Hyejung Yum, Department of Theological Studies

Education

Ph.D. in Theological Studies, University of Toronto, Canada, 2024
Graduate Research Program, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2021
M.Div. Fuller Theological Seminary, U.S.A., 2015

Biographical note

Hyejung Yum holds a PhD from the University of Toronto. She is passionate about facilitating intercultural relationships across differences, including gender, race, abilities, sexuality, and religious tradition. Hyejung’s rich background, having been born and raised in Seoul, spending years in Los Angeles and Toronto, and currently living in Montreal, has ignited her passion to promote equity and understanding across different cultures and walks of life.

Her research and teaching have focused on violence and peace in settler-colonial and multicultural societies, decolonization, intersectionality, and religion. Before joining to Concordia, she taught social justice and religion at Emmanuel College of the University of Toronto. She also conducted research on decolonizing peace at Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and has been invited as a speaker at Universität Hamburg in Germany, as well as various institutions across North America. Her written works have appeared in multiple journals, magazines, and book chapters. 

​She has served as one of the editors of The Korean Anabaptist Journal since 2016, and is involved in various committees, including the Mennonite Scholars & Friends Meeting at AAR/SBL and as an Executive Council member of Mennonite Church Eastern Canada.

THEO 201 Introduction to Theological Studies
THEO 204 Introduction to Christian Ethics

THEO 337 The Christian Sacrements

THEO 245 The Creative Self

THEO 331 The Christian Understanding of God

THEO 347 Spirituality of Aging

Research Interests

Intersectional violence and peace in settler-colonial and multicultural societies, Contextual Theology, Postcolonial/decolonial/decolonizing theology, Religious ethics, Technology and religion

Doctoral Dissertation

Planetary Peace: A Postcolonial Mennonite Peace Theology in Multicultural Contexts, 2024 (Awarded the Louisville Dissertation Fellowship)

Book Chapters

Joel Driedger ed., “Home, Peace, and Decolonization,” Mennonitisches Jahrbuch 2025 (German Mennonite Yearbook 2025). In progress.

Néstor Medina and Becca Whitla eds., “Seeking Decolonizing Peace Across Intersecting Colonial Memories,” Decolonizing Church, Theology, and Ethics in Canada, Montreal, QC: McGill–Queen’s University Press, Forthcoming.

​Rose Ann Torres, Ian Liujia Tian and Coly Chau eds., “Vulnerable Resisters: Decolonizing Voices of Asian Migrant Women in a Settler Colonial and Religious Context” in Asian Canada Is Burning: Theories, Methods, Pedagogies and Praxes, Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers, Forthcoming.

Articles in Professional/Academic Journals

“Decolonial Peace at the Intersection of War, Colonialism, and Transnationality. A Korean-North American Perspective,” Zeitschrift für Theologie und Geschichte (ZThG), In Progress.

“Reclaiming Anabaptism Beyond the Eurocentric Gaze (To be translated into German for publication),” Special Edition: Commemorating 500 years of Anabaptism, Ökumenische Rundschau, Issue 4 (2024), In Progress.

“The Myth of Happiness: A Commentary on Racism and Mental Health in Canada” in In Our Own Words Commentary Section, The Canadian Journal of Theology, Mental Health and Disability, Volume 1, No. 1, (April 2021): 3-7.

 “A Talk on Mark Ramseyer’s Article on Korean Comfort Women” with Seonghan Kim, Representative for Mennonite Central Committee Northeast Asia, and the Editorial Teamin the section of History, Individuals, and Mennonites, Korean Anabaptist Journal, Volume 22 (Spring 2021): 25-40.

 “Unsettling the Radical Witness of Peace: A Decolonizing Investigation of Mennonite Migration from Russia to Manitoba in the 1870s,” Anabaptist Witness, Volume 7, Issue 2 (October 2020): 93-113.

 “A Postcolonial Response to Felipe Hinojosa’s Latino Mennonites,” Anabaptist Witness, Volume 7, Issue 2 (November 2020): 193-197. (The Special Edition for Panel Presentations at Mennonite Scholars & Friends Meeting at AAR/SBL in 2019).

“Human Beings as Co-Creators with God: The Search for Workers’ Dignity in Capitalist Society,” Asian Journal of Religion and Society, 6/2 (July 2018): 1-27.

 “Peace for Whom? Reconsidering Peace Theology After John H. Yoder’s Sexual Violence,” Korean Anabaptist Journal, Volume 16. (Spring 2018): 43-52.

“Who is Jesus Christ Today?: A Theological Response to the Sewol Ferry Disaster Based on the Theology of Dietrich Bonhoeffer,” Korean Anabaptist Journal, Volume 12. (Fall 2016): 48-66.

Book Reviews

Review of A Postcolonial Leadership: Asian Immigrant Christian Leadership and its Challenges (Albany: SUNY Press, 2020), by Choi Hee An, Toronto Journal of Theology Issue 39, no.1 (Spring 2023).

