Stanford University’s Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (APARC) is delighted to welcome a new cohort of fellows joining us starting in summer 2025.

APARC offers multiple prestigious fellowship opportunities for Stanford doctoral students, emerging scholars of exceptional promise, and accomplished faculty and mid-career experts researching contemporary Asia topics. Supported by these fellowships, our incoming fellows will complete dissertation research, work on book manuscripts, undertake new research projects, and engage with the center's scholarly community.

Meet the Fellows

Minyoung An is a doctoral candidate in sociology at the University of Arizona. Her research lies at the intersection of gender, transnational migration, and knowledge production, combining statistical modeling, computational methods, and in-depth interviews.

Her dissertation analyzes gendered migration patterns in South Korea and among international PhD students in the U.S., revealing how gender inequality in countries of origin produces distinct selection effects and return migration dynamics. She also studies academic career trajectories and prestige hierarchies, exploring how gender and national origin affect integration into global academia.

At the Stanford Next Asia Policy Lab, she will pursue two projects that extend this research agenda: one using computational analysis of social media data to examine gendered migration intent, and another investigating the academic trajectories and institutional reception of international scholars from East Asia. Through these projects, she aims to advance understanding of how transnational inequalities shape global mobility, opportunity, and inclusion. 

Gaea Morales is a political scientist specializing in global environmental governance, with a focus on the intersection of global and local climate politics in Southeast Asia. Gaea’s dissertation and book project, “Agents of Mass Construction: How Cities Localize through the Sustainable Development Goals,” asks why and how cities choose to translate global agreements to shape local policy, a process known as “localization.”

The project explains the motivations and mechanisms by which cities localize environmental norms using case studies of three climate-vulnerable coastal capitals: Jakarta, Indonesia; Metro Manila, Philippines; and Bangkok, Thailand. Drawing from a global dataset of Sustainable Development Goal localization and a year of fieldwork across Southeast Asia, the project illuminates how cities engage in a dynamic process of policy implementation that is locally driven and globally informed.

At APARC, Gaea will revise her book project and adapt her dissertation into an article manuscript. She will also pursue further projects that cross-cut issues in local and global governance, the political economy of climate and the environment, and human rights. She is especially interested in urban disaster resilience, inclusive climate finance, and environmental migration and security within and beyond the Asia-Pacific region.

Gaea completed her master's degree and doctorate in political science and international relations at the University of Southern California. She holds a bachelor's degree in diplomacy and world affairs and in French studies from Occidental College. 

Isabel Salovaara is a doctoral student in Stanford's Department of Anthropology. Her dissertation, “Engendering the State: Aspiration, Government Jobs, and the Coaching Industry in Bihar, India,” analyzes the effects of organized exam preparation systems on urban life, gender and kin relations, and the politics of (un)employment. Through ethnographic engagement with young people preparing for government recruitment examinations in India, Isabel's work investigates the social life of "shadow education"–a burgeoning industry across much of Asia. Her research complicates the common framing of shadow education as a social ill by showing how young women and members of disprivileged caste groups harness India's coaching institutes to pursue forms of security and independence for themselves and their families.

Isabel received a bachelor's degree in history from Harvard University and a master's degree in social anthropology from the University of Cambridge. 

Teren Sevea is the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Associate Professor of Islamic Studies at Harvard Divinity School. He is a historian of Islam in Southeast Asia, with research focusing on Islamic texts, oral traditions, and devotional practices across the Malay-Indonesian world and the broader Indian Ocean. His first book, Miracles and Material Life: Rice, Ore, Traps and Guns in Islamic Malaya (Cambridge University Press, 2020), was awarded the 2022 Harry J. Benda Prize by the Association for Asian Studies.

While at the National University of Singapore and Stanford as a Lee Kong Chian Fellow, Sevea is completing his second monograph, Singapore Islam: The Prophets’ Ports and Sufism Across the Oceans. The book explores the Sufi networks that connected Singapore to religious communities across Asia and Africa, highlighting the roles of miracle workers, reformist scholars, royals, and lay believers. Drawing on multilingual texts and oral histories, the project examines how sacred sites, including ruins and relocated graves, serve as living archives of an Islamic past often overlooked by official narratives. The work combines historical and ethnographic approaches to reveal how Singapore’s devotional communities preserve and reimagine Islamic memory across generations.

