Deberniere Janet Torrey portrait
  • Associate Professor, World Languages and Cultures
801-581-7990

Research Keywords

  • Korea, Religion, Intellectual History

Presentations

  • "Longing for Another World: The West in the Writings of Persecuted Korean Catholics." Colloquium presentation, Department of World Languages and Cultures, University of Utah. Other, Presented, 12/05/2023.
  • "What Can a Guilt-ridden Confession Tell us About being Catholic in 19th-century Korea?" Colloquium presentation, Department of World Languages and Cultures, University of Utah. Other, Presented, 02/23/2023.
  • Suffering and Release in the Persecution-era Confessional “Jachaek” [Self Reproach].” International Conference on “Acting and Suffering Human Beings,” The Institute of Classical Studies of Korean, Jeonju University, South Korea. (in Korean, online). Conference Paper, Presented, 12/08/2022.
  • Lecture: “The First Years of Yesuwon as Seen through Archer’s Journals,” Yesuwon Community, Taebaek, South Korea (in Korean). Other, Presented, 10/04/2022.
  • Two-part virtual lecture: “A People Set Apart: Catholics in Joseon Society,” Classics Research Institute, Jeonju University, South Korea (in Korean). Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 12/2021.
  • “Confucian and Catholic Models for Women: Negotiating Virtue in 19th Century Korea.” Conference on “Religious Conflicts and Coexistence: The Korean Context and Beyond,” World Religious Peace Committee in Korea, Jeonju, South Korea. Conference Paper, Presented, 10/2019.
  • “Pilgrims in the Margins: The Meaning of the West for Early Korean Catholics.” Symposium on “Life and Death in the Missions of New France and East Asia: Narratives of Faith and Martyrdom,” Ricci Institute for Chinese-Western Cultural History at the University of San Francisco and the Martyrs’ Shrine of the Society of Jesus, Ontario, Canada. Conference Paper, Presented, 10/2018.
  • “Soul Judgment in Korea’s first Bible Commentary, Syŏnggyŏng Chikhae Kwangik.” Korean Studies International Conference on “Good and Evil in Korean Philosophy, Religion, and Spirituality,” University of Prince Edward Island, Canada, June, 2018. Conference Paper, Presented, 06/15/2018.
  • “The Significance of the Story of Young Barbara to Fr. Ch’oe Yangŏp.” Usong Korean Studies International Symposium, Seoul National University, South Korean, May, 2018. (in Korean). Conference Paper, Presented, 05/17/2018.
  • "The Origins of Christianity in Korea: Catholics Diverging from Confucian Tradition." Florida International University. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 01/2017.
  • “The Subjectivity of Joseon Women in the Conflict between Confucianism and Catholicism.” International symposium on “Colonialism and the Change of Local Communities in Modern East Asia,” Jeonju University, South Korea. Conference Paper, Presented, 06/2016.
  • Guest Lecture on early Catholics in the Jeonju region. Colloquium on “Catholic History and the Local Community in the Jeolla Provinces,” Jeonju University, South Korea (in Korean). Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 06/2015.
  • “The Evolution of the Yesuwon Community and its Role for the Korean Church.” American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, Baltimore, November 2013. Conference Paper, Refereed, Presented, 11/2013.
  • “Catholic Didactic Poems in Nineteenth Century Korea.” Conference on “Integration processes in the circulation of knowledge: Cases from Korea and beyond,” University of Bochum, Germany Global Impact (Republic of Korea). Interdisciplinary. Conference Paper, Refereed, Presented, 06/2013.
  • “‘Chach’aek’: A Catholic’s Inward Gaze.” Association of Asian Studies Annual Meeting, San Diego, March 2013. Conference Paper, Refereed, Presented, 03/2013.
  • Public lecture: “A Martyr’s Grievance: Flesh as Burden in the Prison Letters of Lutgarde Yi Suni (1782-1801),” UC Berkeley Center for Korean Studies, Nov., 2012. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 11/2012.
  • “Dying for Another World: Martyrdom in Early Korean Catholic Texts.” Association of Asian Studies Annual Meeting, Toronto, March, 2012. Conference Paper, Refereed, Presented, 03/2012.
  • “From Syncretism to Separation: The Changing Emphasis in Early Korean Catholic Literature.” American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, San Francisco, November, 2011. Conference Paper, Refereed, Presented, 11/2011.
  • “Immortal Agency and Womanly Duty: The Prison Letters of Yi Suni.” Association for Asian Studies Annual Meeting, Honolulu, March, 2011. Conference Paper, Refereed, Presented, 03/2011.
  • “Transcending Nature and Tradition at a Price: The Female in Early Korean Catholic Texts.” The 21st Congress of the International Comparative Literature Association, Jungang University, Seoul, Korea. Conference Paper, Refereed, Presented, 08/2010.
  • “The Silk Letter Incident: Separated by Transcendence.” Biennial Boston College Conference on the History of Religion, Boston College. Conference Paper, Refereed, Presented, 03/2010.
  • “Hwang Sayeong, Global Subject in the Hermit Kingdom.” New York Conference of Asian Studies, Hamilton College. Conference Paper, Refereed, Presented, 09/2008.
  • “Modern Confucianism in the Poetry of Tasan.” American Comparative Literature Association Annual Convention, Princeton University. Conference Paper, Refereed, Presented, 03/2006.

