Communication ETDs
Publication Date
Summer 7-15-2025
Abstract
This dissertation examines everyday experiences of a North Korean refugee woman in the U.S., centering her narratives as sites of critique, resistance, and meaning-making. Grounded in Critical Refugee Studies, Asian American Studies, and Critical Intercultural Communication and framed by intersectionality, it explores how interlocking structures of power shape and are shaped by her life. Rather than focusing solely on trauma or assimilation, this study highlights her digital storytelling, faith, and mutual aid practices as acts of survival, dignity, and moral agency. Using a qualitative, narrative inquiry approach grounded in critical reflexivity, it thematically analyzes her stories to reveal how she navigates racialization, gendered labor, intraethnic hierarchies, and diasporic belonging within Cold War legacies and U.S. imperialism. The findings challenge dominant humanitarian narratives of refugeehood and foreground her agency. This work contributes to justice-oriented understandings of refugee subjectivity and expands critical conversations in intercultural communication, refugee studies, and Asian American studies.
Language
English
Keywords
North Korean Refugee, Refugee Agency, Intersectionality, Critical Intercultural Communication, Critical Refugee Studies, Asian American Studies
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Communication
Level of Degree
Doctoral
Department Name
Department of Communication and Journalism
First Committee Member (Chair)
Dr. Shinsuke Eguchi
Second Committee Member
Dr. Ilia Rodríguez Nazario
Third Committee Member
Dr. Cleophas Muneri
Fourth Committee Member
Dr. Nancy López
Fifth Committee Member
Dr. LeiLani Nishime (University of Washington)
Project Sponsors
N/A
Recommended Citation
Kim, Lyounghee. "EVERYDAY LIFE IN THE U.S.: AN INTERSECTIONAL APPROACH TO A NORTH KOREAN REFUGEE WOMAN’S IDENTITIES, AND EXPERIENCES." (2025). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/cj_etds/184
Included in
Asian American Studies Commons, Asian History Commons, Critical and Cultural Studies Commons, Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons, Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication Commons, International and Intercultural Communication Commons, Korean Studies Commons, Migration Studies Commons, Peace and Conflict Studies Commons, Race and Ethnicity Commons, Social Justice Commons