HeeJin Lee
@heejinlee.bsky.social
Assistant Professor and Marianna Brown Dietrich Breakthrough Scholar Chair of Korean Studies @ Pitt. Usual disclaimers about personal opinions, etc., apply.
This past week made me realize just how wide the US is—still recovering from the flight to and from the West Coast. Can’t work today, but hoping to feel strong enough to run basic errands!
February 8, 2026 at 7:00 PM
This past week made me realize just how wide the US is—still recovering from the flight to and from the West Coast. Can’t work today, but hoping to feel strong enough to run basic errands!
What an amazing week! Feeling energized and inspired from our gathering even if I am utterly physically exhausted. Grateful for the community and looking forward to our work together in the coming months. Next stop: Seoul!
Excited to return to SoCal next week for this workshop—really looking forward to seeing dear colleagues and mentors in the sun (thanks to Chris and the UCLA Korean Humanities Initiative for hosting), away from the snow and frigid temperatures in Pittsburgh!
February 8, 2026 at 12:40 AM
What an amazing week! Feeling energized and inspired from our gathering even if I am utterly physically exhausted. Grateful for the community and looking forward to our work together in the coming months. Next stop: Seoul!
Grateful to Dr. Gabrielle Jung and scholars at UCI yesterday! Had so much fun and learned a lot from everyone’s questions and comments. Looking forward to doing some justice to their feedback as I continue to prepare this article for submission!
Before the UCLA workshop, a short trip down to Irvine to give this talk on a different paper (though still on the topic of the Cold War), one that I’ve been sitting with some time!
February 4, 2026 at 5:07 PM
Grateful to Dr. Gabrielle Jung and scholars at UCI yesterday! Had so much fun and learned a lot from everyone’s questions and comments. Looking forward to doing some justice to their feedback as I continue to prepare this article for submission!
Niche LA skeet: Enjoying a bfast burrito from Gjusta and realizing how I took so much of good food (available in the US) for granted 😭
February 3, 2026 at 5:41 PM
Niche LA skeet: Enjoying a bfast burrito from Gjusta and realizing how I took so much of good food (available in the US) for granted 😭
LAX! Practically feels like being back “home”—we’ll see if I remember how to drive in LA, the real test with getting on the 405 tmrw 🤣
February 3, 2026 at 2:08 AM
LAX! Practically feels like being back “home”—we’ll see if I remember how to drive in LA, the real test with getting on the 405 tmrw 🤣
Can’t believe that ppl still take FaceTime calls in public, on loudspeaker, in 2026—in an airport lounge, of all places 🫠
February 2, 2026 at 7:00 PM
Can’t believe that ppl still take FaceTime calls in public, on loudspeaker, in 2026—in an airport lounge, of all places 🫠
Not funny how the city is finally cleaning up the snow in my neighborhood, ONE FULL WEEK after the actual snowing ended. The worst snow clean-up timeline—and I say this as someone who just moved up here from central VA!
February 2, 2026 at 2:54 PM
Not funny how the city is finally cleaning up the snow in my neighborhood, ONE FULL WEEK after the actual snowing ended. The worst snow clean-up timeline—and I say this as someone who just moved up here from central VA!
One silver lining to having left town before the storm as someone who relies on street parking: I’ve become super familiar with multiple public parking garage options in my neighborhood, given that I didn’t even have a spot to dig out for myself 😭
February 1, 2026 at 6:14 PM
One silver lining to having left town before the storm as someone who relies on street parking: I’ve become super familiar with multiple public parking garage options in my neighborhood, given that I didn’t even have a spot to dig out for myself 😭
Before the UCLA workshop, a short trip down to Irvine to give this talk on a different paper (though still on the topic of the Cold War), one that I’ve been sitting with some time!
January 31, 2026 at 12:58 PM
Before the UCLA workshop, a short trip down to Irvine to give this talk on a different paper (though still on the topic of the Cold War), one that I’ve been sitting with some time!
Finally have the bandwidth to think about reading for pleasure again. Where should I begin? I know that no matter what I end up reading, I’ll inevitably read as if reading for work, but I want to get back to just indulging, reading for the sake of reading.
January 31, 2026 at 1:34 AM
Finally have the bandwidth to think about reading for pleasure again. Where should I begin? I know that no matter what I end up reading, I’ll inevitably read as if reading for work, but I want to get back to just indulging, reading for the sake of reading.
Excited to return to SoCal next week for this workshop—really looking forward to seeing dear colleagues and mentors in the sun (thanks to Chris and the UCLA Korean Humanities Initiative for hosting), away from the snow and frigid temperatures in Pittsburgh!
January 29, 2026 at 10:30 PM
Excited to return to SoCal next week for this workshop—really looking forward to seeing dear colleagues and mentors in the sun (thanks to Chris and the UCLA Korean Humanities Initiative for hosting), away from the snow and frigid temperatures in Pittsburgh!
I hate teaching on Zoom but that’s where we’re going to be today, many students already writing in that they still can’t make it on to campus because of terrible road conditions. Haven’t been near school but this is what my chair also said as of Tuesday evening.
