As an educator, I strive to create an inclusive and intellectually engaging classroom where students critically examine work, organizations, and inequality through both theoretical frameworks and real-world perspectives. I have taught undergraduate courses at the University of Toronto, Syracuse University, and Yonsei University, covering introductory sociology, labour movements, work, and globalization in classes of varying sizes. In increasingly globalized classrooms, fostering meaningful connections among students from diverse backgrounds is more important than ever. Drawing on my experiences as both a student and instructor in Canada, the United States, and South Korea, I cultivate an environment where all students feel respected and encouraged to participate fully.

My teaching philosophy centers on empowering students as knowledge producers and critical thinkers. I encourage them to question established knowledge, challenge assumptions, and expand their worldviews, ultimately supporting them in developing independent and analytically rigorous perspectives.

Teaching Experience

Course Instructor

University of Toronto Missisauga (Winter 2025)

SOC336HSS The Contemporary Issues with Work: Precarity and Resistance

Course Description

In this class, we study key contemporary issues related to work and labour, focusing on precarity and resistance from the perspective of Canadian society and beyond while considering global viewpoints. The course comprises four main parts. First, we will set the stage to critically engage with emerging issues of precarious work. We will consider the significance of studying labour and examine the rapidly changing world of work. The second part builds the theoretical foundation of precarity and precarious work. How do we define, conceptualize, and analyze precarious work? Who qualifies as a precarious worker? What defines someone as a precarious worker? In the next part, we will examine the specific fields of precarious work, particularly those in conjunction with migration, gender, citizenship, the blurred boundaries of work, and the digitalization or platformization of labour. These are just a few examples of the numerous factors shaping workers’ complex experiences of precarity. However, exploring these topics will allow students to engage in discussions about precarious work by applying the theoretical lens they have gained from previous sections. Lastly, part four will examine various forms of resistance and alternatives that precarious workers engage in and have an opportunity to rethink our topic of work itself. What might resistance and solidarity-building among precarious workers look like? How can we envision the future of work and the work we are (or will be) doing itself? By combining the theoretical and empirical knowledge from the course, students will have opportunities to reflect on their own work experiences or labour issues related to precarious work in their final projects. Students are encouraged to bring their own experiences, understanding, and questions of historical or ongoing social issues to class. However, this should be done through serious engagement with the readings. Both the readings and the lectures will ground the students’ common knowledge and become the basis of class discussions.

Feedback from students in my course:

Professor Lee is wonderful, as I can tell how passionate she is in her own field of research. Class size is small, so we could have chance to share our own thoughts in every class. Instructions are detailed and clear.

Prof. Lee is very passionate about this subject, and it can be seen in how she teaches the course. We not only engaged in lectures but also in group discussions to allow for a more in depth analysis of different aspects of precarity within work. The reading reflections we did gave us great feedback and wherever we might have missed something, she was quick to help us understand it.The content of the course was engaging and she found new resources for us that she thought would be more applicable and engaging to what the class wanted to learn about. The projects she assigned were very helpful in not only personally expanding our knowledge on an aspect of work, but also in understanding how to conduct sociological research, something I had never done before.

What I especially liked was the fact that she almost always included a documentary–type video exploring the topics of the class, giving the concepts we discuss real–life applications, making it easier to form sociological connections.The group discussion that followed during each latter half of the class also encouraged me to think critically about the course topics that were covered during the duration of the class.

Teaching Assistant

University of Toronto, the Department of Sociology

2019-2024

Introduction to Sociology
Introduction to Sociology I – Sociological Perspectives
Sociological Inquiries
Transnational Asia
Global Cities and Urban Refugees: Connecting South and North
Sociology of Work and Industry I

Syracuse University, the Department of Sociology

2018-2019

Sociological Theory
Political Sociology

Yonsei University, the Department of Cultural Anthropology

2010-2012

Cultural Design in the Network Age
Cultural Anthropology in the Global Age