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I am a historian and curator of East Asia at Laurier Brantford. For over 15 years, I have served as Curatorial Consultant and Research Associate at the Royal Ontario Museum and has worked as the guest curator for the museum’s Korea Gallery. I am also a digital humanist and have been involved in Deep Mapping projects on Brantford’s immigration history. I am currently serving as the President of the Canadian Industrial Heritage Centre.
My academic work has focused on the investigation of various cultural and intellectual developments in East Asia and beyond. My research interests encompass art, literature and cultural history of East Asia, digital humanities, and game studies. My recent research examines poetry games in both classical literature of premodern Korea and digital literature of contemporary South Korea. I am also currently working on a SSHRC-funded research, “Comparative Spatial Histories of Brantford’s Early Immigrant Communities (1900-1920): A Deep Mapping and Digital Storytelling Project.”
- Brant Community Foundation Grant, Memories of Brantford's Chinese Comunity (PI) (2022)
- City of Brantford Special Event Grant, Roots of Eagle Place (PI) (2022)
- Category A and B Internal Grant, Wilfrid Laurier University (2022)
- Insight Development Grant, Social Science and Humanities Research Council (2020-2023)
- Celebrating Laurier Research Achievements Showcase (2021)
- Merit Award, Wilfrid Laurier University (2019)
- UNESCO World Humanities Forum Travel Grant (2018)
- ROM Research Travel Grant (2018)
- UNESCO World Humanities Forum Travel Grant (2016)
- Most Engaged Faculty Award, Laurier International, Wilfrid Laurier University (2018)
- Merit Award, Wilfrid Laurier University (2017)
- FLA Research Travel Grant (2017)
- ROM Korean Collection Research Project, Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation (2016)
- Kyujanggak Archive Travel Grant, Seoul National University (2016)
- ROM Korean Collection Research Project, Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation (2015-2016)
- Research Travel Grant, Wilfrid Laurier University (2015)
- Publication Grant, Journal of Confucian Philosophy and Culture (2014)
- Research Grant, Academy of Korean Studies (2014-2017)
- Translation Grant, Literature Translation Institute of Korea (2014)
- Internal Travel Grant, Wilfrid Laurier University (2013)
- Chikai and Sawa Hiraki Japanese Canadian Buddhist/Ontario Graduate Scholarship in the Dept. of East Asian Studies (2008)
- Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Doctoral Award (2007)
- Ontario Graduate Scholarship (declined)
- Dr. David Chu Scholarship in Asia Pacific Studies, University of Toronto (2005)
- The Associates of the University of Toronto Travel Award, University of Toronto (2005)
- Korean-Canadian Scholarship, Korean-Canadian Scholarship Foundation (2003)
- Taoist Tai Chi Society Chinese Literature Scholarship, Taoist Tai Chi Society of Canada (2001)
I am willing to supervise graduate students in the areas of Korean and Chinese cultural and intellectual history, public history, and digital humanities.
Refereed Book
- Solitary Cloud: Poetry of Ch’oe Ch’iwŏn. Co-authored with Wing S. Chu. Seoul: Korea University Press, 2016.
- Korea around 1900: The Paintings of Gisan. Toronto: Royal Ontario Museum, 2005.
Refereed Articles
- “Overcoming the Pandemic through Viral Poetry Games: The Phenomenon of Coronavirus-Inspired Digital Acrostic Poetry in South Korea,” Connections: A Journal of Language, Media and Culture 2.1 (2021): 55-71.
- "Turning Songs into Poems and Poems into Songs: Intersections of Literary Chinese and Vernacular Korean in Chosŏn Literature,” Sungkyun Journal of East Asian Studies 21.2 (Oct. 2021): 211-234.
- “The Tang-Song Poetry Debate in Joseon,” The Review of Korean Studies (Jun. 2021): 215-238.
- “Selected Poems by Yi Tal,” Acta Koreana 21.1 (December 2018): 593-600. (Co-authored with Wing S. Chu)
- "A Scholar-Soldier in Mourning Robes: The Politics of Remembering Imjin War Hero No In (1566–1622),” Sungkyun Journal of East Asian Studies 17.1 (2017): 61-92.
