Jaemin Lee is an assistant professor of sociology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Professor Lee is a co-theme leader (socio-spatial networks) of the Computational Social Science Laboratory at CUHK. Before joining CUHK, he was a postdoctoral fellow at Northeastern University’s Network Science Institute. He holds a PhD in sociology from Duke University and a BA and MA from Yonsei University. His dissertation work has been recognized by an Outstanding Dissertation-in-Progress Award by the American Sociological Association’s Mathematical Sociology Section.
Dr. Lee uses social network models and computational text analysis to study how relational structures shape human behavior and group processes in political, economic, and organizational contexts. His current and past research agendas include:
- Experiment, simulation, and text-based approaches to political polarization
- Mapping cultural schema and meaning structures of nationalism
- Social capital and network advantages in microfinance groups
- Modeling diffusion and homophily in student and consumer populations
- Using machine learning to measure status hierarchy among cultural producers
His research has appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Child Development, Journal of International Development, and International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy. Lee has received grant support from the Hong Kong Research Grants Council for his ongoing projects on partisan common ground in social media (Early Career Scheme) and nationalism in South Korea (General Research Fund).
Prof. Lee is an enthusiastic educator who strives to integrate quantitative research methods into students’ theoretical understanding in the age of data revolutions and artificial intelligence. He was honored with the Exemplary Teaching Award 2024 from the Faculty of Social Science at CUHK.
| Area/ Project Title | Open for |
|
|
- Social Networks
- Computational Social Science
- Mathematical Sociology
- Political Sociology
- Management Science
| Area | Supervisee |
|
|
| Year | Title of the Grant |
| 2022-2025 | Early Career Scheme, Research Grants Council |
| 2025-2028 | General Research Fund, Research Grants Council |
Lee, Jaemin, and Yujie Li. 2025. “Activity Constraints as a Mechanism for Non-Scale-Free Social Networks.” Pp. 305–15 in Complex Networks & Their Applications XIII, edited by H. Cherifi, M. Donduran, L. M. Rocha, C. Cherifi, and O. Varol. Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-82431-9_25
Wong, Paulina Pui Yun, Jaemin Lee, Wilkinson Daniel Wong Gonzales, Sunny Hee Sun Choi, Haerim Hwang, and Daniel Jiandong Shen. 2024. “New Dimensions: The Impact of the Metaverse and AI Avatars on Social Science Education.” Pp. 90–101 in Blended Learning. Intelligent Computing in Education. Vol. 14797, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, edited by W. W. K. Ma, C. Li, C. W. Fan, L. H. U, and A. Lu. Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-4442-8_7
Lee, Jaemin and Mudit Kumar Singh. 2024. “Expansion , Cohesion and Diversity: The Network Advantages of Microfinance Groups in Indian Villages.” Journal of International Development. 36(1):559–586. https://doi.org/10.1002/jid.3828
Singh, Mudit Kumar and Jaemin Lee. 2020. “Social Inequality and Access to Social Capital in Microfinance Interventions.” International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy. 40(7): 575-588. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSSP-01-2020-0024
Trinh, Sarah L., Jaemin Lee, Carolyn T. Halpern, and James Moody. 2019. “Our Buddies, Ourselves: Exploring the Role of Sexual Homophily in Adolescent Friendship Networks.” Child Development. 90(1): e132-e147. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13052
Bail, Christopher, Lisa Argyle, Taylor Brown, John Bumpuss, Haohan Chen, M.B. Fallin Hunzaker, Jaemin Lee, Marcus Mann, Friedolin Merhout, and Alexander Volfovsky. 2018. “Exposure to Opposing Views on Social Media Can Increase Political Polarization.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 155(37): 9216-9221. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1804840115
- SOCI 3229 Quantitative Data Analysis
- SOCI 3238 Digital Sociology
- SOCI 6010 Guided Studies I
- SOCI 6020 Guided Studies II
Elected Member (2023-25)
- Faculty Board of Social Science
Faculty of Social Science
Member
- Admissions Committee
Department of Sociology
Member
- Research Committee
Department of Sociology
Member
- Scholarships & Awards Committee
Department of Sociology