What explains recurring racialized conflicts between human groups — from different ethnic groups at home to countries with various collective “identities” in international politics? My research tackles this question by revisiting core theories and concepts in International Relations and Race and Ethnic Politics, including security dilemma, racialization, resentment, and double consciousness. Based on a new theoretical framework I am building with Alastair Iain Johnston, my research examines implications for US-China relations, American grand strategy, and Asian American politics.

Currently, I am an Inequality in America Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard University. I received my Ph.D. in Political Science from University of California San Diego (UCSD) in 2022. My dissertation, Anti-Asian Racism and the Racial Politics of U.S.-China Great Power Rivalry, has been recognized by the American Political Science Association’s Merze Tate Best Dissertation Award in International Relations, Law, and Politics and the UCSD Chancellor’s Dissertation Medal in Social Sciences.

My research has been funded by the NSF Dissertation Improvement Grant, Rapoport Dissertation Fellowship, IGCC Herb York Dissertation Fellowship, and multiple grants from the 21st Century China Center.

I am currently on the academic job market, interested in teaching courses on IR Theory, East Asian Security, and Race and Ethnic Politics.

I hold an M.A. in Political Science from the University of California, San Diego and a B.A. in Government and Asian Studies from Cornell University.

During 2012-2016, I served as an Intelligence Officer at the Republic of Korea Air Force, during which I learned the beauty, as well as perils, of things we strive to protect.

You can find my CV here.