Dr. Chuyun Oh

Email

Primary Email: [email protected]

Building/Location

Exercise and Nutritional Science - 121

Files

• Oh CV

Website Links

• http://www.onizlab.com/20

Bio

Chuyun Oh (PhD in Performance Studies, University of Texas at Austin) is a Fulbright scholar and Professor of Dance Theory and Practice at San Diego State University. She is the author of six books, including K-pop Dance Education: To Dreamers (Routledge, 2026) and K-pop Dance: Fandoming Yourself on Social Media (Routledge, 2023), an Amazon New Release bestseller and a shortlist for the Dance Studies Association’s de la Torre Bueno First Book Award.

As a pioneer of K-pop dance studies, she offers the first K-pop dance courses in the US and issues K-pop Creator Certificates through her research institute, Oniz Lab (https://www.onizlab.com/).

Her award-winning scholarship and performances on popular dance and ethnography have received multiple national and international grants and have appeared in more than sixty global media outlets, thirty keynote speeches and book talks, and over thirty anthologies as well as top-tier journals.

Having begun classical ballet training at Sun Hwa Arts School, she performed internationally as a professional modern dancer early in her career, earning several international dance competition awards.

She serves on the editorial boards of Text and Performance Quarterly, Asian Communication Research, and Dance Chronicle.

Education

• Ph.D. Performance Studies (Portfolio in Gender Studies), The University of Texas at Austin, Austin TX
• M.A. Aesthetics, Ewha Woman’s University, Seoul, South Korea
• B.A. Dance & Philosophy (minor), Ewha Woman’s University, Seoul, South Korea

Areas of Specialization

Languages

Awards & Honors

1. A Short List of the de la Torre Bueno First Book Prize, Dance Studies Association, 2023
2. The Division of Research and Innovation (DRI), RSCA Assigned Time Award, 2024
3. SDSU PSFA Dean's Award, 2023
4. Top Paper, Korean American Communication Association, National Communication Association (NCA), 2019
5. Top Contributed Papers, Performance Studies Division, NCA, 2019
6. Top Contributed Performances, Performance Studies Division, NCA, 2018
7. Top Contributed Performances, Performance Studies Division, NCA, 2017
8. Top Contributed Performances, Performance Studies Division, NCA, 2016
9. Top Ten Downloaded Article of the Year 2015, The Journal of Fandom Studies.

Courses

Grants

Media

Full media coverage is available here: https://www.instagram.com/chuyun.oh/

Select media coverage:

