Peer-Reviewed Publications
Gibson, Jenna and Felicia Istad. 2025. “Toward a Political Model of Soft Power: An Empirical Evaluation of South Korean Foreign Policy.” Asian Survey, June.
Available online: https://doi.org/10.1525/as.2025.2470882
Istad, Felicia, Jenna Gibson, and Nathaniel Ming Curran. 2022. “More or Less a Foreigner: Domestic Reception of Multinational K-Pop Groups.” Asian Journal of Social Science, June. Available online: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajss.2022.05.006.
Curran, Nathaniel Ming, and Jenna Gibson (equal authorship). “Conflict and Responsibility: Content Analysis of American News Media Organizations’ Framing of North Korea.” Media, War & Conflict, 2019. Available online: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1750635219839203
Book Project
My first book project, tentatively titled “Diplospeak: Diplomatic Communication in International Relations,” tackles the concept of how diplomats speak with one another, and how that communication affects the conduct of foreign policy. In the book, I theorize that “diplospeak,” the seemingly bland language of diplomats, has an instrumental purpose in state communication. I use a mixed-method approach combining text as data and in-depth case studies to show how diplospeak vocabulary works to facilitate communication, as well as when and how it can lead to communication breakdowns.
Works in Progress
“Rookie Mistake? Expertise and the Causes of Diplomatic Gaffes” (Revise and Resubmit)
“Pulling Back the Curtain: Dramaturgical Analysis of a Diplomatic Gaffe” (Under Review)
“Into the New World: Fandom Solidarity and Protest Organization in South Korea” (with Soyoon Lee and Samantha James, Under Review)
“What’s in a Name: Diplospeak and Rhetorical Signaling”
“Thou Shall Not Interfere with Our Internal Affairs: China’s Foreign Policy Rhetoric” (with Jongyoon Baik)
Other Academic Publications
Gibson, Jenna and Herman, Tamar. “Entertainment and Equity in the Era of ‘Ontact.’” in South Korean Popular Culture in the Global Context: Beyond the Fandom. Sojin Lim, ed., Routledge. (2023)
Gibson, Jenna and Curran, Nathaniel Ming. “Rocket Man and the Rocket Nation: Visual Portrayals of North Korea.” in Diplomatic and Mediated Arguments in the North Korean Crisis: Engaging the Hermit Kingdom. Thomas Hollihan, ed., Palgrave Macmillan (2021).
Gibson, Jenna. “YouTube Diplomacy: A Sentiment Analysis of Global Reactions to the 2018 Concert in Pyongyang.” in Collection of Essays on Korea’s Public Diplomacy: Possibilities and Future Outlook. Ministry of Foreign Affairs, South Korea. (2020). Available online: http://www.mofa.go.kr/www/brd/m_22721/view.do?seq=4416&srchFr=&srchTo=&srchWord=&srchTp=&multi_itm_seq=0&itm_seq_1=0&itm_seq_2=0&company_cd=&company_nm=&page=1
Gibson, Jenna. “How K-pop Broke the West: An Analysis of Western Media Coverage from 2009 to 2019.” The International Journal of Korean Studies XXII, no. 2 (July 29, 2019): 24-46. Available online: http://icks.org/n/bbs/content.php?co_id=FALL_WINTER_2018.
Jenna Gibson 