Kyung Hee (first name, pronounced Kee-young-hee, she/her) Kang was born and raised in South Korea. She comes to OHMA from a filmmaking/visual storytelling background. Kyung Hee’s films have included Korean children from under-resourced communities who learn to use digital technology to express themselves, Kyrgyz children who were forcefully converted from their religion, and Nepali children’s resilience after earthquakes. Her films have aimed to disseminate the stories of person of color, persons with disabilities, and women’s voices. In her work, she has collaborated with both international and national non-profit organizations as well as local communities. She constantly seeks to learn from the people and communities she comes in contact with throughout the storytelling process.

Since 2019, Kyung Hee has been developing a documentary called The Appropriate Recovery. The film explores the psychological and societal impact of the Gyeongbu Expressway’s construction on local communities. Having been personally affected by the history of the expressway, Kyung Hee intends to tell the (hi)story of herself, her family, and her country. Thus, oral history will be a primary method for creating the film. Oral historians shed light onto the shadows of the roads that connect us, assuring we are all captured in the records of history.

Kyung Hee’s research interests include the societal stigma children from alternative families face and how collective memory is informed by social and political influences through oral history methodology. She looks forward to sharing experiences and learning from the cohort and faculty at OHMA while broadening self-understanding to ultimately engage more insightfully with others and the world. www.kangkyung.com