Dear CAC community,
I’m excited to share two pieces of news.
Beginning July 1, 2019, the CAC is excited to welcome Professor Ji-Yeon Jo as our new Director. Dr. Jo is Associate Professor in the Department of Asian Studies, where she has led the growth of the Korean Studies program and proven herself to be an outstanding scholar, teacher, and colleague. She is the author of Homing: An Affective Topography of Ethnic Korean Return Migration (University of Hawai‘i Press, 2017), which addresses some of the most vexing and pressing issues of contemporary transnational migration―citizenship, cultural belonging, language, and family relationships―and highlights their affective dimensions. Welcome to the CAC, Dr. Jo!
I will be taking on a new role on July 1 as well when I become Chair of the Department of Asian Studies. My six years as Director of the CAC have been a joy as well as an incredible learning experience, as I have benefited from the teamwork and camaraderie of all my colleagues in the center, in the GEC, and across the university. Thank you to the many students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members who have partnered with us and taken part in our programs over the years. Let’s continue to improve the university’s educational programs related to Asia, to grow our institutional partnerships in Asia, and to ethically and responsibly engage with Asia as part of the university’s larger global mission.
Sincerely,
Morgan Pitelka
Director, Carolina Asia Center
Professor, Department of Asian Studies and Department of History
Coeditor, Journal of Japanese Studies
UNC-Chapel Hill