Dr Hohee Cho

My research concerns the global history of medicine, focusing on the British Empire in the South Pacific, especially how Pacific Islands jointly operated medical institutions during the late 19th and 20th centuries and during the Second World War. Supported by extensive archival research in the UK, US, New Zealand, Australia, and Fiji, I argue healthcare in the South Pacific was shaped under an imperial agenda to bring a group of colonies under one system. Throughout the research, I examine the complex dynamics of inter-colonial, inter-imperial, and intra-imperial relations in medical institutions and health services. By doing so, I situate indigenous healthcare in Oceania in larger discourses of medical, imperial, and Pacific history.

My current project concerns coconut plantations in the Solomon Islands, particularly those owned by Lever's Pacific Plantations Limited in the 19-20th century. I examine the ecology of coconut plantations, disease conditions, and indigenous welfare on the plantations.

I am currently co-editing a Special Issue with Medical History (forthcoming in 2024), to which I am also contributing a research article. Previously, my work has been published in Western History Review and Asia Pacific Education Review.

I have been teaching in Oxford since 2019. I have previously taught the Further Subject 'Authority of Nature: Race, Heredity and Crime, 1800-1940' for the History Faculty and the Supplementary Subject 'History and Philosophy of Science, 1500-1900' for the Honour School of Natural Science. For this academic year (2023-24), I am teaching courses in BA History, MSt Global and Imperial History, DPhil Global and Imperial History, and MSc History of Science, Medicine, and Technology. I also offer tutorials to visiting students in history and medical humanities.

Before taking up the Departmental Lecturer position in Oxford, I was a Research Associate at the University of Liverpool, working on a project commissioned by Unilever to investigate the company's history in the Solomon Islands. I completed my DPhil in 2023 (St. Hugh's College, Oxford), and I received a BA in History, a BIS in International Studies, and an MA in Western History from Korea University, Seoul. Between degrees, I worked at the Korean National Commission for UNESCO, the UK National Commission for UNESCO, and the National Museum of Korea.