Michelle Ha

I am researching the history of Korean indentured labor migration to Mexico in the early twentieth century as a case study for theorizing migration justice. In particular, I aim to situate this history within studies of racialized migration patterns across colonial and imperial contexts and explore how it reflects as well as departs from theoretical formulations of colonial migration advanced in normative scholarship. My research is informed by my training in international human rights and refugee law and inspired by multidisciplinary approaches to studying the politics of knowledge production, translation, and transnational/racial solidarity.
 
Before coming to Stanford, I was based in the Yucatán Peninsula as a visiting researcher at el Benemérito Instituto Campechano in Campeche, Mexico, which is where my profile picture was taken. My research term was supported by a 2020-2021 Fulbright-García Robles fellowship. I was also awarded Foreign Language & Area Studies (FLAS) fellowship funding to study Yucatec Maya. I received an MA in Social Sciences from the University of Chicago, a JD from Harvard Law School, and a BA in Government from Dartmouth College.