The University of Pittsburgh's Humanities Center will host Department of Anthropology PhD candidate Jung-eun Kwon and her talk "Stories that Reflect and Heal: Young Women’s Suicide and Care in South Korea" on October 10.
Hosted by the Humanities Center and graduate fellow, Jung Eun Kwon. Respondents include Olivia Bloech from the Department of Music and Chikako Ozawa-De Silva, Professor of Japanese Studies and Anthropology at Emory University. This event will be hybrid, so you can attend it either in person in 602 CL or via Zoom as you prefer.The event is held in 602 Cathedral of Learning from 12:30 to 2:30 pm; the Zoom link is here for those interested in attending remotely.
Jung Eun Kwon’s research examines the stories and lived experiences of suicidality among young women in South Korea, encompassing suicidal thoughts, plans, and attempts. She focuses on their narratives and care practices to explore how these stories both reflect sociocultural factors contributing to their distress and serve as tools of care. Based on these stories, Kwon suggests that the women encountered constant exposure to patriarchal relationships and normative ideologies, which led to the production and internalization of self-hatred. As a form of care, they engaged in various modes of writing, such as journaling and creating fictional narratives, to envision alternative futures.