I am a Ph.D. candidate in Political Science at UC Merced, where I study factors driving human behavior—particularly shared trauma, victimhood narratives, and dogmatic beliefs. My work spans from voting behavior within nations to international land disputes.
My dissertation examines how land-claim framing influences conflict support, how historical traumas such as colonialism and war shape political attitudes, and how victimhood narratives drive polarization and undermine democratic compromise.
I am a native Korean speaker, proficient in English and Japanese, with intermediate-level skills in Arabic and Hebrew from my time in Israel.
Working Projects
Dissertation Project
My dissertation examines how collective memories of trauma and victimhood shape political attitudes, conflict support, polarization, and democratic compromise.
Teaching
Instructor of Record (IOR)
I served as the Instructor of Record for Introduction to Comparative Politics (POLI 003) at UC Merced in Summer 2026. I designed the syllabus, teaching materials, lecture content, assignments, and course structure for the class.
Syllabus (Forthcoming) Teaching Materials (Sample, Forthcoming)Academic Student Employee (Teaching Assistant)
- Advanced Analysis of Political Data (Computer Lab), Fall 2025, Fall 2026
- Political Behavior Around the World, Spring 2025
- Introduction to American Politics, Fall 2023, Fall 2024
- Voting Behavior, Campaigns, and Elections, Spring 2024
- Authoritarian Politics, Spring 2023
- Causes of International Conflict, Fall 2022