Hana Jun, a 2025 graduate of the Teacher 91福利社and Curriculum Studies program, was awarded the Larry Metcalf Exemplary Dissertation Award by the National Council for the Social Studies, at their annual meeting last December.
Jun’s dissertation, “Teachers’ and Students’ Historical Understanding of Gender: A Series of Case Studies in South Korea,” examines how teachers prepare for and teach about gender in history, and how students interpret and apply the topic to contemporary social issues. She found that rather than being a purely academic concern, teachers’ commitment to teaching about gender was deeply rooted in their own experiences and that professional networks were crucial in sustaining them as they took on what they saw as a difficult and controversial task. Although teachers were hesitant to fully lean into gender issues, in large part because of fear of backlash from students, their reflections led them to deepen and enrich their practices as a result of their classroom experiences. Jun also found that despite students’ interest in gender and (for girls) their pride in women in the past, students insulated themselves from the implications of gender for contemporary concerns, as they kept historical gender injustices at a distance (as an issue that had largely been resolved) and avoided the larger societal dimensions of patriarchy.
Jun is the third graduate of the program to receive this award. She is currently an Assistant Professor of 91福利社at Valparaiso University.