Grace Ji-Sun Kim

Grace Ji-Sun Kim
Dr. Kim during a seminar in Colorado Springs, October, 2010
Born	(1969-05-04) May 4, 1969 Seoul, South Korea
Era	21st-century philosophy
Region	Western philosophy
School	Protestant theology, Third-wave feminism, Post-colonial theory
Main interests	Feminist theory, Constructive theology
Influences Jürgen Moltmann, Simone de Beauvoir

Grace Ji-Sun Kim is a Korean-American theologian and professor. She is best known for books and articles on the social and religious experiences of Korean women immigrants to North America. Kim was born in Seoul, South Korea. She immigrated with her family to London, Ontario in 1975. She earned a B.Sc. in Psychology from Victoria University at the University of Toronto, a Master of Divinity degree from Knox College, University of Toronto, and a Ph.D. in Systematic Theology from St. Michael's College, University of Toronto.

Academic positions

Kim served on the faculty of Moravian Theological Seminary in Bethlehem, PA from fall 2004 to July 2013. During her time at Moravian, she was promoted to Associate Professor in 2010 and served two terms as Director of the MATS program. Dr. Kim was ordained in the Presbyterian Church (USA) on Nov. 13, 2011. She is currently an Associate Professor of Theology at Earlham School of Religion in Richmond, Ind.

Overview of works

Kim specializes in writing and teaching constructive theology, feminist theology, post-colonial theology, and Asian-American theology. Her first book, The Grace of Sophia, deals with the suffering in patriarchal Korean (Confucian and Christian) families and the way in which the ancient Hebrew notion of female Wisdom, Sophia, can liberate patriarchal Christology. Her second book, The Holy Spirit, Chi, and the Other celebrates the sense in which the Chinese / Korean / Japanese notion of Chi can add substance to our understanding of the Holy Spirit and unite spiritual ideas in Christianity with those in Confucianism, Hinduism, Taoism, and Buddhism. She has contributed to more than eleven other books on several contextual theological themes, and has contributed numerous papers and symposia participations on these subjects. She is currently working on 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah, in Belief: A Theological Commentary on the Bible, part of a series by Westminster John Knox Press on the theological importance of these books for the church today.

Selected awards and honors

• 2010 Wabash Center Summer Research Fellowship,
• 2007 Yale Awards, Faith as a Way of Life, semifinalist
• 2007 Wabash Center Summer Research Fellowship,
• 2005 - 2006 Lilly Theological Research Grant
• 2001 Toronto School of Theology
• 2000 - 2001 Fund for Theological Education (FTE)
• 2000 John M. Kelly Award, Toronto School of Theology (T.S.T.)
• 2000 American Academy of Religion-Eastern International Region
• Graduate Student Prize-Best Essay
• 1999 Robert Walker Russell Memorial Scholarship, Knox College
• 1997 Knox College Graduate Scholarship
• 1995 - 1996 Knox-Ewart Alumni Scholarship
• 1995 The Knox College Post-Graduate Scholarship

Selected publications

• 2013: Colonialism, Han, and the Transformative Spirit, A Palgrave Pivot Book ISBN 978-1-137-34668-1
• 2013: “Proper 13 for Year A,” in Preaching God’s Transformative Justice: A Lectionary Commentary, With 22 Holy Days of Justice, edited by Ron Lewis, Dale P. Andrews & Dawn Ottoni-Wilhelm (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press) (forthcoming)
• 2012: “Proper 13 for Year C,” in Preaching God’s Transformative Justice: A Lectionary Commentary, With 22 Holy Days of Justice, edited by Ron Lewis, Dale P. Andrews & Dawn Ottoni-Wilhelm (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press) (forthcoming)
• 2012: “A Perspective on Ezra,” Global Perspectives on the Bible, edited by Mark Roncace & Joseph Weaver (Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall) (forthcoming)
• 2012: “Uriah,” Dictionary of the Bible and Western Culture, co-edited by Michael Gilmour & Mary Ann Beavis (Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix Press) (forthcoming)
• 2011: The Holy Spirit, Chi, and the Other: A Model of Global and Intercultural Pneumatology  : ISBN 978-0-230-12030-3
• 2011: “Jürgen Moltmann,” in Beyond the Pale: Reading Christian Theology from the Margins, edited by Miguel De La Torre & Stacey M. Floyd-Thomas (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press) (Contributor)
• 2011: Feasting on the Word, Year A,: Season After Pentecost 2, contributor : ISBN 978-0-664-23107-1
• 2011: “Proper 13 for Year B,” in Preaching God’s Transformative Justice: A Lectionary Commentary, With 22 Holy Days of Justice, edited by Ron Lewis, Dale P. Andrews & Dawn Ottoni-Wilhelm (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press) (contributor)
• 2011: Three Theological Commentaries on 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8, 1 John 3:1-3 & 1 Thessalonians 2:9-13 in Feasting on the Word, Year A: Season After Pentecost 2, Volume XII, edited by David L. Bartlett & Barbara Brown Taylor (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press) (contributor)
• 2010: The Grace of Sophia: A Korean North American Women's Christology  : ISBN 978-1-60899-213-3
• 2010: Asian American Feminist Theology,” in Liberation Theologies in the United States: An Introduction edited by Anthony Pinn & Stacey M. Floyd-Thomas (New York: New York University Press, 2010), 131-148
• 2008: “What Forms Us: Multiculturalism, the Other and Theology,” in Feminist Theology With A Canadian Accent: Canadian Perspectives on Contextual Theology, edited by Mary Ann Beavis, Elaine Guillemin & Barbara Pell (Ottawa: Novalis), 78-99 (contributor)
• 2007: Literary Commentary on “Bread for the Journey,” by Henri Nouwen, in Masterplots II: Christian Literature, edited by John K. Roth (Pasadena: Salem Press), 215-217 (contributor)

External links

• Dr. Kim's Personal Blog with links to books and academic sites.
• Colonialism, Han, and the Transformative Spirit
• Taste of Seminary
• Theological Reflections
• Book Page on Amazon.com
• AAR Women of Color Scholarship
• AAR Status of Women in the Professions
• AAR Comparative theology Group
• Korean Immigrant Women's Leadership
• Blog in Episcopal Divinity School
• Blog in Feminism and Religion
• Blog on Speaking for Women
• Balancing Motherhood and Scholarship
• God, Women, and the Church