- Student Spotlight
Research Assistant Spotlight: Kerstin Norris Examines Race and Racism in Asia with Gi-Wook Shin MA in East Asian Studies candidate Kerstin Norris spent the
Research Assistant Spotlight: Kerstin Norris Examines Race and Racism in Asia with Gi-Wook Shin MA in East Asian Studies candidate Kerstin Norris spent the
MA Students


- Korea
U.S.-R.O.K. Relations During the Cold War; U.S. Policy Toward the Korean Peninsula; Inter-Korean Relations

- China
Concepts and self-understanding of identity amongst East Asian immigrants to the United States; formation of early immigrant diaspora communities


- Japan
Contemporary Japanese society; Japanese culture; Japanese popular culture; Japanese film and fiction; modern Japan politics; Japan in international relations; education; sports; gender inequality



- East Asia
Comparative studies between Korea and Japan; cultural diplomacy; digital media; visual arts; contemporary political relations

- China
International reception of ink art under the influence of China’s post-1970s pursuit of soft power; cultural diplomacy; ink art as a philosophy, practice, and phenomenon; political impetus and leverage behind cultural activities in China

- China
Chinese politics and foreign policy; Chinese society and China's social problems; Japan-China relations and US-China relations; East Asian Security

- China
Chinese political economy; East Asian technology trade; US-China relations, Civil Society and Social Movements in East Asia

- East Asia
Modern Japanese history; transnational history of China and Japan; historical and contemporary Sino-Japanese relations, especially Mongolian-Japanese relations; wartime memories in East Asia

- China
Daoist philosophy and cosmology; Sino-Japanese history, historiography, and linguistic anthropology; Multiculturalism and transculturalism in East Asia and diaspora communities

- China
Venture capital; Macro social theory; Transformation of contemporary China's social, political, and economic landscape; Interrelation between capital market and modern state building

- China
Different choices modern Chinese intellectuals made and their respective outcomes in the early period of People's Republic of China

- China
Social, cultural and intellectual history of Early Modern China; Ethnicity and identity in the so-called "China proper" during late imperial period and their relations to late imperial Chinese politics in both central and local level; Local history of Huabei (North China); Minority literature in China; Imperial Studies

- China
US national security strategy in East Asia, strategic interstate competition, Chinese domestic politics, democratic backsliding, US-Taiwan relations, and China-Taiwan relations

- Korea
Inequality and discrimination against “others” as a result of hypernationalism or nativism in South Korea; the effects of damunhwa (multiculturalism); postcolonial traumas; Korean diaspora; gender studies

- China
Chinese financial markets; Party-state capitalism in China; US-China relations; China-South Korea relations; Geopolitical and economic implication of new cold war between US and China; Chinese housing market

- Japan
Foreign labor policy and immigration issues in Japan. Working culture and development in Japan

- East Asia
Political communication; International relations of East Asia and US; Political behavior; Peace studies.

- East Asia
Climate change and sustainability in East Asia; food and water security; international relations, policy, and security; women's economic empowerment; startups and technology; cross-strait relations; nationalism and legitimacy.


- East Asia
Comparative institutional study of China and Japan's cultural policy and public diplomacy; intersection of culture, politics and ICT in China; national image and identity

- China
The formation and change of public opinions in China; social stratification and inequality; the development of new media and its impact on modern China society; China's national image and soft power.

- China
Late Qing and modern Chinese history; history of China in Inner Asia; imperialism in East Asia; Japanese imperialism; Sino-Japanese relations; Chinese diaspora

- China
US-China relations; Chinese engagement in Africa; the objectives and impacts of the Belt and Road Initiative

- Korea
U.S.-R.O.K. Relations; U.S. military; Neocolonialism; Political Theory; U.S. Foreign Policy; South Korean Public Opinion; Korean Politics

- China
Chinese documentaries and reality television; depictions of rural life in popular media; China's entertainment industry

- East Asia
ASEAN's strategic rapprochement regarding politics, economics, and regional security cooperation to balance outside influence through the lens of Thailand's constitutional monarchy and foreign policy.



- China
Chinese political economy; East Asian technology trade; Chinese economy and financial system

- Japan
History of Buddhism and Shinto in Japan; religions in East Asia; history of the Japanese Empire; nationalism and colonialism in East Asia; US-China relations; Sino-Japanese relations

- China
Contemporary Chinese politics; social and economic conditions in China before the Cultural Revolution

- Japan
Zainichi Koreans, a Korean minority residing in Japan, and focus on identity studies, how they struggle with that identity, and how they manifest through social media outlets and the struggles they face online and in daily life from others/Japanese society.


- China
Chinese history, politics, and foreign policy; particularly how history and tradition is used by Chinese leaders to shape the language, legitimacy, and framing of both domestic and foreign engagement.

- China
Chinese bureaucracy and government administrative systems; Chinese organizations and their institutional changes

- East Asia
China, Japan, United States; politics and foreign policy; international security; alliance politics

- Japan
Modern Japanese culture, especially Japanese literature during bubble economy time period

- China
Authoritarian politics; Alliance politics; Cold War history of East Asia; Chinese politics and foreign policy


- East Asia
Research historical and contemporary relationships between China and the Arab World, and the implications of the Diligent Work-Frugal Study Movement (留法勤工儉學運動), which brought Chinese leaders to France.

- China
National infrastructure in post-pandemic China; urban studies; East Asian religions

- China
US-China relations and technological decoupling; Chinese cyber law, policy and governance; Political economy; International policy; Geopolitics