Hyunju Lee

Dr. Hyunju Lee’s scholarship bridges philosophical inquiry and empirical research to generate both conceptual and practical contributions to education. Her work examines how education can transform students’ perspectives, experiences, and possibilities, with particular attention to marginalized student populations. She is interested in critical social and emotional learning, arts-integrated pedagogy, and other educational approaches that create conditions for students’ agency and social-emotional well-being. Drawing on Deweyan pragmatism, critical and interdisciplinary perspectives, and qualitative/quantitative research methods, her scholarship moves between theory and practice, using each to inform and deepen the other. Her recent research on "socially situated hope" explores how young people develop and sustain hope within social and structural conditions, while generating implications for educational practice and policy. Across her work, she seeks to develop theoretically grounded and empirically informed approaches to education that open new possibilities for how students learn, experience themselves, and imagine their futures.