Contact Information
1407 W. Gregory Ave.
Urbana, IL, 61801
Office Hours
Research Interests
American Politics, Public Opinion, Political Behavior, Conceptions of Democracy, Democratic Backsliding, Normative Democratic Theory
Research Description
Seongjoon is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Political Science Department. His dissertation, In the Name of Democracy: Composition, Variation, and Measurement of Conceptions of Democracy, investigates in what ways conceptions of democracy differ among Americans and how these differences relate to key political behaviors and attitudes on democratic backsliding.
Education
MA, University of Chicago
MA, Korea University
BA, Korea University
ADDITIONAL TRAINING
SP 2024 - Dr. Sandra J. Finley Teacher Scholar Certificate (UIUC)
SP 2023 - GESIS Spring Seminar - Modeling Group Differences (Method Training; Cologne, Germany)
FA 2022 - Master Course in Online Teaching (UIUC), Graduate Teaching Certificate (UIUC)
SP 2021 - Big 10 Academic Alliance Traveling Scholar (University of Chicago)
Grants
Civic Health and Institutions Project (CHIP50) Special Competition Winner, 2024
Rapoport Family Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Survey Grant, 2024
Institute for Humane Studies Humane Studies Fellowship, 2024
American Political Science Association Trave Grant, 2024
International Foundation for Korea University (IFKU) Scholar, Fall 2021
Awards and Honors
UIUC William T. Bernhard Award for Best Dissertation Prospectus, 2025
UIUC Undergraduate Research Symposium: Mentor of Awardee for Outstanding Poster Presentation, 2024
LAS Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching for Graduate Teaching Assistants, 2024
Best Presentation Award at the Univ. of Cincinnati Graduate Student Political Science Symposium, 2022
List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent (with Outstanding Distinction), Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2022
The Rita and Leonard Ogren Prize for Academic Performance, 2020-21
List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent (UIUC), Fall 2019, Fall 2023, Spring 2024
Courses Taught
GLBL 296 Democratic Backsliding
- Instructor [Spring 2025 (scheduled)]
PS 100 Intro to Political Science
- Instructor [Fall 2020]
PS 101 Intro to American Politics
- Instructor [Spring 2025 (scheduled)]
- Teaching Assistant [Fall 2021, Spring 2022]
PS 230 Intro to Political Research (Quantitative Methods)
- Instructor [Spring 2024]
PS 240 Intro to Comparative Politics
- Teaching Assistant [Fall 2024]
PS 270 Intro to Political Theory
- Instructor [Fall 2024]
- Teaching Assistant [Fall 2019, Fall 2022]
Recent Publications
Ahn, Seongjoon. 2019. “Popularizing Grief: Tragedies and Tragic Events in Ancient Athens." The Korean Review of Political Thought. 25 (2): 9-38. (with Nam-Kook Kim)