Department of Sociology Faculty

Keumjae Park

Keumjae Park (Assistant Professor) received her B.A. in French language and literature from Seoul National University, South Korea, and her M.A. and Ph. D. in sociology from Rutgers University. She teaches theory, sociology of women, social stratification, and senior seminar.

Professor Park ’s areas of specialization include gender and feminist theories, migration and transnationalism, sociology of identity, and social theories. She is interested in examining how contemporary macro social processes such as stratification and globalization affect individual lives in local settings. Her most recent works focus on the experiences of first generation Korean immigrant women, especially on their class and gender identity renegotiation after migration to the United States. She is also interested in the relationship between social inequality and identities, and comparative studies of different groups of Asian-Americans. Her current research projects include a study of Korean transnational families, research on settlement patterns of North Korean refuges living in South Korea, and an analysis of immigrants’ life course plan adjustments after migration with a focus on gender and class issues.

Before joining William Paterson University faculty, Professor Park taught sociology courses at Montclair State University and Rutgers University. She had also worked for several years as a reporter in a major Korean language newspaper in New York City. She has been serving as a representative of Sociologists for Women in Society to the United Nations since January 2006.

Professor Park enjoys hiking, music, and building with Lego blocks with her daughter.