Urban Environmental Histories of Gender and Sexuality in Asia

• In Event: Experiential Learning in Environmental History: Diversity from Margin to Center

Abstract

Next, our second panelist is Professor Kera Lovell who discusses their work developing a spatial history of Itaewon - a former military-base turned transnational queer haven in Seoul, South Korea. Through oral history interviews, service work, and a sensory-driven mapping project, students at the University of Utah’s Asia Campus in Korea are bringing to the surface hidden narratives of gender and sexuality in a highly conservative country.

Bio: Dr. Kera Lovell (any pronouns) is an Associate Professor of History at the University of Utah,’s Asia Campus where they teach courses on US history, women’s history, and global citizenship. Lovell earned their PhD in American Studies at Purdue University in 2017 and is currently working on a book project that traces an undocumented method of postwar urban protest in which activists challenged police brutality and urban renewal by insurgently converting vacant lots into parks. This research has been recognized with numerous awards including the Dumbarton Oaks Research Fellowship, a Graham Foundation research fellowship, a Hoover Institution research fellowship, and Purdue University’s Research Grant Foundation fellowship. You can find their research in a variety of outlets, including Women’s Studies Quarterly, American Studies Journal, Black Perspectives, and Gender Issues. You can learn more about their work at www.keralovell.com.

Author

• Kera Lovell, University of Utah Asia Campus