PhD Student
East Asia: Japan
I am a doctoral student in the History Department at the University of California, Berkeley. I am interested in the intersections of race and diaspora in modern and contemporary Asia-Pacific. My particular focus is on post-1945 Japan and Korea, as well as the global Korean diaspora.
Currently, I study how Koreans understood race during and after the Cold War in the contexts of American military presence and post-imperial Japanese influence. I examine how South Koreans perceived Korean American and Zainichi Korean (ethnic Koreans in Japan) communities, and how they mobilized the racial experiences of these groups in discourses surrounding contentious politics vis-à-vis the United States and Japan. My research seeks to bring together the domestic history of South Korea, mainly around the period of democratization movement against military rule (1961-1987), and the global history of the Korean diaspora. I aspire to contribute to scholarship on transnational histories of race and empire across the Asia-Pacific region.
My broader interests include Japanese colonialism, minoritized peoples in Japan and Korea, Asian Americans/Canadians, social movement studies, oral history, gender history, and postcolonial theory.
Research Interests
- Race and empire
- Migration and diaspora
- Identity formation, oral history, memories
- Cold War and Post-Cold War
- Postcolonial theory
Education
Master of Arts, History, University of Toronto, 2024.
Honours Bachelor of Arts, History (with High Distinction), University of Toronto, 2023.
Research Experience
Visiting Gratuate Student, Sociology Department, Doshisha University, 2026.
Awards & Fellowships
CJS Fellowship in Japanese Studies, Institute of East Asian Studies, 2026
John L. Simpson Pre-dissertation Research Fellowship in International & Area Studies, 2026
SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, 2025
SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, 2024
University College Alumni Scholarship & Bursary Fund, University College, Toronto, 2023
Dr. David Chu Scholarship in Asia-Pacific Studies, Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, 2023
Canada Graduate Scholarship – Master’s program, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, 2023
James Harris Scholarship, University College, Toronto, 2022
James Harris Scholarship, University College, Toronto, 2019
Presentations
Presenter, “‘Camptowns’ and Racial Discourses in South Korea: the Anjŏng-ri incident (1971) through Newspaper Coverage.” UCI Global Asias (UC Irvine), 2026.
Service
Co-organizer, “Kaleidoscope Perspectives: Identity and Change.” Graduate History Society, Annual Graduate History Symposium (University of Toronto), 2024.
