Yeeun Yoo

Yeeun Yoo is a researcher whose work focuses on the resistance movements and histories of Asian American communities, the impacts of U.S. militarism, mutual aid, queer resistance, gentrification of queer neighborhoods, and transnational feminism. She has conducted research through the Penn Institute for Urban Research’s undergraduate program, where she developed an independent project on student-led mutual aid initiatives in New York City under the mentorship of Barnard professor Dr. Mary Rocco. Currently, she serves as a research assistant for Dr. Melissa Wilde in Sociology, contributing to a project on the intersection of religion and politics. As an ASAM Fellow, Yeeun also explored South Korea’s conscription system and its role in shaping militarized masculinities, with a particular focus on the history of U.S. military occupation in the region. Her current senior thesis, supported by the Urban Studies Hassenfeld Grant, investigates the impacts of gentrification in both Philly’s Gayborhood and New Orleans’ gay neighborhoods. Beyond research, Yeeun is also a Civic Scholar with Civic House at Penn and a Penn IUR Fellow. She is deeply involved in community work as the Community Engagement Coordinator for Moder Patshala in West Philadelphia and as a volunteer of the People’s Kitchen in South Philadelphia.

• Asian American Studies Fellowship – presented research at the 2025 Spring Association for Asian American Studies Conference in Boston
• Baltzell Scholar with Penn Sociology
• The Hassenfeld Grant for Undergraduate Research in Urban Studies