Christine Mae Sarito
PhD Researcher
Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies
Research Associate in Research Group Coerced Circulation of Knowledge
Adenauerallee 18–22
D-53113 Bonn
Phone: +49 228 73 62441
csarito@uni-bonn.de

Academic Profile
Negotiating a Kisaeng’s Space: Gendered Dependency in Sixteenth and Seventeenth-Century Chosŏn Korea
This dissertation addresses how the kisaeng (professional female entertainers) navigated the public space of Neo-Confucian Chosŏn Korea in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Through an intersectional analysis, I will explore how the kisaeng’s gender and caste created their privilege and oppression. I also discuss how the kisaeng used their labor in the negotiation of their space in Chosŏn society, and how the Imjin War (1592-1598) and the Manchu Invasions of Korea (1627 and 1636-1637) further shaped this negotiation. Finally, I propose to situate the kisaeng in the context of Chosŏn slavery.
2021–2025
Ph.D. in History, Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies, University of Bonn, Germany
2014–2017
Master in Public Administration, Central Philippines State University, Victorias University Campus, Victorias City, Negros Occidental, Philippines
2011–2019
M.A. in Korean History, Sogang University, Seoul, South Korea
2010–2011
Korean Language Studies, Sogang University Korean Language Education Center, Seoul, South Korea
2005–2009
B.A. in History, University of the Philippines Visayas, Miagao, Iloilo, Philippines
2021–present
Research Associate in Research Group Coerced Circulation of Knowledge, University of Bonn, Germany
2019–2020
Professorial Lecturer, University of St. La Salle, Bacolod City, Philippines
2017
Part-time Instructor, Colegio de Sta. Ana de Victorias, Philippines
2014–2015
Social Studies Instructor, Central Philippines State University, Victorias City Campus, Victorias City, Negros Occidental, Philippines
2010
History Instructor, University of the Philippines Visayas, Miagao, Iloilo, Philippines
2010
Research Staff, Research and Development Service Office, Carlos Hilado Memorial State College, Talisay City, Negros Occidental, Philippines
2009
Social Studies Instructor, Carlos Hilado Memorial State College, Talisay City, Negros Occidental, Philippines
- Member, Association for Asian Studies
- Member, Korean Studies Association of Australasia
- Member, Global Korea Scholarship (GKS) Philippines Alumni Association, Inc.
- Lifetime Member, Philippine Historical Association, Inc.
- Member, The International Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi Chapter 045 (University of the Philippines)
- Member, Global Korea Scholarship (GKS) Alumni Association, Inc.
- Mentee, Business and Professional Women-Korea
- Member, Pinoy Iskolars in Korea, Inc. (Filipino Scholars in Korea, Inc.)
- Member, Seoul International Student Forum
- Member, World Students in Korea, 4th Batch
- Member, University of the Philippines Alumni Association, Iloilo Chapter
- Member, Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches, Inc.
- Member, Victorias City Cultural Heritage Council, Victorias City, Negros Occidental Philippines
- Member, Victorias Emmanuel Baptist Church, Victorias City, Negros Occidental Philippines
2022
AKS Fellowship Program for Korean Studies, The Academy of Korean Studies
2021
Kongressreisenprogramm, DAAD: German Academic Exchange Service (withdrawn)
February 2022 Role of the Kisaeng of Chosŏn Korea through the Lens of ‘Asymmetrical Dependency’ The 12th Korean Studies Association of Australasia 2021 Biennial Conference, hosted by Monash University Korean Studies and the Korean Studies Association of Australasia
November 2021
Role of the Kisaeng of Chosŏn Korea through the Lens of ‘Asymmetrical Dependency’ International PhD Seminar on Slavery & Servitude, hosted by Leiden Slavery Studies Association in cooperation with the Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies and University of Hull’s Wilberforce Institute for the Study of Slavery and Emancipation