Nicki L. Gerstner, PhD

Nicki Gerstner joined the SNU Education, Conflict, and Peace Lab in 2021. She is currently serving as the Postdoc in the SNU ECP Lab; a Professor in the Future and Multi-disciplinary Studies College at Seoul Cyber University; and Lecturer for the SNU GEC Seminar Course: Education, Conflict, and Peacebuilding.
​    She is an American living and working in secondary and higher education in Seoul, Korea for the past 16 years. She recently completed her PhD in Education at Seoul National University in the Global Education Cooperation program and specializes in peacebuilding and partnerships in higher education. Her research interests include critical global citizenship, peacebuilding, higher education, partnerships in higher education, community-engaged praxis, prefigurative pedagogies, peace education, conflict-affected and divided contexts, decoloniality, equity, and social justice. 
    She studied her Master’s of Education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, majoring in Global Studies in Education and her Bachelor’s of Fine Arts at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

YoungJae Chang

PhD Candidate
Global Education Cooperation
​at Seoul National University
​
Thesis topic: Blurred Boundaries: A Qualitative Case Study of International School Teachers in Jeju-do, South Korea. ​

Ms. Chang joined the Education, Conflict, and Peace Lab in 2023. She received her Master’s degree in School Counseling from the Lynch School of Education at Boston College, and has experience working as a middle and high school counselor at international schools in Ghana and Korea. Her research interests include international schooling, transnational education, peace education, and decoloniality. 

Kexin Dong
​PhD Candidate
Global Education Cooperation at Seoul National University

Thesis topic: Chinese International Students' Experiences in Korean Higher Education.

Mary Abura
PhD Candidate
Global Education Cooperation at Seoul National University

Thesis topic: International Student Experiences at a Korean University: Diversity and Inclusion in an Era of Internationalization.

She is a Department of Liberal Arts Education lecturer at a Seoul based higher education institution. She has held full-time higher education positions at two higher education institutions in Korea. She identifies as a pracademic who seeks to apply her research work in her pedagogical practice and the educational social enterprise projects she engages in. Her research interests lie in the sociology of education; decolonizing higher education; social justice in higher education; higher education pedagogy; international student experiences; internationalization; prefigurative politics; and Global Citizenship Education (GCE).
   As a passionate education sociologist with a focus on transformative education, her work bridges the intersection of social justice and pedagogical reform. She specializes in understanding and transforming the dynamics within higher education systems, advocating for inclusive, equitable, and socially just learning environments that empower all students, particularly those from marginalized communities. She is deeply committed to fostering educational models that promote critical thinking, collective action, and a commitment to social transformation. Her research and practice consistently bridge theory and praxis, engaging both academic and practitioner communities on critical issues in international education.
    With a passion for transformative education and a record of international collaboration, Mary Abura is an emerging voice in advancing GCE, educational justice, and inclusive academic discourse.

Hyunjin (Christine) Joo
PhD Candidate
Global Education Cooperation at Seoul National University

Thesis topic: Global Governance of Education through Data Platforms: The Case of the World Bank. 

Cheryl Woelk
PhD Student
Global Education Cooperation at Seoul National University

​Thesis topic: Evaluating Impacts 
of Peace Education Training Programs in Northeast Asia

She is co-founder of Collective Joy Consulting, offering intercultural communication and conflict resolution training to individuals and organizations in Northeast Asia. Her areas of interest in research and practice are integrating language and peace education, which she engages through training for language teachers, consulting for peace education training institutes and applying principles of nonviolent communication while coaching professionals in intercultural communication and conflict resolution. She grew up in Saskatchewan, Canada and received an MA in Education and a Graduate Certificate in Conflict Transformation from Eastern Mennonite University in Virginia, USA.    

Euna Lim 
PhD Student
Global Education Cooperation at Seoul National University

Thesis topic: Global Citizenship Education for Peace​

Sunmi Ji 
​PhD Student
Global Education Cooperation at Seoul National University

So Yun Kwak
PhD Student
Global Education Cooperation at Seoul National University​
 

Her research interests focus on the intersection of peace education, post-conflict education, international development cooperation, and social justice in education. She is particularly interested in exploring how education contributes to peacebuilding and social transformation in post-conflict societies.
​     She has also worked as a senior researcher in the field of international development cooperation. She has participated in research and evaluation projects related to education, international development cooperation, and social policy. Through field research and evaluation work in various developing countries, she has developed a strong interest in the role of education in supporting vulnerable populations and fostering inclusive and sustainable social change.