1. STEPHANIE CHOI
75 Willow Springs Ln #201 Goleta, CA 93117
(310) 622-3093 | stephaniechoi@umail.ucsb.edu
EDUCATION
University of California, Santa Barbara, United States
Ph.D., Ethnomusicology, 2012- (In progress)
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Wesleyan University, Connecticut, United States
M.A., Ethnomusicology, 2009-2012
MA Thesis: 21C Korean Music Project: Popularization and Modernization of Kugak
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Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
B.A., cum laude in Korean Music, 2004-2008
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FIELDWORK
Researcher of Popular Music LAB SOUND
• Seoul, Korea, July-September 2012 and June-September 2014
• Three months of preliminary dissertation research as a researcher of the SOUND Lab Institute
• Interviews with K-pop industry professionals, including entertainment company CEOs, a recording
CEO, an A&R director, a promotion and marketing director, and the popular culture industry director
of the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism
• Media interviews and audio recording
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The 21st Century Korean Music Project: Promotion of Newly-Composed Korean Traditional Music
• Seoul, Korea, May-September 2010
• Five months of intensive ethnographic research toward M.A. thesis
• Participant observation, interviews, and audio recording
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GRANTS AND FELLOWSHIPS
2012-15 Graduate USAP Fellowship, University of California, Santa Barbara
2013 Music Department Fellowship, University of California, Santa Barbara
2011 Research Award and Grant, the Academy of Korean Studies
2010 Summer Research Travel Grant, Wesleyan University
2005-07 Superior Academic Performance Scholarship, Seoul National University
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PUBLICATIONS
2012 “Interviews with Korean Popular Music Industry Professionals.” Popular Music Magazine SOUND
[In Korean.] Vol. 5: 338-341, 346-351, 376-381, 412-421.
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2. 2012 “Research on Popular Music Academia: Music Industry, Business, and Management Programs in
the United States.” [In Korean.] Popular Music Magazine SOUND Vol. 6: 231-245.
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CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
2014 “The Dynamics of Racial Representation in K-pop Fan Productions,” paper presented at the World
Congress of Korean Studies, University of Hawai’i, Manoa, November 7
2014 “Negotiating Asian American Identity Through K-pop Cover Songs,” paper presented at the
International Association for the Study of Popular Music, the United States branch, University of
North Carolina, Chapel Hill, March 16
2014 “Identity Reconstruction in Online K-pop Productions,” paper presented at the Southern California
and Hawai’i Chapter of the Society for Ethnomusicology, University of California, Santa Barbara,
February 22
2013 “The Revival of Traditional Notion of Music in the 21C Korean Music Project,” paper presented at
the Southern California and Hawai’i Chapter of the Society for Ethnomusicology, University of
California, Davis, February 23
2012 “The 21C Korean Music Project: Pursuing National Identity in the Popularization of Korean
Traditional Music,” paper presented at the Conference of the ICTM Study Group for Musics of East
Asia, Hong Kong, China, July 31
2012 “K-pop Girl Groups and ‘Uncle’ Fans: Concurrent Production of Idols and Corresponding
Listeners,” paper presented at the Inter-Asia Popular Music Studies, Taipei, Taiwan, July 13
2012 “No More Ch’angjak Kugak for Kugak’s Sake: In Search of Individuality Against National
Identity,” paper presented at the Northeast Chapter of the Society for Ethnomusicology, Boston
University, Massachusetts, April 4
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GUEST LECTURES FOR UNDERGRADUATE COURSES
2014 “Gender and Racial Issues in K-pop,” UC Santa Barbara, December 5-7
2014 “Understanding Korean Wave in the U.S.,” Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, South Korea, July 21
2014 “Korean Hip Hop: Conflation of American Hip Hop and Confucian Ideology,” UC Santa Barbara,
May 23
2014 “K-pop in the United States and Racial Issues,” UC Santa Barbara, February 26
2013 “K-pop in the U.S: Online and Offline Fandom,”UC Santa Barbara, December 5
2013 “Imagination, Fascination, and Representation of K-pop,” UC Santa Barbara, June 4
2013 “The Globalization of K-pop,” UC Santa Barbara, March 14
2013 “‘Gangnam Style’ and the Globalization of K-pop,” UC Santa Barbara, January 17
2012 “K-pop Idols and Korean Wave,” UC Santa Barbara, November 16
2012 “The History of Korean Popular Music,” UC Santa Barbara, November 15
2012 “Ch’angjak Kugak: Modernization of Korean Traditional Music,” Wesleyan
University, May 8
2011 “Kayagǔm and P’ansori Traditions in Korea,” Central Connecticut State University,
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3. February 17
2010 “P’ansori Tradition” Central Connecticut State University, October 5
2010 “K-pop Idols from the Early 1990s to Present,” Wesleyan University, April 13
2010 “Kayagǔm Tradition,” Central Connecticut State University, March 4
2009 “History of Korean Traditional Music,” Central Connecticut State University,
October 6
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WORKING EXPERIENCE
2012-14 Teaching Assistant, Music Department, University of California, Santa Barbara (MUS 17 World
Music, MUS 114 American Popular Music)
2012-14 Researcher, The SOUND Lab, Seoul, Korea
2012 The Idealist Project, YG Entertainment Co., Seoul, Korea (September-October)
2011-12 Private Lesson Teacher (Kayagǔm), Music Department, Wesleyan University
2011-12 Archivist, World Music Archive, Wesleyan University
2009-11 Research Assistant, World Music Archive, Wesleyan University
2009-10 Translator (Korean-English)
• Korean Traditional Music in the John Levy Collection (2010) CD liner notes, National Gugak Center
• Korean World Music Ensemble Baramgot (2010) CD liner notes, Universal Music
• Kinetic Korean Music Group YIEN “Urban” (2009) CD liner notes, CJ EM
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PERFORMANCE EXPERIENCE
Kayagǔm (Professional)
2012 Solo Performance, Mansfield Freeman Center for East Asian Studies, Wesleyan University, May 26
2012 Graduation Recital, World Music Hall, Wesleyan University, March 3
2009 Solo Performance, Graduate Student Concert, CFA Hall, Wesleyan University, December 15
2009 Solo Performance, Korean Culture Show, Beckham Hall, Wesleyan University, November 21
2008 Solo Performance, Daegu Music Party Concert, Daegu, Korea, October 24
2008 Graduation Recital, Seoul National University (SNU), Seoul, Korea, April 28
Changgu (Advanced) 10 years of study
Piano (Advanced) 8+ years of study
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LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY
Korean (native); Japanese (elementary proficiency)
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