Younghyun Lee

Welcome! I am a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Political Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and was a doctoral visiting fellow at the Immigration Research Initiative (Fall 2024).

I specialize in comparative politics, examining the intersection of intergroup relations and political behavior, with a focus on immigrants in Europe.  More specifically, I am interested in the political behaviors and attitudes of immigrants and minorities in developed democracies. My broader research encompasses comparative political behavior, political psychology, immigrant integration, identity politics, and European politics.

My dissertation explores how intergroup relations between natives and immigrants shape immigrants’ political integration in the context of anti-immigrant sentiment in Belgium and Germany. Grounded in social identity and contact theories, it examines how everyday positive and negative interactions with natives influence immigrants’ political trust, sense of belonging, and political efficacy.

Before joining UIUC, I worked as a research associate at the East Asia Institute and completed a traineeship at the European Parliamentary Research Service. I hold an M.A. in Political Science and a B.A. in French Literature and International Studies, both from Korea University.