverting Mythic Femininity in Contemporary Korean Women’s Fiction', Proceedings of the 21st Conference of the Association for Korean Studies in Europe, eds. Antonetta Bruno and Federica Baglioni (Rome: University of La Sapienza), pp. 183-186

Grants

Total of over AUS$ 2,000,000 competitive jury grant success since 2007 for both research and enhancing teaching & learning:

2023

Elfving-Hwang, J. National Library of Australia Asia Research Fellowship 2023, $5,000 (2023).

Elfving-Hwang, J. “Employment of Korean Language Teaching Staff at Curtin University“, Korea Foundation (US$45,000), 2023-24.

2022

Elfving-Hwang, J., Ansaldo, U., Whitney, Y. Fraschini, N. “The Development of Korean Language Education in Western Australia”, Australia Korea Foundation (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade), $81,000 (2022-2025)

2021

Baldassar, Loretta (Chief Investigator), Stevens, C., Krzyzowski, L., Lozeva, S., Fozdar, F., Caspersz, D., Prout Quicke, S. Elfving-Hwang, J. Vokes, R. “International Coalition of Research Centres in Migration”, Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada, A$10,522.00

2020

Elfving-Hwang, J. (Project Director), Han, S., Broomhall, S., Fraschini, N., “Establishment of Korea Research Centre in Western Australia” (AKS-2020-OLU-20200039), Academy of Korean Studies (ROK) (A$1,106,000), 2020-2022.


Fraschini, N. & Elfving-Hwang, J., “Introducing Korea and Korean Studies to Western Australian School Educators: Embedding Korea into the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Curriculum”, Korean Foundation grant for Korean Studies workshop for non-native educators (A$25,000).


2019

Fraschini, N. & Elfving-Hwang, J., “Introducing Korea and Korean Studies to Western Australian School Educators: Embedding Korea into the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Curriculum”, Korean Foundation grant for Korean Studies workshop for non-native educators (A$28,000).


2018

“Social Research on Health: Addressing Anti-Health Messaging in a Digital Era”, Cover, R. I., Fozdar, F., Elfving-Hwang, J., Han, S., Attwell, K., Bartlett, A., Carr, S., Mavaddat, N. & Atkins, M., UWA Research Impact Grants (A$20,000)


2017

"Man Made Beautiful: A Qualitative Study of the Social Meanings Attached to Everyday Beauty Practices by Korean Salarymen", Academy of Korean Studies (Seoul, South Korea) competitive international research grant (US$15,000).

"Promoting Australia in Korea: The Second UWA-SKKU Partnership Forum", Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade - Australia Korea Foundation, 2017 ($15,000), Associate Professor Joanna Elfving-Hwang, Mr Iain Watt, Professor Wendy Erber, Professor Leonard Collard, Professor Ian McArthur,

2016

“What Does An Australian Look Like? Appearance and Australianness among Asian-Australian Young People”, Teaching Relief Grant (A$20,000), UWA, 2016: 

"Ageing and New Media", UWA Research Collaboration Awards, UWA, 2016 (A$20,000): Professor Loretta Baldassar, Dr Raelene Wilding, Associate Professor Christopher Etherton-Beer, Dr Judy Esmond, Associate Professor Joanna Elfving-Hwang, Dr Helen Manchester, Dr Ivalyo Vassilev, Professor Gonzalo Bacigalupe, Dr Sanetta Du Toit, Dr Majella Kilkey, Professor Hengjin Dong, Professor Cornelia Schweppe, Professor Paolo Boccagni, Dr Jyotsna Kalavar, Associate Professor Leng Thang, Associate Professor Elaine Ho, 2016.


2014-2015

"Elderly Korean Women's Somatic Subjectivities and Technologies of Self in an Image-Conscious Society"2, Academy of Korean Studies (Seoul, South Korea) competitive international research grant (US$15,000), 2014-2015

'Community, Popular and Digital Media in Migrant Settlement, Integration and Resilience: Mobilities and Belonging', WA Research Collaboration Awards ($16,000) with Rob Cover (CI), Farida Fozdar and Loretta Baldassar, 2014-2015: 

2013

Grant for Establishing a Chair in Korean Culture and Society, Korea Foundation (€500,000) at Frankfurt University, 2013: A grant to establish a Level D (W2) Chair of Korean Society and Culture at Frankfurt University – I continued to work on and support this application after leaving Frankfurt. 

BMBF Major Grants (€3.98 million) (Federal Ministry for Education and Research, Germany), 2013-2017: Secured a joint research grant totalling €3.98 million for a research project on Asian engagement in Africa with 15 other colleagues based in Frankfurt. A joint research project between the Interdisciplinary Centre for East Asian Studies (IZO) and the Centre for Interdisciplinary African Studies (ZIAF) to run from 2013 until 2017.

2011

Frankfurt University QSL (Enhancing Quality in Teaching and Learning) Grant, 2011 (€8,975)

Korean Literature Translation Institute Workshop Grant (KLTI, Seoul), 2011 (€12,000) to organise a Korean Literature Translation workshop at Frankfurt University in October 2011.

Korean Literature Translation Institute Residential Program Grant, 2011, A travel grant (US$2,000) to conduct field research in September 2011 at Korean Literature Translation Institute in Seoul, South Korea.

Frankfurt University QSL (Enhancing Quality in Teaching and Learning) Grant, 2011, Institutional Grant (€7,500) to fund the development of additional teaching materials for Korean language teaching

2010

Korean Literature Translation Institute International Exchange Grant, 2010

Grant to fund the teaching of Korean Literature courses at the University of Sheffield in the spring semester 2009/2010 (US$2,500)

2007-2009

Daesan Foundation Field Research Grant for Korean Literature, 2009, for a project titled ‘Representations of the “Other” Korean in South and North Korean literatures of the Cold War period’ (US$5,000)

Korean Literature Translation Institute International Exchange Grant, 2009, Grant to fund the teaching of Korean Literature courses at the University of Sheffield in the autumn semester of the academic year 2009/2010 (US$2,500)

Korea Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship 2007/2008, 2007, Centre for Interdisciplinary Gender Studies, University of Leeds, for the academic year 2007-2008 (GBP £30,000)