Our Graduate Students

Elena Bonitz

Elena Bonitz is a second-year MA student in East Asian Studies with a focus on Korea. She received her BA in History, with a minor in Asian Studies, from Northern Kentucky University in December 2022. During her undergraduate career, she studied for a semester at Sookmyung Women’s University in Seoul, South Korea (2021). Broadly, her current research interests include contemporary South Korean society. She is the recipient of the 2024-25 Academic Year FLAS Fellowship.

Dakotah Meadows

Dakotah is an MA student in East Asian Studies with a focus on Korea. She received dual BAs in English and East Asian Languages and Cultures (Korean track) from IUB in May 2022 and decided to continue her studies at the Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Affairs. Her research interests include modern South Korean literature, film, and history, with a focus on the way that objects and spaces reflect and enforce social norms related to the creation and continuation of social identities. She is the 2024-2025 IKS Graduate Assistant.

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.