Review of Liberating the Politics of Jesus: Renewing Peace Theology through the Wisdom of Women, Edited by Darryl W. Stephens and Elizabeth Soto Albrecht (New York: T&T Clark, 2020). The Conrad Grebel Review 39, no 1 (Winter 2021).

Translation from English to Korean

Korean Anabaptist Journal, Volume 12. (Fall 2016): 112-121. By permission of the publisher translated from Heggen, Carolyn Holderread. “Sexual Abuse by Church Leaders and Healing for Victims.” The Mennonite Quarterly Review 89, no. 1 (2015).

Korean Anabaptist Journal, Volume 14. (Spring 2017): 52-61. By permission of the publisher translated from Loewen, Susanne Guenther. “Hearing Every Voice: Communal Discernment and Gendered Experience.” Vision: A Journal for Church and Theology 17, no. 1 (Spring 2016).

Popular Writings

“The Collaborative Journey of Christ’s Body in Diversity,”The Growing Anabaptist Movement (the 500th anniversary of Anabaptism), Leader Magazine, Vol. 22 No. 1 (Fall 2024), 27-28.

​“Binding and Loosing in the Digital Era,” Passing on the Faith, Leader Magazine, Vol. 21 No. 2 (Spring 2024), 35-36.

​“Unleashing the Gifts of Peace,” On the Reimaging Road, LeaderMagazine, Vol. 21 No. 1 (Fall 2023), 29-30.

​“Atypical: Courage to Step in to Ministry Less Traveled,” The Rhythms of Church Life, Leader Magazine, Vol. 20 No. 1 (Fall 2022), 27-28.

Co-author with Michael Pahl, Katie Doke Sawatzky, and Doug Klassen, “Bearing Witness to the Gospel of Peace,” A Study Guide for Gathering 2022 in Edmonton, Alberta, Mennonite Church Canada, February 2022.

“Wisdom from The Jerusalem Council: Toward Becoming an Intercultural Church,” Leader Magazine, Vol. 14 No. 3 (Spring 2022), 33-34.

​Co-author with Melanie Kampen, “Canadian Mennonites: A Tale of Conflicted Multiculturalism,” Racism and the Church, Leader magazine, Vol. 12 No. 2 (Spring 2021), 8-11.

Presentations

“Decolonial Peace at the Intersection of War, Colonialism, and Transnationality” in Christian Peace Witness and Non-Conformism conference hosted by Universität Hamburg (Hamburg, Germany, Nov. 3-5, 2023)

“Disquieting the Eurocentrism of a Peace Church” presentation, Bridging Gaps, Faculty of Religion and Theology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (Amsterdam, The Netherlands, November 2021)

“Unsettling Mennonite Identity and Pacifism” presentation, Doktorandenkolloquium, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (Amsterdam, The Netherlands, October 2021)

“Minjung, Agents of Justice and Creative Culture beyond Han: An Exploration of a Contemporary Korean Context through Minjung and Postcolonial Theologies” presentation,​Bridging Gaps, Faculty of Religion and Theology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (Amsterdam, The Netherlands, September 2021)

     “Unsettling the Radical Witness of Peace” presentation, What is Christian Left? The Christian Left Conference hosted by Emmanuel College and Trinity St. Paul's United Church (Online, August 2020)

    “A Postcolonial Response to Felipe Hinojosa’s Latino Mennonites” presentation, Migration, Borders, and Belonging: Mennonite Scholars & Friends Meeting at American Academy of Religion/Society of Biblical Literature (San Diego, USA, November 2019)

  “Reimagining Hospitality: A Postcolonial Peace Theology” presentation, Asian Theological Summer Institute (United Lutheran Seminary, Philadelphia, USA, May 2019)

    “Crossing the Boundaries of Prejudice, Stereotype, and Expectation: A Journey of a Korean Mennonite Woman in North America” presentation, Crossing the Line: Women of Anabaptist Traditions Encounter Borders and Boundaries Conference (Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisburg, VA, USA, June 2017)

    “Experience as a Key Source for Anabaptist Theology” presentation, Anabaptist Theology: Methods and Practices Conference, Humanitas Anabaptist-Mennonite Centre (Trinity Western University, Langley, British Columbia, Canada, June 2017)

   “Church, A Rehumanizing Place of Hospitality: In Search of the Human Dignity of Migrant Workers” presentation, Canadian Theological Society Annual Meeting, Congress 2017 (Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, May 2017)

The A. James Reimer Award, Toronto Mennonite Theological Centre, 2022

The Leadership Formation Fund, Mennonite Church Eastern Canada, 2022
The Dissertation Fellowship, Louisville Institute, 2021
Bridging Gaps, Faculty of Religion and Theology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, 2021
The A. James Reimer Award, Toronto Mennonite Theological Centre, 2021

Marjorie Watson Powles Award, Toronto School of Theology, May. 2020
Asian Theological Summer Institute, May 2019
Research Fellowships, Emmanuel College, University of Toronto (2016-2021)