Cultural Historian
Sunho Ko is a cultural historian of modern Korean history with expertise in food and agriculture. He received a PhD degree from the University of Toronto with a dissertation on the cultural history of food in wartime colonial Korea under Japanese rule. He is revising his dissertation into a book, entitled Food for Empire: Wartime Food Politics on the Korean Homefront, 1937–1945, pays special attention to the operation of colonial power in daily food production and consumption during the years of total war. As part of the book project, his article, “Managing Colonial Diets: Wartime Nutritional Science on the Korean Population, 1937–1945” was published in the Journal of Social History of Medicine. He is also expanding his research period from colonial Korea to postcolonial Korea, in particular, North Korea to explore new topics of socialism, the Cold War, animal studies and environmental history. Research aside, I have also become active in the discussion of the recent historiography on North Korea through translation and review articles in Korean. At York University, he has offered a diverse array of courses encompassing Korean cultural and historical topics including food, film, literature, visual culture and the immigrant experience.
Research Keywords:
Korean History; Korean food and agriculture; Food Production; Food Consumption; Korean War; Pre-Colonial Korea, Colonial Era Korea