Yu Jin Ko

My publications have centered on Shakespeare, with an emphasis on performance. My first book, Mutability and Division on Shakespeare’s Stage, appeared in 2004. I have also co-edited a book collection that brings together essays from scholars and theatre professionals: Shakespeare's Sense of Character: On the Page and From the Stage. My latest book extends my interest in Shakespeare in performance to the global stage: Shakespeare's Original Stage Conditions and their Afterlives across the Globe: From the Wooden O to the Yards of Seoul (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024). My articles and reviews have continued to focus on Shakespeare in performance, both in the theatre and on film, and with a growing interest in productions across the globe. They include an essay on a production of Macbeth by inmates of a correctional institution ("Macbeth Behind Bars") as well as a study of A Midsummer Night's Dream in performance (“Violence and Consensual Imagination in A Midsummer Night’s Dream”). Some recent essays include: “A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Romeo and Juliet in Korea: National Reconciliation in the Green World of the Madang,” “The Winter’s Tale in Performance from the Ends of Opposed Winds,” and “Intercultural Intermediality: The Unspoken Text in Intercultural Film Adaptations of Shakespeare.” In a related vein, I have also been studying the afterlives of Shakespeare's works in non-dramatic genres. A recent foray into this area is "Youth, Authenticity and Social Change from Shakespeare's Hamlet to Yoon Dong Ju." Finally, I have been putting my toes into the realm of translation, with my latest effort being a co-translator for the Korean-American artist Kim Wonsook's In the Garden: Stories of Kim Wonsook's Paintings.

I teach Shakespeare at every level—an introductory survey for non-majors, 200-level courses for majors, and 300-level seminars on Shakespeare in performance. Whatever the format or level of the class, I always try to involve some element of performance, whether it be attending a live performance, viewing recordings, or getting students on their feet to perform scenes. It is my belief that to bring Shakespeare's plays fully alive, we must bring literary and theatrical analysis together. I do teach authors other than Shakespeare, however. I enjoy teaching in particular courses that explore literature, drama and film in global contexts (Writers of Color across the Globe, America’s Journey through Drama, Short Stories into Film across the Globe). The courses give me and the students to read and view wonderful works for both pure pleasure and for insights into cultures around the world.

When I am not running about attending performances or reading for pleasure, I tend to be engaged in my other passions: watching and playing soccer (in an organized league that's aptly called The New England Over the Hill Soccer League), struggling horribly to learn the music of my youth on guitar, and watching Korean dramas that are equal parts trashy and addictive.

Education

• B.A., Columbia University in the City of New York
• M.A., University of Cambridge
• Ph.D., Yale University