Gangsim Eom

Gangsim Eom is a PhD Candidate in Anthropology at Harvard University, a Visiting Scholar at the University of Indonesia, an Adjunct Professor at Jakarta International University, and the head of the Research Department at the Indonesian & Korean Culture Study.

Her research centers on Korean migration to Indonesia from the Pacific War until the present. Her inquiry unfolds in two main directions: Firstly, by focusing on Korean company towns, urban cemeteries and malls, she examines a wide range of semiotic, linguistic, and ethnic mixing between Indonesians and Koreans. This includes analyzing the impact of Hallyu (Korean Wave) to understand how perceptions of the foreign operate within their intercultural communications and exchanges. Secondly, she probes the historical development of the Korean diaspora in Indonesia to broaden the understanding of inter-Asian racialization dynamics and expand postcolonial studies beyond Anglo- and Euro-centric perspectives on colonialism.

Among others, her research has been supported by the National Science Foundation Cultural Anthropology Methods Program, Harvard Frederick Sheldon Traveling Fellowship, Stanford University Hoover Institution Silas Palmer Fellowship, Harvard Weatherhead Center for International Affairs Dissertation Writing Grant, and Harvard Mellon Urban Initiative. Prior to pursuing her PhD at Harvard, she completed an MSc in Anthropology and Development at LSE through the Korean Government Scholarship Program and worked as an Official Development Assistance Researcher at the Institute of East and West Studies at Yonsei University.

Project: Menteng Pulo Cemetery: A Window into Trans-Oceanic Migration to Jakkarta, Indonesia