Political Scientist | Governance, Social Policy & Southeast Asian Politics
Political Scientist | Governance, Social Policy & Southeast Asian Politics
Trained in interdisciplinary social sciences—including International Relations, Diplomacy, Political Science, and Public Policy—I examine how authoritarian regimes employ social welfare policy as a tool to sustain political stability and regime resilience.
As the daughter of the Khmer Rouge regime survivors who struggled to rebuild their livelihoods in a war-torn Cambodia of the 1980s and 1990s, I have long sought to understand the roots of conflict in Cambodia and its enduring impacts on families and communities today. Growing up in a rural village during the 1990s and early 2000s, I witnessed Cambodia’s evolving political landscape, socio-economic transformation, and gradual transition toward hegemonic authoritarianism. These lived experiences deeply inform my research and teaching.
My scholarship also explores contemporary Cambodian politics, particularly how the concept of “peace” has become a powerful discursive and legitimate governing tool of the state. More broadly, my work contributes to comparative and authoritarian politics scholarship, with a regional focus on Southeast Asia.
Professional Experience
2023 - Present Associate Director, Asian Studies Center (full-time) Michigan State University (USA)
2023 - 2024 Lee Kong Chian NUS-Stanford Fellow (full-time) Stanford University & National University of Singapore (USA & Singapore)
2021 - 2023 Postdoctoral Research Fellow (full-time) Center for Khmer Studies & the University of Sydney (Cambodia & Australia)
2021 - 2022 Senior Analyst (full-time) Clinton Health Access Initiative (USA & Cambodia)
2020 - 2021 Research Assistant (half-time) University of Hawaiʻi Cancer Center (USA)
2019 - 2021 Lecturer in Political Science (contract) University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (USA)
2017 - 2018 Teaching Assistant (half-time) University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (USA)
2013 - 2014 Assistant Country Director (full-time) Action Pour Les Enfants (Cambodia)
Education
Ph.D. Political Science (2021) University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (USA)
M.A. Political Science (2019) University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (USA)
M.Sc. Defense, Development, & Diplomacy (2016) Durham University (UK)
B.A. International Relations (2013) Paññāsāstra University of Cambodia & Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium)
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