I am honored to have been selected as one of ten US-Korea NextGen Scholars for 2024–2025. Scholars were selected in a national competition from a wide range of disciplines, including American studies, ethnomusicology, history, political science, philosophy, and international relations.
The US-Korea NextGen Scholars Program is a unique two-year non-resident program that provides opportunities for mid-career Korea specialists to discuss issues of importance to US-Korea relations with policymakers, government officials, and opinion leaders in Korea and the United States, learn how to effectively engage with the media, participate in the policymaking process, gain experience as public intellectuals helping to bridge the scholarly and policy communities, and address issues of importance to the US-Korea relationship. A core objective of the program is to identify, nurture, and build a community of American public intellectuals across a wide range of sectors and facilitate policy-oriented research teams and projects. The project is run by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Korea Chair and the University of Southern California Korean Studies Institute (USC KSI) and directed by Victor Cha and David Kang. The program is also supported by an advisory committee of distinguished American and Korean advisers with vast experience in academia, government, and the private sector.