What K-dramas reveal about women and power today
As the Korean Wave expands globally, K-dramas are captivating audiences worldwide. For International Women’s Day, a UBC expert in Korean popular culture will take a closer look at how women are depicted in South Korean dramas. Asian Studies Professor Ji-yoon An will explore how portrayals of women have evolved in this genre over the past 20 years—and what they reveal about gender, power, and representation today. Discover a fresh perspective on the stories we watch, why they resonate with audiences around the world, and what they tell us about women on and beyond the screen.
This UBC Dialogues webinar is a collaboration between alumni UBC and the UBC Student Alumni Council in celebration of International Women’s Day on March 8, 2026.
Speaker
Dr. Ji-yoon An (she/her) — Assistant Professor, Department of Asian Studies, UBC
Host
Bonnie Chen (she/her) — Member, UBC Student Alumni Council; third-year student, Faculty of Science, UBC
Tuesday, March 3, 2026
12:00pm–1:00pm PT
Online
Open to everyone. Register to attend live—all registrants will receive a link to the recording after the event.
REGISTER NOWQuestions? Please contact alumni.careers@ubc.ca.
Speaker Biography
Dr. Ji-yoon An
Dr. Ji-yoon An is Assistant Professor of Modern Korean Popular Culture at UBC. Her research focuses primarily on South Korean film and television, with particular attention to how popular media documents, fictionalizes, or influences Korean social changes. She is the author of a monograph focusing on the family in South Korean cinema from the 1990s to the 2010s, and is currently editing a collection that advances K-drama studies within Korean and Media Studies. She holds a PhD in East Asian Studies from the University of Cambridge and has held academic appointments in Europe and Asia before joining UBC.
Host Biography
Bonnie Chen
A third-year student in the UBC Faculty of Science, Bonnie Chen is passionate about advocating for a holistic student experience that embraces the rich opportunities that the university offers beyond academics. She is an active member of the UBC Student Alumni Council, UBC Women in Science, and UBC CVC. Beyond her involvement in student organizations, she has supported multiple sclerosis research in the Kolind Lab at UBC and she also serves as a first responder with the BC Crisis Centre.
THIS PROGRAM IS MADE POSSIBLE BY THE PRESENTING PARTNERS OF FORWARD: THE CAMPAIGN FOR UBC
WITH ONGOING SUPPORT FROM THE ALUMNI UBC PILLAR PARTNERS