Gavin Shatkin is a professor of public policy and architecture at Northeastern University. He is an urban planner who works on the political economy of urbanization and urban planning and policy in Southeast Asia. His recent research has addressed the role of state actors in the emergence across Asia of very large, developer-built "urban real estate megaprojects," the implications of climate change-induced flood risk for questions of property rights in coastal cities, and the geopolitical dynamics shaping the "infrastructure turn" in urban policy in large Southeast Asian cities. His articles have been published in the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Urban Studies, Annals of the Association of American Geographers, and numerous other journals in urban studies, planning, geography, and Asian studies. His most recent book is Cities for Profit: The Real Estate Turn in Asia’s Urban Politics (Cornell, 2017). 

While at APARC, Gavin will primarily focus on a book manuscript examining the implications of Cold War political legacies for contemporary urban development and planning in Southeast Asia. The book focuses on three megalopolises – Jakarta, Bangkok, and Metro Manila – that were the capitals of nations that saw the consolidation (with American support) of authoritarian regimes during Southeast Asia’s "hot Cold War" in the 1960s and 1970s. The book examines the legacies of Cold War-era law, policy, and political discourse in three areas: property rights and land management, the production of knowledge about urbanization, and definitions of urban citizenship and belonging.

Dr. Theara Thun is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Faculty of Education, University of Hong Kong, funded by Hong Kong’s Research Grants Council. His research interests include intellectual history, ethnic politics, and post-war education, with a particular focus on Cambodia and Southeast Asia.

He holds a doctorate in history from the National University of Singapore through a joint doctoral program with the Harvard-Yenching Institute (Harvard University). He was the recipient of the 2019 Wang Gungwu Medal and Prize for the Best PhD Thesis in the Social Sciences/Humanities.

His first book, Epistemology of the Past: Texts, History, and Intellectuals of Cambodia, 1855-1970 (University of Hawaii Press, 2024), critically explores scholarly debates of Cambodian, Thai, and French intellectuals. The book presents one of the largest original indigenous manuscript collections ever assembled in Southeast Asian Studies scholarship. It argues that precolonial historical scholarship persisted alongside Western historical writings, leading to the development of a unique body of knowledge with its distinct epistemology.

At APARC, Dr. Thun will work on his second book project, which explores post-war intellectual and higher education development in Cambodia. The project seeks to understand how Cambodia’s universities have transformed following the destruction of the entire educational system and the massacre of most teaching personnel during the Khmer Rouge regime between 1975 and 1979.

Yuli Xu is a doctoral student in economics at the University of California, San Diego. Her research focuses on labor and health economics, with particular interests in how female labor force participation and fertility decisions are influenced by labor market institutions and past birth experiences. In her thesis, "Gendered Impacts of Privatization: A Life Cycle Perspective from China," she demonstrates that the reduction in public sector employment has widened the gender gap in the labor market while narrowing the gender gap in educational attainment. She also finds that this structural shift has delayed marriage among younger generations. In another line of research, Yuli examines the effects of maternity ward overcrowding. She finds that overcrowding reduces the use of medical procedures during childbirth without negatively impacting maternal or infant health. While it has no direct effect on subsequent fertility, she shows that mothers, especially those with a college degree, are more likely to switch to another hospital for subsequent births after experiencing overcrowding.

During her time at APARC, Yuli will further investigate patient-physician relationships in the Chinese healthcare system, where patients have considerable flexibility in choosing their doctors at each visit. She will explore the persistence of these relationships and examine how patients respond when their regular doctors are temporarily unavailable.

Yuli holds a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of International Business and Economics in China.

Stanford student JB (Jong Beom) Lim and recent alumni Darren Hall, Yoojung Lee, E Ju Ro, and Maleah Webster all had the opportunity to work as research assistants with the Stanford Next Asia Policy Lab (SNAPL). They also have another thing in common: all are heading next fall to prestigious programs where they will embark on their doctoral training in law, political studies, and sociology.