January 29, 2026 at 1:48 PM
I hate teaching on Zoom but that’s where we’re going to be today, many students already writing in that they still can’t make it on to campus because of terrible road conditions. Haven’t been near school but this is what my chair also said as of Tuesday evening.
And honestly, who wants to be a tech bro?!
Beloved fellow academics, please don't fall for the Let's All Worship Overwork signals that have been going around for the last couple of weeks
"But tech bros do it! Haruki Murakami does it!"
1) let's ask how---ie, who's making dinner? hmmmm
and
2) the ideas don't get better when you overwork
"But tech bros do it! Haruki Murakami does it!"
1) let's ask how---ie, who's making dinner? hmmmm
and
2) the ideas don't get better when you overwork
January 29, 2026 at 1:40 PM
And honestly, who wants to be a tech bro?!
Made it back to Pittsburgh in one piece—just one delay and one cancellation later, which turned out to be somewhat of a boon since I came back to a city decently plowed; but no parking because that’s where all the snow went 🤣 luckily found (expensive!) ramp parking for the night.
January 28, 2026 at 11:40 PM
Made it back to Pittsburgh in one piece—just one delay and one cancellation later, which turned out to be somewhat of a boon since I came back to a city decently plowed; but no parking because that’s where all the snow went 🤣 luckily found (expensive!) ramp parking for the night.
First time in a while to be inspired by the scholarship I’m reading, and remembering that these are the moments I work for!
January 18, 2026 at 9:09 PM
First time in a while to be inspired by the scholarship I’m reading, and remembering that these are the moments I work for!
Reminder from this calendar I received from our book dealer in Korea the only thing that’s keeping me going today—after learning the hard way that my car windows had frozen thanks to the rain/sleet overnight when I tried to get a ticket into the parking garage; losing my gloves as a result (fell out
January 15, 2026 at 3:33 PM
Reminder from this calendar I received from our book dealer in Korea the only thing that’s keeping me going today—after learning the hard way that my car windows had frozen thanks to the rain/sleet overnight when I tried to get a ticket into the parking garage; losing my gloves as a result (fell out
Forgot my dongle at home, because of course I did. Happy first day of teaching Spring 2026 to me!
January 13, 2026 at 4:00 PM
Forgot my dongle at home, because of course I did. Happy first day of teaching Spring 2026 to me!
Everyone commenting on the syllabus as genre and here I am, taking notes to build my own to (re-)read pile for 2026!
happy first day of school to semester colleagues please enjoy this jameson syllabus from January 1996
January 12, 2026 at 6:46 PM
Everyone commenting on the syllabus as genre and here I am, taking notes to build my own to (re-)read pile for 2026!
Especially grateful for LNY coming up in Feb, because nothing has been going according to any sort of plan in 2026 so far.
January 8, 2026 at 3:33 PM
Especially grateful for LNY coming up in Feb, because nothing has been going according to any sort of plan in 2026 so far.
Just messaged my sister about a giant roach I saw in the restroom on my floor and her response made me cackle: “There’s gonna be thousands. Just say hi Kafka! Roaches are fine, people are scary.” 🤣😭💀
January 7, 2026 at 4:17 PM
Just messaged my sister about a giant roach I saw in the restroom on my floor and her response made me cackle: “There’s gonna be thousands. Just say hi Kafka! Roaches are fine, people are scary.” 🤣😭💀
Starting the first Monday of the new year on very little sleep thanks to the absolutely terrible air quality, and apparently smells, from outside seeping into the building…can’t believe that this city actually has an official “smell” app!
January 5, 2026 at 12:04 PM
Starting the first Monday of the new year on very little sleep thanks to the absolutely terrible air quality, and apparently smells, from outside seeping into the building…can’t believe that this city actually has an official “smell” app!
Nothing like starting the new year with a massive flight delay 🤣😭 at least I’ve got decent lounge access and can work until I learn more about the fate of my flight!
January 2, 2026 at 6:31 PM
Nothing like starting the new year with a massive flight delay 🤣😭 at least I’ve got decent lounge access and can work until I learn more about the fate of my flight!
Spent the last two hours planning for January instead of working on my currently-on-deadline-ms and now I’m filled with anxiety, but planned 🤣 happy new year!
December 31, 2025 at 5:31 PM
Spent the last two hours planning for January instead of working on my currently-on-deadline-ms and now I’m filled with anxiety, but planned 🤣 happy new year!
Also I’ve become That Person (TM) who will leave Christmas decorations up in her house until Lunar New Year—it’s the first year I’ve had the time and the energy to decorate my apartment to my liking!
December 26, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Also I’ve become That Person (TM) who will leave Christmas decorations up in her house until Lunar New Year—it’s the first year I’ve had the time and the energy to decorate my apartment to my liking!
Christmas gift to self: Working on this manuscript so that I can get closer to the finish line!
December 25, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Christmas gift to self: Working on this manuscript so that I can get closer to the finish line!