Elena Kim

Primary Academic Program: Psychology

Biography:

Elena Kim is an educator and activist for knowledge, empowerment, and social justice. She comes to Bard from American University of Central Asia (AUCA), where she has served as chair of the Department of Psychology; cochair and cofounder of the Center for Critical Gender Studies; and head of the Division of Social Sciences. Her areas of research interest include gender studies, development and institutional ethnography, and violence. Recent journal articles include, among many others, “Bargaining with Virginity-Regulating Practices in Post-Socialist Kyrgyzstan,” Central Asian Affairs (2021); “Bound to Be Grooms: The Imbrication of Economy, Ecology, and Bride Kidnapping in Kyrgyzstan,” Gender, Place, and Society (2020); Re-Feminizing the Post-Soviet Women: Identity, Politics, and Virginity Ceremonies in Contemporary Kyrgyzstan,” Journal of Gender Studies (2020); and “Empowered by Electricity? The Political Economy of Gender and Energy in Rural Naryn,” Gender, Technology and Development (2019). She has authored and coauthored book chapters, monographs, and research reports on such issues as child marriage in Kyrgyzstan, violence against women and girls, crisis intervention, the implications of irrigation sustainability for women farmers in Uzbekistan, and psychiatry in the Kyrgyz Republic.

BA, American University of Central Asia; MA, Central European University; PhD, University of Bonn. (2021– ) At Bard: 2021–22.