• K-Pop a catalyst for cultural exchange and global connection Fox News, Dec. 19, 2025. 
• Bay Area ringing in 2026 with K-Pop takeover Fox News, Dec. 10, 2025. 
• An Inspired Chat with Chuyun Oh of San Diego SD Voyager, Sept. 24, 2025. 
• [NEWs GEN] Korea’s Dance Scene: How K-dance is taking over the world Arirang News, Aug. 20, 2025. 
• [Hallyu People] K-pop dance classes for exchange students: emerging academic interest in K-pop dance Arirang News, July 28, 2025. 
• [Hallyu People] K-pop dance classes for exchange students: emerging academic interest in K-pop dance Arirang News, July 27, 2025. 
• Office Hours With Chuyun Oh, PhD Leader of K-Pop Studies at San Diego State University, DanceTeacher, May 8, 2024. 
• Rising Stars: Meet Dr. Chuyun Oh SD Voyager. Dec 18, 2023. 
• Opinion: K-pop Isn’t Dance ‘Canon’, But it Opens Students Minds to Possibilities and Differences Times of San Diego. Sept 30, 2023.
• SDSU’s first ever K-pop class, SDSU Ignite perform at the Padres’ Korean Heritage night pre-show The Daily Aztec, Sept 25, 2023.
• 미국, 'K-pop 댄스학원'까지... "이젠 장르다 MBC America News, June 17, 2023.
• As K-pop group BTS celebrates 10 years, the industry's future rests with its diehard fandom CBC News, June 20, 2023.
• K팝 칼군무, 이제 대학서 배운다 [K-pop synchronized dance is now taught in university], The Korea Daily, August 8, 2023.
• Summer Arts gets ahead of the curve with a course and performances devoted to K-pop The Collegian, July 13, 2023.
• San Diego State university to Offer First-of-its-kind K-pop Dance Class for Fall 2023 DanceAsk.
• K-pop SDSU Minds in Motion, April 24, 2023.
• SDSU to offer first-of-its-kind K-pop dance course with Dr. Chuyun Oh NextShark June 9, 2023.
• Turning Passion into Career: Opportunity to Become K-Pop Certified For K-Pop Fans In The US Kpopmap, Apr 27, 2023.
• Choreographer to share insights on K-pop dance as part of WT Distinguished Lecture Series Yahoo News, March 5, 2023.
• “Professor to speak on K-pop dance fandom at WTAMU,” KFDA NewsChannel 10, March 7, 2023.
• Guest choreographer to talk K-pop dance at West Texas A&M University event MyHighPlains, KAMR-TV, NBC, March 1, 2023. .
• K-pop Dance NPR, High Plains Public Radio All Things Considered, March 9, 2023.
• K-pop Generation, Ep. 4. Netflix Asia, Tving, Apple TV, and Viki. .
• “BORN TO 춤 | Just Jerk(저스트절크) 의 가장 솔직한 이야기 Mnet Plus, Feb 18, 2023
• Promoting K-pop Music and Its Dance,” Arirang News, Feb 22, 2023.
• Would you learn K-pop dance at university if there was a course on it? The Korea Times, Feb 21, 2023.
• K-Pop Dance’ adopted as the first official curriculum in an American university- Opening at San Diego State University Fall Semester (‘K팝 댄스’ 미국대학 첫 정규과목 채택) The Korea Herald, Jan 27, 2023.
• K-Pop dance became a regular class at American universities … Adopted for the first time by SDSU ("K-팝 댄스, 美대학 정규수업 됐다"…글로벌 대학서 사상 첫 채택) Naver News, Jan 27, 2023.
• SDSU Dance offers the first K-pop Dance Curriculum in the States (SDSU 무용과 ‘K팝 댄스’ 개설) The Korea Daily, Dec 2, 2022.
• All about K-pop Dance Arirang TV News Center, Aug 9, 2022. 
• 댄스 장르'로 자리 잡은 K팝 / SBS / #더스페셜리스트 (K-pop as a dance genre), SBS Eight O'Clock News (Seoul Broadcasting System), Sept 3, 2022. 
• Cover Story: Dr. Chuyun Oh The JoongAng, San Diego Korean American Community Magazine, Dec 2022. 
• K팝 아이돌은 가수이자 무용수… 오랜 훈련 거친 춤 보여줘 (K-pop idols are dancers as much as singers,” Kukmin Ilbo, July 30, 2022. 
• 살기 위해" BTS 춤춘 아이들에 놀라서 쓴 책…美아마존 1위 (A book written for children who danced BTS to live became No. 1 Amazon), JoongAng Daily, Aug 22, 2022. 

Publications

BOOKS

1.       C. Oh, K-pop Dance Education: To Dreamers, Routledge, 2026.
2.       C. Oh, K-pop Dance, Korean edition, Culture Look, 2026.
3.       C. Oh, K-pop Dance: Fandoming Yourself on Social Media. New York, NY: Routledge, 2023 (Amazon New Relesae Bestseller in Communications and Popular Dance).
4.       J. Lee, C. Oh, and YC Kim, eds. Candlelight Movement, Democracy, and Communication in Korea. New York, NY: Routledge, 2021. 
5.       C. Oh, 언어의 주관적인 객관성; 세 개의 메타포  [The Subjective Objectivity of Language; Three Metaphors: Language, Image, and the Body]. Seoul: Da Vinci, 2009. 
6.       C. Oh, et al. 비평, 나쁘게 말하다  [Speak Criticism Critically: Interdisciplinary Arts Meta-Criticism]. Seoul: Dao Space, 2009. 1-144.