Housed at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (APARC) and led by sociologist Gi-Wook Shin, the William J. Perry Professor of Contemporary Korea and a senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, SNAPL addresses emergent social, cultural, economic, and political challenges facing Asia-Pacific countries and guides effective U.S. Asia policies through interdisciplinary, comparative, and data-driven research. A core mission of the lab, which Shin founded in summer 2023, is to support and mentor the next generation of Asia scholars through its fellowship opportunities and research assistantships.

“The success of our former research assistants demonstrates exactly the kind of impact I envisioned when I launched SNAPL,” says Shin, who also serves as the director of APARC and the center’s Korea Program and Taiwan Program. “Our lab is a space where young researchers engage deeply with urgent issues in Asian affairs and U.S.-Asia relations while building the skills and networks to carry them forward as they pursue advanced academic training. I am tremendously proud of what our bright young scholars have achieved – they will be leaders in Asian studies.”

​​In its short history, SNAPL has already seen previous team members advance to graduate studies at top institutions. These include current PhD students Kelsi Caywood (sociology, University of Michigan); Sean Chen (economics, Princeton University); Haley Gordon (sociology, Stanford University); and Vineet Gupta (sociology, Northwestern University).

We spoke with Darren, Yoojung, JB, E Ju, and Maleah about their experience at SNAPL, next steps in their academic journeys, and advice for new students. The responses below were slightly edited for clarity and style. 

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Darren Hall 

Darren Hall graduated from Stanford in 2023 with a bachelor’s degree in East Asian studies. Darren received multiple department awards for his undergraduate work, including the Kung-Yi Kao Prize for Outstanding Progress in the Study of the Korean Language and the James J.Y. Liu Prize for Outstanding Writing in an East Asian Languages and Cultures Course.

After graduation, he was a research assistant for the “Nationalism and Racism in Asia” track at SNAPL. In that role, he conducted a literature review, consulted with the project team to improve research methods, and helped conceptualize and develop the foundation for the project’s eventual publication.

“SNAPL not only provided me with mentorship but also an opportunity to investigate the interplay of nationalism and racism throughout Asia,” he says.

After his time at SNAPL, Darren worked as a corporate legal assistant at BraunHagey & Borden LLP, where he supported a team of attorneys through multi-million dollar transactions.

In fall 2025, Darren will begin his first year at Yale Law School. He plans to explore international conflict resolution and continue to develop his advocacy for underrepresented communities. Darren intends to become an attorney who prioritizes compassion and justice.

Yoojung Lee

Yoojung Lee graduated from Stanford in 2023 with a master’s degree in East Asian studies. In the coming fall quarter, she will embark on her new path as a doctoral student in sociology at Harvard University. Her research centers on a comparative investigation of political polarization through the intersecting lenses of gender, race, and ethnicity. 

Her time at SNAPL, while working for the “Nationalism and Racism in Asia” research track, and the generosity and depth of insight of the lab’s community of scholars have left a lasting imprint on Yoojung and broadened her intellectual framework. “The diversity of experiences and perspectives within the lab has profoundly reshaped how I engage with the world, not only in terms of how I think, but also in what I prioritize, whose voices I amplify, and how I approach the questions that guide my research.”

Yoojung also credits the SNAPL community for advancing her personal development. “The collaborative spirit of the lab and the dedicated mentorship I’ve received have influenced how I navigate challenges, engage with complexity, and embrace uncertainty. Within this space, I’ve learned to view setbacks as opportunities for growth and stay grounded in the deeper purpose behind my work. It is also here that the idea of pursuing a PhD, once abstract and distant, transformed into a tangible, deeply personal goal.”

The clarity, conviction, and sense of direction Yoojung feels about her academic path are inseparable from the lessons, experiences, and support she has found at SNAPL. “For all of this, I am eternally grateful: not only for the intellectual enrichment, but for the sense of belonging, purpose, and hope that SNAPL has given me. These are the gifts I will carry with me into my PhD and beyond.”

JB Lim

JB (Jong Beom) Lim will graduate this spring from Stanford with a master's degree in computer science and bachelor's degrees in mathematical and computational science and international relations. He has received interdisciplinary honors from the Center for International Security and Cooperation, with his undergraduate thesis recognized by the Center for East Asian Studies and the Hoover Institution.

