Hyeseon Noh

Welcome! I’m Hyeseon Noh, a Bridge Humanities Teaching Fellow at the University of South Carolina, a Managing Editor for Race and Justice: An International Journal, and a member of the Membership Committee for the ASC Division of International Criminology.

I study how crime and justice outcomes are shaped by social structures, and how criminological theory and the criminal justice system can better account for the inequalities embedded in them. My research asks: (1) How is the recognition of victimization structurally produced? (2) How do emerging technologies reshape these dynamics and outpace the criminal justice system? and (3) How can institutions and legal frameworks better recognize and protect the people most exposed to this process? I address these questions using quantitative and computational methods. Behind these questions lies a simple idea: understanding is where justice begins. When overlooked experiences become legible, people find recognition and belonging, and society learns how to see and respond.

I earned my Ph.D. in Criminology and Criminal Justice from the University of South Carolina in May 2026. My dissertation, “Developing and Validating Asian American General Strain Theory,” received the Helen Taylor Greene and Vernetta D. Young Graduate Fellowship (ASC Division on People of Color and Crime, 2023), the ADPCCJ Student Research Award (2024), and the ACJS Student Scholarship Mini-Grant Travel Award for People of Color and Women (2026).

Beyond my dissertation, my work appears in Journal of Criminal Justice, Ethnic and Racial Studies, and Victims & Offenders, among other outlets. Learn more on my Research page.

Sharing this work with students and communities matters to me. In my course, Social Advocacy and Ethical Life, students grapple with one question throughout the semester: who gets heard? It is the same question that drives my research. Through it, students build a foundation for their own advocacy and for thinking carefully about evidence and civic responsibility (details on the Teaching page). Beyond the classroom, I have served as an Instructor at the Korean School of Columbia, SC, and as an Assistant Instructor for Kids of Asia (Save the Children, South Korea), helping students connect with their cultural heritage and building supportive communities around them (see About Me).