REFEREED JOURNAL ARTICLES 

1.       Oh. C. “What Is K-pop Dance Studies? Text and Performance Quarterly (2025): 1-26. doi:10.1080/10462937.2025.2584529. 
2.       Oh. C. “K-Pop Dance in US Higher Education.” Dance Research Education Journal, vol. 4, no. 2 (2025): 1-26. https://doi.org/10.1080/14647893.2025.2570918.
3.       Oh. C. “New Authenticities of Indonesian K-pop Dancers,” Dance Chronicle. 1–26 (2024)
4.       Oh, C. [Book Review] “David C. Oh, Mediating the South Korean Other: Representations and Discourses of Differences in the Post/Neocolonial Nation-State. Perspectives on Contemporary Korea. University of Michigan Press,” Pacific Affairs 97, no. 1 (2023): 186-189. .     
5.       Oh. C. “Rocks Thrown at His Head,” Conversations Across the Field of Dance Studies 42 (2023). 
6.       Oh, C. and David C. Oh. “White-Expat-Fans’ Performing K-pop Other on YouTube.” Text and Performance Quarterly (2022): 1-23. h. 
7.       Oh, C. [Book Review] “Kwon, J., Straight Korean Female Fans and Their Gay Fantasies. University of Iowa Press,” Asian Communication Research 18, no. 3 (2021): 192-196. 
8.       Oh, C. “The (Im)possibility of Speaking Unspeakable Trauma in Dance Ethnography,” Text and Performance Quarterly 41, no. 3-4 (2021): 241-261. 
9.       A. Harlig, C. Abidin, T. Boffone, K. Bowker, C. Eloi, P. Krayenbuhl, C. Oh. “TikTok and Short-Form Screendance Before and After Covid.” The International Journal of Screendance 12 (2021): 190-209. 
10.       Oh, C. “From Seoul to Copenhagen: Migrating K-pop Cover Dance and Performing Diasporic Youth on YouTube.” Dance Research Journal 52, no. 1 (2020): 20-32. 
11.       Oh, C. “Identity Passing in Intercultural Performance of K-pop Cover Dance.” Journal of Intercultural Communication Research (2020) 49, no. 5: 472-483. 
12.       Oh, C. “One Billion Rising Flashmob: From Unspoken Trauma to Danceable Pleasure.” Dance Chronicle 42, no. 3 (2019): 296-321..
13.       Oh, C. “Racialized and Gendered Orientalism in Olympic Figure Skating.” The International Journal of the History of Sport 36, no. 7-8 (2019): 714-730. 
14.       Oh, C, and David C. Oh. “Unmasking Queerness: Blurring and Solidifying Queer Line through K-pop Cross-dressing.” The Journal of Popular Culture 50, no. 1 (2017): 9-29..
15.       Oh, David C., and C. Oh. “Vlogging White Privilege Abroad: Eat Your Kimchi’s Eating and Spitting out of the Korean Other on YouTube.” Communication, Culture & Critique 10, no. 4 (2017): 696-711. https://doi.org/10.1111/cccr.12180.
16.       Oh, David C., and C. Oh. “Until You Are Able’: South Korean Multiculturalism and Hierarchy in the film My Little Hero.” Communication, Culture & Critique 9, no. 2 (2016): 250-265. 
17.       Oh, C. “Queering Spectatorship in K-pop: The Androgynous Male Dancing Body and Western Female Fandom.” The Journal of Fandom Studies 3, no. 1 (2015): 59-78. (One of the most downloaded articles of the year from JFS).
18.       Oh, C. “Performing Post-Racial Asianness: K-Pop’s Appropriation of Hip Hop Culture.” Congress on Research in Dance Conference Proceedings. Cambridge University Press (2014): 121-125. 
19.       Oh, C. “Gender Images Shown in Dancing in TV Commercials.” The Korean Journal of Dance Documentation 19 (2010): 29-45. (KCI)
20.       Oh, C. “A Dance Criticism on White Room.” The Korean Journal for Dance Studies 22 (2007): 231-234.