Hye-Su Kuk

Hye-Su Kuk is an assistant professor in the Adult Education and Community Development program at OISE/UT. She completed a Ph.D. in Lifelong Learning and Adult Education at Penn State. Her research contributes to theories of adult education for participatory democracy, organizational dynamics of social movement and grassroots initiatives, and the potentials of nonformal education institutions in mediating social change. In her dissertation, she explores how adult education activities enhancing democratic participation intersect with trajectories of social movements and local governance in post-1987 South Korea. 

Dr. Kuk has contributed peer-reviewed articles to major adult education journals such as Adult Learning and the International Journal of Lifelong Education, and has gained valuable international research experience supporting funded research projects of faculty at Chungnam National University and Seoul National University. She has advanced training in institutional ethnography and qualitative research methods, and teaching experience in the areas of lifelong learning, adult education, and social theory. In 2021, Dr. Kuk received the Distinguished Service Award from the Korean Academy of Lifelong Education.