Embedded Files
Operation Enduring Freedom
Escorting local kids for taekwondo training
Bagram, Afghanistan
06/30/2004
Sleighing in Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, Michigan
03/04/2021
My maternal grandfather was a Korean War veteran. Despite being a high school student, he had been sent to fight on the front lines as an emergency troop when the war broke out. After three years of the brutal war, only two students in his class returned to their hometown, and my grandfather was lucky enough to be one of them. While he remained one of the kindest souls I have ever encountered, his painful memories from the war made a profound impact on his life.
A few months after my grandfather's passing, I was deployed to Afghanistan. At that time, I saw this as an opportunity to reconnect with him and better understand the sufferings he endured during the war. I served for six months and two weeks in Bagram, Afghanistan with the Dasan Engineering Unit, an overseas deployment unit of the Republic of Korea Army. During this deployment, I observed substantial differences in how my comrades coped with the chronic stress and emotional challenges of a combat environment.
These observations ignited my interest in psychopathology research, driving me to explore the mechanisms of emotional dysregulation in individuals suffering from affective disorders. This experience also led me to pursue a psychology internship at the New Mexico Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, where I had the honor of helping veterans cope with their traumas and emotional problems. It is a privilege that I hope to extend to Korean War veterans and Afghan refugees who are suffering from emotional difficulties.
**I was invited to contribute a review article to Trauma and Stress, a newly launched academic journal in South Korea. In this paper, I provide an overview of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ trauma care system and reflect on my clinical training experiences at the VA. You can find the link to the paper below.
https://accesson.kr/trauma/v.2/1/40/55801
Philosophy
During my junior year, my colleagues and I participated in a competitive research presentation contest hosted by Yonsei University, where we were honored to receive a co-first prize. Our presentation examined sociobiologist Edward Wilson's concept of "Consilience" and its potential application to humanities research. This experience deepened my appreciation for the integration between science and philosophy. I became particularly interested in how empirical data can enrich philosophical inquiry by providing shared standards for testing and refining ideas.
As I continued exploring the works of Hume and other modern and contemporary British and American empiricists, I was struck not only by their skepticism but also by their efforts to ground the study of human nature in observation and evidence. These ideas led me to pursue psychology as a double major—as a way to complement and extend philosophical questions through empirical investigation.
Today, as a psychology researcher, I value the discipline’s empirical foundation and its openness to continuous revision. I see psychology as a powerful bridge between conceptual thinking and scientific evidence—a field that refines our understanding of human experience while embracing both complexity and humility. This integration of rigorous methodology with philosophical depth continues to inspire my academic path.
Fine Art
Art has been a profound passion throughout my life, shaping my university years as I devoted much of my time to drawing and painting portraits. This passion, combined with my fascination for emotional expression, naturally extended into my academic pursuits. In my doctoral research, I incorporated facial expressions as a physiological measure. This interest also led to the development of "ISEE," a collection of image stimuli designed for psychological experiments.
I am particularly drawn to graphite and charcoal, as their monochromatic simplicity reveals the intricate complexity of shapes and forms. Recently, I submitted one of my drawings to the Employee Art Exhibition at the University of Michigan and was honored with an honorable mention in the drawing category. Building on this, my upcoming work will further explore the nuances of human emotion through expressive facial portrayals.
Hanjoo Kim
Edgar Degas, 2001
Oil on canvas
16" x 20"
Hanjoo Kim
Untitled, 2002
Oil on canvas
16" x 20"
NOVEMBER 17, 2022
Art Among the Prechter Program: Michigan Medicine Employee Art Exhibition
Art Among the Prechter Program: Michigan Medicine Employee Art Exhibition
Prechter Program Research Fellow Hanjoo Kim, Ph.D., receives honorable mention for his piece, Freedom, in the Michigan Medicine Employee Art Exhibition.
Hanjoo Kim
Freedom, 2022
Charcoal on paper
18" x 24"
Gifts of Art, a comprehensive arts in medicine program, brings the world of art and music to Michigan Medicine. Each year, the program presents the Employee Art Exhibition inviting Michigan Medicine staff, faculty, learners, volunteers, and family members to submit artwork to be showcased to the healthcare community.
This year, dozens of faculty, staff, learners, and family members submitted their pieces of art for the exhibition including Hanjoo Kim, Ph.D., a Prechter Program Research Fellow.
Kim explained why he submitted work to the exhibition:
"Having a mental health problem or being in a medical condition is like walking in a fog. I drew this for patients at Michigan Medicine, hoping they would be free from the stress and fear of uncertainty and get back to their lives again."
Freedom received an honorable mention in the category of drawing and pastel. This year’s exhibition is on display through December 2nd, 2022 in the Gifts of Art Gallery on the first floor of Taubman Health Center’s South Lobby.
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