Jung-Sil “Julie” Lee (이정실)

Dr. Jung-Sil “Julie” Lee is an art historian, curator, and adjunct professor at the George Washington University and Maryland Institute College of Art. Her Ph.D. in Art History from the University of Maryland explored the significance of public memorials in the Nineteenth Century French public sphere and their roles in reconciliation. Her minor area is Modern and Contemporary art focused on feminist theory and ritual practice. She curated extensive art exhibitions locally and internationally including the “comfort women” themed exhibition in 2017 sponsored by the Korean Ministry of Gender Equality and Family which traveled to four different cities.

For a decade, Dr. Jung-Sill Lee has served as vice president and president of the non-profit organization, the Washington Coalition for Comfort Women Issues, Inc. (WCCW) where she has educated and promoted public awareness on “comfort women.” She has organized numerous academic conferences, art exhibitions, webinar lectures, internship programs, film screening, the international film festival, and played a central role in the building of the “Comfort Women Memorial Peace Garden” in Fairfax County, VA (2014), and the “Statue of Peace” in Annandale, VA (2019) to reclaim the dignity of victims and prevent human trafficking. While she published book chapters and articles on “comfort women,” she has devoted her time to archive primary and secondary sources and to document visual resources of nearly 30 years of the “comfort women” redress movement in the U.S., which has culminated in a volume she co-edited with Dennis P. Halpin, titled Comfort Women: A Movement for Justice and Women’s Rights in the United States (Carlsbad, CA: Hollym International Corporation, August 2020, xv, 402p.). www.comfort-women.org. juliee77@gmail.com.