Our Graduate Students

Kate Heidelberger

Kate Heidelberger is a dual MPA-MA East Asian Studies student. Her research interests broadly concern North Korean human rights policy, the sociology of North Korea, refugee studies and co-ethnic migration to South Korea. She received her BA in Sociology and Global Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign in 2024 where she studied abroad in both Seoul and Daejeon South Korea. She is the 2025-2026 recipient of the IKS fellowship and is a Graduate Teaching Assistant at the O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs.

Abigail Neer

Abigail is an M.A. student in East Asian Languages and Cultures in the Korean Pedagogy track. After receiving a B.A. in linguistics from the University of Pittsburgh, she spent several years in South Korea as a Fulbright English teaching assistant, working at an alternative school for North Korean defectors. She is also currently completing an M.A. in the Second Language Studies department. Abigail enjoys hiking, drinking tea, and cooking.

Noah Placzek

Noah Placzek is an MA student in the East Asian Studies program. He received a BA with Honors in History from the University of Washington (‘21) with a minor in International Studies: Korea. His current studies focus on Modern Korean history and memory.

Gabriela dos Santos

Gabriela dos Santos is an MA student in East Asian Studies, focusing on Korea. She completed her BA in History at the Federal University of Espirito Santo, Brazil, in December 2023. During her undergraduate career, she studied for a summer semester at SungKyunKwan University in Seoul, South Korea (2022). Her undergraduate capstone thesis examined the Korean migration to Brazil, particularly in the state of Espirito Santo. Generally, her current research focuses on gender and Korean migration to Brazil. She is a recipient of the Institute for Korean Studies Fellowship.