#  Graduate Student Associates 

 



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  [### Min Ji Choi

 ](/people/min-ji-choi)KI Graduate Student Associate for AY 2026-2027

Ph.D. candidate in Comparative Literature, Harvard University

 

 

 Min Ji Choi is writing her dissertation on the "shamanistic thinking" in South Korea during authoritarianism and its legacies, examining the relationship between Korean shamanistic rituals and political resistance. Her research follows the journey of... 

 

 

      ![Min Ji Choi Photo](/sites/g/files/omnuum10896/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2026-05/Min%20Ji%20Choi_Headshot_new_small5.2026.png?itok=urZK6bf8) 

 

 

 

   [### Shae (Chae Lin) Kim

 ](/people/shae-chae-lin-kim)KI Graduate Student Associate for AY 2026-2027 

Ph.D. candidate in EALC-Korean Literature, Harvard University

 

 

 Shae (Chae Lin) Kim received her B.A. in Asian Studies and a Master's degree in Korean literature from Yonsei University. In her M.A. thesis, she examined a 17th-century poetry book known as the Poetry Book for Chosaeng and the actors associated with its... 

 

 

      ![Shae Kim](/sites/g/files/omnuum10896/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/koreainstitute/files/picture1.jpg?itok=0dG8wou2) 

 

 

 

   [### Mayako Liu

 ](/people/mayako-liu)KI Graduate Student Associate for AY 2026-2027

Ph.D. candidate in EALC-HEAL Japan/Korea, Harvard University

 

 

 Mayako Liu is a third-year PhD candidate in History and East Asian Languages (HEAL), specializing in modern Korean and Japanese history. Her prospective dissertation topic looks at tourism as a lens into cultural representation and identity formation in... 

 

 

      ![Mayako Liu Photo](/sites/g/files/omnuum10896/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2026-02/Mayako%20Liu%20photo%20JPG.jpg?itok=i_C9UXGy) 

 

 

 

   [### Yu Xie

 ](/people/yu-xie)KI Graduate Student Associate for AY 2026-2027

Ph.D. student in History and East Asian Languages and Civilizations-HEAL/Korea, Harvard University

 

 

 Yu Xie studies the legal history of pre-modern Korea. She received her B.A. in Korean Language and Literature from Peking University and her M.A. in Korean History from Seoul National University. Her master’s thesis focused on death penalty cases... 

 

 

      ![Yu XIE](/sites/g/files/omnuum10896/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/koreainstitute/files/picture_yu_xie.jpg?itok=y9WSWJiI)