Sunmin Kim

Kim is currently working on a book manuscript that looks at how American social scientists and federal bureaucrats attempted to study immigrants in the early twentieth century, and how such attempts led to the re-invention of the principles of boundary-making around the American nation. To answer these questions, Kim is analyzing archival materials related to the Dillingham Commission Report (1911) – the most comprehensive study of immigrants ever undertaken by the federal government.

In his other projects, Kim works on political incorporation of immigrants and their children in New York City; varying cultural criteria of defining "foreigners" in developed countries;  political participation of minorities; policy preferences of Asian Americans; guidelines for gathering and analyzing archival data; the National Archive files of early 20th century Korean immigrants; and the relationship between democracy and public opinion polling in East Asia. In addition to his Ph.D. in sociology from University of California, Berkeley, Kim received B.A. and M.A. in sociology from Seoul National University. 

He teaches courses on contemporary social theory (SOCY 16: Cosntructing Social Theory), immigration (SOCY 48: Immigration, Race, and Ethnicity), and race and power in the United States (SOCY 76: Race, Politics, and Power).