In fall 2025, JB will begin his doctorate as a Raymond Vernon Fellow at Harvard University's Department of Government. He will examine how economic interdependence shapes national security strategies, focusing on how domestic interest groups influence foreign policy decisions regarding technology and trade. As part of his research, JB also hopes to develop quantitative methods in machine learning and causal inference, leveraging large-scale granular data.

At SNAPL, JB assisted with the “U.S.-Asia Relations” research track. “Working at SNAPL introduced me to cutting-edge political science research and allowed me to build novel datasets on congressional speeches and scholarly networks,” he says. “This experience sharpened my methodological skills and taught me to approach complex questions creatively and with rigor.”

JB’s advice to current students? “Embrace interdisciplinary research – it opens unexpected doors and broadens your understanding of global challenges.”

E Ju Ro

At Stanford, E Ju Ro earned her master's and bachelor's degrees in sociology, a minor in philosophy, and honors in Ethics in Society. Beginning in the coming fall quarter, she will attend New York University Law School. She is particularly interested in international human rights and critical legal studies. 

As a research assistant with SNAPL, E Ju had the opportunity to work on the “Nationalism and Racism in Asia” track, specifically on a study analyzing the discourse of state party reports submitted to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) by 16 Northeast, Southeast, and South Asian countries.

“It was fascinating to examine the reports various Asian governments sent CERD, as I could see how their specific cultural and historical contexts shaped the ways they dealt with (or did not deal with) racial issues,” says E Ju. “While pursuing sociology studies at Stanford, I’d felt that most of my research experience and classes had focused on the United States, so this was a refreshing chance to look at the construction of race across time and borders."

Maleah Webster

At Stanford, Maleah Webster received a bachelor's degree in international relations with honors and distinction. She concentrated on East and South Asia and social development and human well-being.

This coming fall, Maleah will begin a doctorate in sociology at Stanford. Her research investigates how migrant communities navigate identity, belonging, and access to resources in contexts where ethnic homogeneity is closely tied to national identity. She focuses on institutions as key sites where integration is negotiated and contested, whether through policy, discourse, or lived experience. Currently, she conducts fieldwork in South Korea, using interviews, surveys, and policy analysis to decipher how multiculturalism is defined and experienced in real-world settings.

Maleah describes her experience working as a research assistant with SNAPL as a highly valuable part of her time at Stanford. She, too, worked on the lab’s “Nationalism and Racism in Asia” research track. “It gave me a real sense of how cross-national research can inform policy in nuanced and meaningful ways. Being part of SNAPL helped me see how institutions don’t just implement policy – they help define who counts, who belongs, and who gets overlooked.”

Her tip for new students is to “take the initiative to get involved with research early, especially in interdisciplinary spaces like SNAPL. You never know what opportunities (or career trajectories) it might open up.”

Three years after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the joint declaration of a "friendship without limits" by Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, the two leaders reaffirmed their partnership during a phone call, pledging continued coordination on foreign policy, security, and trade. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump’s controversial Oval Office meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his administration's vitriolic foreign policy rhetoric have raised concerns that Washington may no longer be the reliable partner it once was. Moreover, amid ongoing U.S.-imposed tariffs, India is bracing for the fallout from Trump’s trade war, despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s February visit to the White House, which did not yield the concessions and Trump support New Delhi had hoped for.

The 2025 Oksenberg Symposium, titled China’s Strategic Relationships, brought together experts to discuss these evolving strategic relationships between China, the United States, Russia, and India, and to consider their perspectives and strategic adjustments in response to shifting internal and external political, economic, and social dynamics. The discussion, moderated by APARC’s China Program Director Jean Oi, featured panelists Da Wei of Tsinghua University, Alex Gabuev of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Sumit Ganguly of the Huntington Program on Strengthening U.S.-India Relations at the Hoover Institution, and FSI Director Michael McFaul.

This convening followed Chatham House rules to encourage candor, so the following summary does not attribute comments to individual panelists.

A Partnership Without Limits

The panelists first focused on the increasingly complex relationships between Russia, China, and the United States. On the one hand, a growing China-Russia alignment across military, economic, and political domains has been well documented. On the other hand, Russia’s increasing dependence on China — especially after the war in Ukraine — has raised questions about the asymmetry of their partnership.

