University of Oxford: North Korea’s Crisis Simulation

Since 2023, I have been an adjunct faculty member at the University of Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government where I co-convene a course on North Korea’s Crisis Simulation. This is a term-long course that culminates in an intense, two-day simulation where Masters of Public Policy students are divided into six different countries and assigned specific roles. The course was developed and is run by Professor Tom Simpson. We are fortunate to have won the Vice Chancellor’s Innovative Teaching and Assessment’s Award earlier this year. If you are a policy school and are interested in using the materials for this enriching course, you can download the materials for free here. For more on this course, see Teaching the World’s Future Leaders.

Harvard Kennedy School: Human Rights and Technology in North Korea

While managing a research portfolio on technology and human rights in North Korea, I ran a study group at HKS that was open to all Harvard students for the 2023 spring semester. There were many students who attended, which is a testament to the growing interest from academic and policy perspectives of what can be done in North Korea.

Yangon School of Political Science

From 2017-2019, I taught a few courses for Burmese students at the Yangon School of Political Science, including “Introduction to Public Policy” and “Dissidents, Dissenters, and Radicals.” It was one of the most enriching experiences to teach students who were converting theory into practice in real time .

Many of my students went on to study abroad, including at Oxford! Others continued their fight for strengthening democracy. Once the country devolved back into a military dictatorship in February 2021, many of the students went to the front lines, the Thai-Burma border, and in hiding to fight against the military and do everything they can to restore democracy back in their country. I so deeply admire these students.