Merle is a PhD student at the History Department since 2022, where she specialises in modern East Asian History. Her research interests include nationalism and identity, media and propaganda, and women’s history, particularly in the context of the Japanese Empire. At Harvard, Merle plans to focus her research on women’s active engagement with Japanese imperialism in colonial Taiwan and Korea. Before coming to Harvard, Merle obtained a joint BA in Japanese and Chinese Studies from SOAS, University of London, and an MA in Chinese History from the Yenching Academy of Peking University.