Even so, the relationship between the two nations remains strong, partly due to their shared distrust of the West. Although China has been cautious about fully endorsing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it has refrained from condemning the war, understanding the risks of destabilizing Russia or fostering a Western-aligned regime.

The View from New Delhi

India’s relationships with the United States and China are marked by a delicate balancing act. The U.S.-India partnership has strengthened over the years, driven by shared concerns about China’s growing assertiveness. Still, despite bipartisan support for this relationship, India’s historical experiences, particularly during the Cold War, have left a lingering distrust toward U.S. intentions. That wariness is now increasing under the uncertainties of the Trump administration.

India's relationship with China is complicated by military and economic disparities and by China’s strategic partnerships in South Asia, particularly with Pakistan. India's policy remains cautious, aiming to maintain a non-aligned stance while strengthening defense and trade ties with the United States and managing tensions with China, especially over border disputes.

Beijing’s Patience

U.S.-China relations took center stage at this year’s symposium. China’s rise as a global power has posed a complex challenge for U.S. foreign policy. Under the first Trump administration, China was portrayed as a revisionist power with expansionist ambitions. Trump’s rhetoric framed China as a strategic adversary, drawing comparisons to the Soviet Union under Stalin. This characterization contributed to the perception of a new Cold War and an accelerated decoupling of the two economies. In the second administration, tariffs and a looming trade war define the relationship.

From China’s perspective, the past decade has seen an overemphasis on its relationship with the United States., which at times strained its ties with Russia and India. China’s growing partnership with Russia, motivated by shared concerns over Western policies, has been key in countering perceived threats, particularly NATO’s expansion. However, China has remained cautious about fully endorsing Russia’s actions, such as the invasion of Ukraine, while acknowledging the risks of a collapsing Russian regime.

China’s relations with India have been challenged by border issues, as well as India’s shift away from non-alignment and its growing ties with the United States. These changes have complicated China’s strategic calculations in South Asia, though recent stabilization in Sino-Indian relations shows potential for improvement.

Challenges for Global Stability

The panelists noted that the increasing competition between the four countries is reshaping the international order, creating a more multipolar world where countries are single-handedly pursuing their national interests. This fragmentation of global power poses challenges for international cooperation but also provides China with opportunities to pursue more flexible diplomatic strategies, potentially easing tensions with Russia and India.

The U.S. response to these changes, particularly under Trump, was heavily scrutinized. In both Trump's first and second terms, the administration’s foreign policy marked a radical departure from past practices, blending radical isolationism, unilateralism, and realism. Panelists noted that the erosion of democratic ideals in U.S. foreign policy contrasts with its role in the Cold War era as a champion of democracy and human rights, particularly in opposition to Soviet authoritarianism. This shift has been especially evident in its approach to Taiwan, where there has been limited emphasis on supporting its democratic values amid growing pressure from China.

This new isolationist stance, driven largely by domestic concerns and a belief that the United States has been exploited in global trade, has led to a strategic pivot away from multilateralism. During Trump’s first term, the administration withdrew from key international agreements such as the Paris Climate Accords, the Iran nuclear deal, and the World Health Organization, favoring "America First" policies over collective global action. The continued shift toward isolationism and unilateralism marks a radical departure from previous administrations' commitment to liberal internationalism.

A Rough Road Ahead

Panelists expressed concern that this dramatic shift could leave Washington isolated, undermining its ability to address global challenges like climate change, international security, and the rise of authoritarian regimes. The erosion of key alliances could also diminish U.S. influence, making it harder to counter the growing power of China and Russia.

One panelist observed that while Trump initially framed China as a strategic adversary, his second term saw more conciliatory rhetoric, though his policies — especially the trade war — could ultimately harm U.S. interests. This approach could erode U.S. global influence by weakening international alliances and multilateral institutions that have long underpinned U.S. power. The panelists agreed that Trump’s foreign policy would fundamentally reshape U.S. relationships with key global players.

The symposium underscored the complexity of balancing strategic interests in a rapidly changing world, where traditional alliances are being tested and new dynamics continually emerge. The challenge for China, the United States., Russia, and India is to navigate these relationships in ways that secure their national interests while contributing to broader global stability.