- “Ekphrasis as a Transtextual and Transcultural Event: Revisiting “Lapis Lazuli,” The Yeats Journal of Korea 51 (Dec. 2016): 74-96.
- “Early Modern Korean Feminist Activism: The Art and Life of O Gwisuk (1906–1996),” Visual Culture and Gender 11 (2016): 28-41.
- “Imagining Territory in Ancient China: A Historical Investigation of Jingjie Discourse,” The Quarterly Journal of Chinese Studies 3.3 (Spring 2015): 64-86.
- “Animating the Spiritual Consonance: The Discourse of Qiyun Shengdong in Contemporary Chinese Art,” Parol (December 2014): 43-58.
- “Envisioning the Territory of the Sages: The Neo-Confucian Discourse of Jingjie,” Journal of Confucian Philosophy and Culture 22 (2014): 85-109.
- “Twenty-Four Poems by Chŏng Chisang,” Acta Koreana 16.2 (December 2013). (Co-authored with Wing S. Chu): 611-627.
- “Between Poetry and Philosophy: The Neo-Confucian Hermeneutics of Zhu Xi’s Nine Bends Poem,” Asian Philosophy (London: Routledge Taylor and Francis Group) 23.1 (February 2013): 62-85.
- “The Aesthetics of Wandering in the Chinese Literati Garden,” Studies in the History of Gardens and Designed Landscapes (London: Routledge Taylor and Francis Group) 32.4 (2012): 297-301.
- “Cremation and Body Burning in Five Dynasties China,” The Journal of Chinese Studies 55, (July 2012): 1-22.
Book Chapters
- “Visions, Images, Performance: Understanding Korean Shaman Art,” in Paintings of Korean Shaman Gods (London: Renaissance Books, 2018), 1-12.
Conference Proceedings
- “한문학 데이터를 편찬하는 과정은 어떻게 이루어질까: 『시화총림(詩話叢林)』 데이터 편찬 연구를 중심으로,” 2022년 한국어문학 데이터톺 (Seoul: Sunggyunkwan University): 1-9. (Co-authored with Chi Yeongwon)
- “Between Exotic Self and Exotic Other: Imagining and Illustrating China through Travel Literature, Export Paintings, and Picture Postcards,” The Human Image in a Changing World (The 5th World Humanities Forum, 2018): 589-603.
- “The Contested Public: The Museum in the Age of Transnational Capitalism,” The Humanities of Hope (The 4th World Humanities Forum, 2016): 662-676.
- “Ekphrasis as a Transtextual and Transcultural Event: Revisiting “Lapis Lazuli”,” Art, History, Philosophy, and Literature in W. B. Yeats (Yeats Society of Korea, 2016): 315-328.
Non-Refereed Publications
- “Building a Collective Legacy: Contributions of Canadian Collectors, Visitors and Missionaries to the ROM’s Korean Collection,” Friends of East Asia (Spring 2019): 6-8.
- “Showcasing Korean Culture in Canada: A Brief History of the ROM’s Korean Collection,” The Deep-Rooted Friendship (2018 Special Exhibition at Korean Cultural Centre, Ottawa): 8-9.
- “The Story of Purple in China,” Fête Chinoise: Luck and Ritual, no. 3 (2018): 108-111.
- “A Historical Overview of the Impact of the Reformation on East Asia,” Consensus 38.1 (2017), Article 4.
- “Korean Paintings at the ROM,” Orientations (Beijing: September 2015), 64-73.
- “Tapestry of Friendship: Celebrating the Korea Gallery and the 50th Anniversary of Canada-Korea Diplomatic Relations,” Friends of East Asia (Fall 2013): 4.
- “The Colours of White: Contemporary Korean Ceramics at the ROM,” ROM (Fall 2013): 15.
- “The Korean Collection of the Royal Ontario Museum,” Orientations, (April 2006): 70-76.
- “Art on a Mission,” Rotunda, 38:1 (Summer/Fall 2005): 22-31.
Contact Info:
E: chan@wlu.ca
Office location: RCW316
Office hours: By appointment.
Languages spoken: English, Korean, Mandarin Chinese