Paroma Ghose - KR
What made you decide to apply for a grant at the Leading House Asia?
I am a sociocultural historian, and I work on contemporary popular music and culture. I like to “read history backwards” and delineate the links between the present and the past through what survives of history in our everyday, contemporary world. My PhD was focused on French rap; for my postdoctoral work I wanted to move beyond the national boundaries of France and into the global sphere. During the COVID-19 pandemic, I started to teach myself Korean as a creative counterbalance to my usual work. This inadvertently made me begin to discover Korean culture. It was my PhD supervisor, Professor Davide Rodogno, who encouraged me to turn my intellectual curiosity into a full postdoctoral project, which provided me with an apt way to move my research into a more global frame. My application for the Swiss-Korea Young Researcher’s Programme therefore seemed a natural next step in this professional trajectory.
How did you secure a host professor?
As a novice in the world of South Korean academia, I needed some guidance in navigating my foray into my new area of study. I therefore contacted Dr. Alessandra Apicella, Head of the Science and Technology Office at the Swiss Embassy in Seoul, and her colleague Ji Yeon Lee, who very kindly gave me a great deal of helpful advice. I then made a list of Professors at different universities in Seoul under whose guidance I thought my project would hugely benefit. The first Professor I contacted was Prof. Michael Kim (GSIS, Yonsei University), whose work has been critical in the intellectual turn that my own research has taken. By a stroke of luck, he responded to my email, we had a Zoom call, found that we got along well intellectually, and he very kindly offered to support me in my academic endeavours to do my postdoctoral work in Korea.
How would you describe your experience of the programme?
The Research Exchange program was an inimitable experience for me. It opened the door for me to explore South Korean history and culture through a combination of my own, ‘outsider’s’ perspective, and from within the national locus. I had the privilege of discussing my work with Korean academics at many different universities (Yonsei, SNU, Hanyang, Sungkonghoe, Kyungpook, etc.), which helped me build a wide network of colleagues. I was also able to meet and interview several musicians/artists, producers and executives in the music industry, and fans from different fandoms, providing the beginnings of a holistic archive of insights into the history of Korean music, which has become the basis of my research. Professor Michael Kim provided critical intellectual guidance for my project, and gave me the opportunity to present my work in the form of a lecture. I continue to work with him and with many colleagues in Seoul.
What role did the Leading House Asia play in the programme?
I discovered The Leading House Asia (LEH) through the process of my application. From the moment that I was told that my application was successful, not only did they offer me guidance in working through the administrative procedures, but they went beyond their due obligation and were a constant, kind network of support. In Korea I encountered some administrative issues; I asked for their help, and they were immediately responsive and worked hard, alongside their colleagues at Yonsei University, the National Research Foundtion of Korea, and my Professor, to ensure that everything was in place for my Fellowship.
What were the impacts you made through the project/partners/individual?
Generally, academic exchanges between Switzerland and Korea have been largely focused in the areas of scientific and technical research and cooperation; I was therefore really grateful to have this opportunity to forge a link between the two in a different field entirely. During my time in Korea, I had the privilege of working with colleagues at the Swiss Embassy in Seoul, and of meeting with exchange students from the University of St. Gallen, which has a longstanding connection with the Korean university network. Not only do I maintain these ties, they are now growing into a wider network, encouraged by the ever-growing global interest in Korean popular culture. The work that I began during my Fellowship provided the basis for a paper that I will present at a conference this June in the United States, and was also the reason for which I was kindly invited to present my work at the University of St. Gallen’s upcoming Asia Week. In the meantime, I am preparing to return to Seoul later this year to continue my research.
Testimonial: what were your personal experiences/thoughts on the bilateral cooperation experience?
The exchange was an extremely enriching one. It gave me the intellectual legitimacy to turn what was a risky academic endeavour, into an opportunity to do global history in an in-depth manner and with a longer-term scope. My project grew from its contained initial idea, into a complex corpus of questions, which I cannot wait to tackle and unravel in my forthcoming work. Aside from the rich, intellectual experience, I was extremely fortunate to make some really good friends who transformed my life in Seoul and made me feel like a local. I cannot wait to go back!