Bio

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I am a postdoctoral fellow at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center within the Freeman Spogli Institute at Stanford University, affiliated with Stanford’s Next Asia Policy Lab, Taiwan Program, and Pathways Network in Education. I will be joining the Department of Sociology at National Chengchi University as an Assistant Professor in Fall 2026. My research examines how social classes mobilize resources to secure advantages when facing uncertainty–particularly as college admissions in Taiwan have moved from an exam-centered system to holistic screening in recruiting elites. My work has appeared in International Studies in Sociology of Education, Ethnography, and is forthcoming in The Journal of Asian Studies.

Using ethnographic fieldwork, archives, and mixed methods, I trace youths’ life courses to observe interventions from their parents and teachers, as well as their digital footprints in offline and online settings—a process I term “hybrid ethnography” in my methodological paper. Currently, I am turning my ethnographic thesis, When Ladders Move, into a book manuscript.

At Stanford, I lead a transnational lab that traces how Taiwan, China, Japan, and Korea leverage their state power beyond their borders to facilitate transnational connections across home and host societies. We have traced different types of funding flows from one nation to another, and interviewed those who distribute and receive them. See the project description for further detaiI.

I earned my B.A. from National Taiwan University and my Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. My work is funded by the Fulbright Foundation, the Association of Asian Studies, Taiwan’s National Science Foundation, the Midwest Sociology Society, and the Institute for Regional and International Studies at UW-Madison.