Grants, Contracts & Research Gifts

  • International Travel and Research Grant for archival research in South Korea. PI: Deberniere Torrey. College of Humanities, 10/2015 - 07/2016. Total project budget to date: $1,000.00
  • Travel grant for archival research in South Korea. PI: Deberniere Torrey. University Research Committee, 04/2014 - 08/2016. Total project budget to date: $6,000.00
  • International Travel and Research Grant for archival research in South Korea. PI: Deberniere Torrey. College of Humanities, 10/2013 - 07/2014. Total project budget to date: $1,000.00
  • Korea Foundation AATK Graduate Teaching Assistantship Grant. PI: Dept. of Languages and Literature. Korea Foundation , 08/2013 - 05/2014. Total project budget to date: $12,000.00
  • Travel Grant for archival research in South Korea. PI: Deberniere Torrey. Association for Asian Studies Northeast Asia Council, 04/2013 - 07/2013. Total project budget to date: $2,500.00
  • Travel grant for archival research in South Korea. PI: Deberniere Torrey. University Research Committee, University of Utah, 04/2013 - 07/2013. Total project budget to date: $3,600.00
  • International Travel and Research Grant for archival research in South Korea. PI: Deberniere Torrey. College of Humanities, 10/2012 - 07/2013. Total project budget to date: $1,000.00
  • Korea Foundation-AATK Graduate Teaching Assistantship Grant. PI: Dept. of Languages and Literature, University of Utah. Korea Foundation, 08/2012 - 05/2013. Total project budget to date: $12,000.00

Languages

  • French, functional.
  • Korean, fluent.
  • Mandarin Chinese, fluent.

Geographical Regions of Interest

  • Eastern Asia
  • Republic of Korea

Publications

  • Deberniere Torrey (2021). Syŏnggyŏng chikhae kwang-ik. University of British Columbia (Database of Religious History). Published, 04/17/2021.
    https://open.library.ubc.ca/cIRcle/collections/ubc...
  • "Hard Road to Heaven: Bearing the Weight of Soul Judgment in Korea's First Bible Commentary." Journal of Korean Studies, 25.1 (March 2020): 35-55. Published, 03/2020.
  • "Confucian Exemplars and Catholic Saints as Models for Women in Nineteenth-Century Korea." Religions Vol. 11.3 (March 2020): (7,300 words). Published, 03/2020.
    https://doi.org/10.3390/rel11030151
  • "Imagining Eternity: The Prison Letters of Yi Suni." Korean Literature Now 45 (Autumn, 2019), 60-63. Published, 09/2019.
  • "Beyond Tribe and Kingdom: The Meaning of the West in the Experiences of Early Korean Catholics." In Life and Death in the Missions of New France and Asia. Ed. Antoni Ucerler and Xiaoxin Wu. Brill Academic Publishers, forthcoming 2023. Accepted, 07/2019.
  • "Young Barbara's Devotion and Death: Reading Father Ch'oe's Field Report of 1850." Korean Studies 42 (2018). Published, 05/2018.
  • "Between Heroism and Despair: Opportunities and Barriers for Women in the Early Korean Catholic Church." Asian Journal of Women's Studies 23:4 (December, 2017): 421-441. Published, 11/2017.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/12259276.2017.1384904
  • "Transcendence and Anxiety in the Prison Letters of Catholic Martyr Ludgarda Yi Suni (1779-1802)." Journal of Religion and Literature 47.3 (2016): 25-55. Published, 10/2016.
  • "Catholic Didactic Poems in Korea's Transition to Modernity." In Integration Processes in the Circulation of Knowledge: Cases from Korea. Ed. Marion Eggert and Florian Polking. Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 2016. 137-150. Published, 01/2016.
  • Introduction and co-translation with Ko Chang-soo, Mask: Poems by Lee Gil-Won. Lee Gil-Won. Gyeonggido, S. Korea: Bumwoo Publishing. Published, 07/2013.
  • “Yesuwon: an Ongoing Experiment in the Kangwondo Wilderness.” Journal of Korean Religions 4.1 (2013): 139-167. Published, 04/2013.
  • "Separating from the Confucian World: The Shift away from Syncretism in Early Korean Catholic Literature." Acta Koreana 15.1 (2012): 127-145. Published, 06/2012.
  • "Separate but Engaged: Human Subjectivity in the Poetry of Tasan Chông Yagyong." Journal of Korean Studies 15 (2010): 95-122. Published, 12/2010.
  • Translation of Seong San Myeong Gyeong (The Clear Mirror of Sacred Mountain), Choe Byeong Hyeon. Ed. Kim Jae Hyun. Seoul: KIATS Press. Published, 04/2010.
  • Translation of Mansaseongchwi (The Attainment of All Things), Gil Seon-Ju. Ed. Kim Jae Hyun. Seoul: KIATS Press. Published, 01/2008.
  • Translation of The Translation Series of the Korean Christian Classics I: A Record of the Dream of Yi Byeok; A Record of the Words of Ryu-Han-Dang; Meditation on Life after Death. Ed. Kim Jae Hyun. Seoul: The Korean Christian Museum at Soongsil University. Published, 01/2007.