Overview
My name is Seyoung Choung, and I am a Ph.D. student in Cornell University's History program. From a young age, I grew up on Guam, an unincorporated U.S. Territory located on the Southernmost tip of the Marianas Islands in the Western Pacific Ocean. My life on Guam greatly influenced my passion for history and inspired me to dedicate my academic career to learning about the islands that had already taught me so much. Today, I study the history of Pacific Islands in the 19th and 20th centuries. All of the major regions within the Pacific Ocean -- Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia -- have a complex history with American expansionism and foreign policy, and questions arising from that history remain relevant to this day. At the same time, the Pacific Islands were not just passive recipients of American-Asian geopolitical rivalries. Each interest holder within the colonial regimes of the Pacific had unique relationships with each other that I hope to uncover.
Because of my interests, I am also interested in Asian History and Diplomatic and Military History.
Advisor: Ruth Lawlor
Research Focus
20th Century American History; Diplomatic and Military History; Pacific Island History
I focus on the history of the U.S.-held Pacific Islands in the late 19th and 20th centuries and the mutual impacts the United States, East Asia, and the Pacific Islands had on each other in various aspects. Specifically, I seek to highlight the dynamics not just of the American colonial regimes in the Pacific Islands in the 20th century, but within them, focusing on the different interactions that developed between diverse groups in the islands.