Education

• Ph.D. Pennsylvania State University, 2017
• M.A. Seoul National University, 2012

Biography

Hyunji Kwon was born in South Korea to a mother descended from North Korean refugees. Kwon worked as an elementary school teacher and holds a dual doctoral degree in Art Education and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from the Pennsylvania State University. Kwon joined the University of South Carolina in the fall of 2017.

Courses

Graduate Courses:

• ARTE 701: Research Methodologies in Art Education
• ARTE 705 | WGST 796: Community Development in Art

Undergraduate Courses:

• ARTE 560 & 560P: Secondary Methods for K-12 Art Certification & Practicum
• ARTE 520: Art for Elementary Schools
• ARTE 101: Introduction to Art

Her research interests include trauma art pedagogy, memory work, community-based art education, BIPOC alliance, and mixed methods. Her work explores both local and global contexts, with careful attention to the ethics of working with trauma-affected populations. This focus is grounded in her long-term community engagement with women living in transitional homes and survivors of sexual assault.

She has published numerous peer-reviewed journal articles in leading journals, including Studies in Art Education, International Journal of Education through Art (IJETA), Visual Arts Research, Journal of Cultural Research in Art Education, Art Education, Visual Culture & Gender and Feminist Studies. Additionally, she has co-authored a forthcoming book, Teaching Asian Art and Culture (Davis Publications), and contributed to numerous book chapters. She has served as a co-editor for IJETA and as a reviewer for Studies in Art Education, Visual Arts Research, Art Education, and Visual Culture & Gender.

She received the prestigious Peter and Bonnie McCausland Fellowship from the McCausland College of Arts and Sciences at the University of South Carolina in 2023. In 2024, she secured the McCausland Innovation Fund ($54,999) to develop an Online M.A. in Art Education degree program, as well as the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Research Grants in the Arts award in 2025. In collaboration with researchers in literacy education and community psychology, local artists, an arts organization, and the YMCA, this mixed-methods project offers integrative arts classes that combine social emotional learning, visual art, and writing for urban children aged 8-10.

She is the recipient of the 2025 National Art Education Association (NAEA) Higher Education Division Southeastern Region Art Educator of the Year Award, the 2021 NAEA Woman’s Caucus (currently Coalition for Feminisms in Art Education) Mary J. Rouse Research Award—given to an emerging scholar with the potential to make significant contributions to the field of art education—and the 2021 South Carolina Art Education Association Higher Education Award. She has also received internal awards, including the 2025 Carol Jones Carlisle Faculty Award and the 2024 Dr. Mary Baskin Waters Service-Learning Award from the Women’s and Gender Studies Department at the University of South Carolina.

Her community work and exhibitions have been supported by the Women’s Well-Being Initiative, a community outreach program in the Women’s and Gender Studies Program the University of South Carolina. Anyone interested is welcome to contact her at kwon7@mailbox.sc.edu or visit http://hyunjikwon.com.