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

My research interests lay within cultural criticism, specifically within film and the social dynamics it portrays and how it does it through the lenses of its creators. Looking at what might have caused patterns in the interests of marginalized communities despite gender is a main aspect of my research. I focus on the overlaps between the female and queer gazes, finding tropes or values that each gaze maintains and looking into what could have formed them. My passion for this topic comes from both my natural curiosity and that I plan to go into the entertainment industry. anI've worked with iHeart radio as a production intern and created an episode speaking on the correlation between the arts and trauma. Creating conversations about the connection between psychological and social happenings that were developed by history is what I love doing. Apart from my research and career goals, I have taken part as a directors of SPEC Sound for the first 2 years of my education and taken part in other groups such as Women in Animation as an outreach chair as a regular attending member at Penn before going abroad my 3rd year to London.