ABOUT ME:
Welcome! I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at Rice University. I earned my PhD from the Department of Politics at Princeton University in 2019. Afterwards, I was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for the Study of Ethnicity, Race, and Immigration at the University of Pennsylvania and an Assistant Professor at the University of Houston. My research is in American politics with a focus on race, immigration, and inequality.
My first book, which is under contract with the Oxford University Press, explores how Asian Americans — the fastest growing racial group in the U.S. — learn about American politics develop partisan preferences. In contrast to existing theories rooted in social exclusion and familial influence, the book advances a new explanation that emphasizes the crucial role of peer influence, a theory that I call “social transmission.” The theory of social transmission contends that in the absence of strong parental partisan anchoring, Asian Americans acquire partisan views through the communication of political cues from peers in their local communities. Drawing on a range of qualitative and quantitative evidence including national surveys of Asian Americans, in-depth interviews with Asian American citizens, a longitudinal survey of college students, and an original survey experiment, I test social transmission against alternative explanations, and show that peers shape Asian Americans’ partisan preferences, leading to the contemporary trend of Democratic vote choice across this diverse pan-ethnic community. By explaining the puzzle of Asian Americans’ partisan preferences and identifying a new pathway of political learning among minority groups, this book has important implications for understanding political behavior in immigrant communities and the future of American electoral politics.
My research has been published in a range of peer-reviewed academic journals, including American Politics Research; Electoral Studies; The Journal of Politics; Perspectives on Politics; Politics, Groups, and Identities; and PS: Political Science & Politics and featured in The Conversation, Scroll.In, The Washington Post, and The New York Times. In 2021, I received the award for the Best Paper on Race, Ethnicity, and Politics (w. Chinbo Chong) and the Best Poster (w. Stephanie Chan and Ali Valenzuela) from the American Political Science Association. In 2024, I received the Lucius Barker Award (w. Nathan Chan) for the best paper investigating race or ethnicity and politics from the Midwest Political Science Association.
I graduated with a BA in Political Science from the University of Michigan in 2014, with highest honors and highest distinction. I am a member of Phi Beta Kappa.