About me

I am an advanced Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Political Science at Stony Brook University. My research, broadly speaking, focuses on race, ethnicity and politics (REP), political behavior, and political psychology in American politics. While my general interests are not confined to any particular racial or ethnic group, my dissertation research focuses on Asian Americans, the fastest-growing demographic group in America. Political scientists have shown increased research interests in Asian Americans' political behavior. Nevertheless, considerable skepticism remains over more fundamental questions about Asians, such as the capacity for pan-Asian cooperation and political solidarity in the US. To advance research in this area, my dissertation tackles the following questions: how do Asians in the US form an inclusive collective ingroup given considerable heterogeneity among different subgroups; how does this heterogeneity influence Asian political behavior?

In sum, I advance a cautionary tale about the pitfalls of ignoring ethnic, linguistics, and religious diversity among Asian Americans. I also underscore the conditions under which such disparate ethnic groups can be brought together under a common Asian label. By providing a more comprehensive portrayal of this fast-growing demographic group, my dissertation research has important implications for how race, ethnicity, and politics (REP) scholars should approach the study of diverse ethnic and racial categories.

Other than Political psychology, American politics, and REP, my research interests also include:

• Experimental social science
• Groups and identities
• Intergroup cooperation
• Partisanship
• Social influence