Elias Alexander (He/They) –

I am a Ph.D. Candidate in Socio-Cultural Anthropology, and a visiting researcher at the Institute of Cross-Cultural Studies at Seoul National University (SNU). My Research focusing on issues of queer in/visibility, identity, community formation, and politics in South Korea. In my Ph.D. research I put into conversation discussions of sexuality and gender in Asia with queer theoretical interventions into discourses of visibility. Through this research I examine how we can, through the methodology we employ in doing research, address issues of representation through ethnographic depiction while working with marginalized populations whose lifeways are animated by in/visibility across multiple spheres of their lived lives. Looking at how queer South Korean’s construct their desired lifeways; my research ultimately seeks to address the often-cited perceived gap between queer activism and queer South Koreans’ worldmaking practices on the ground.

My current research comes out of over ten years of experience with queer South Koreans. I received my M.A. in Anthropology from the University of British Columbia in 2021, where my research examined South Korean gay men’s use of space and place. In particular, my M.A. research looked at gay men’s access and use of gay districts as a way to facilitate identity making and belonging.

Asia (East); Korean Studies; Belonging, Community, and Identity; Feminist Theory and Praxis; Gender; Sexuality; Space and Place; Queer Theory, Praxis, and Politics

Alexander, Elias. 2019. “Chong-ro: A space of belonging for young gay men in Seoul” in Boyhood Studies. 12 (2), 11-28.

Creighton, Millie and Elias Alexander. 2023. “Hanbok and Korea Identity: An Anthropological View.” In Korean Dress History: Critical Perspectives on the Primary Sources. Edited by Minjee Kim and Kyunghee Pyun. London: Bloomsbury. 271-288.

2024: Korea Foundation Fellowship for Field Research (The Korea Foundation)

2023: Emeriti Professors’ Graduate Student Research Award (Department of Anthropology, UBC)

2023: Hemingway Collaborative Award/Grant Project (Weber State University)

2021-2024: Four Year PhD Fellowship (UBC)

2021: Outstanding Graduating Anthropology Student Award (Canadian Anthropology Society -CASCA)

2020: Sentinel Prize (Department of Anthropology, UBC )

2020: Inter-University Center for Advanced Academic Korean Bursary ( Centre for Korean Research, UBC)

2019: CKR Research Award (Centre for Korean Research, UBC)

2016: Undergraduate Research Grant (Office for Undergraduate Research, Weber State University)

2016: Wat Misaka Scholarship (Department of Asian Studies, Weber State University)

Dr. Millie Creighton