The Information Integrity Institute’s postdoctoral research associate C. Kuular participated in the 2026 SSRC-JFNY Japan Global Workshop, hosted in Pomona College in Claremont, CA, January 27-30, 2026. Organized by the Abe Fellows Network of the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) and the Japan Foundation New York (JFNY), the workshop supports policy-relevant and contemporary research projects that can benefit from engaging Japan as a comparative lens.
C. Kuular is a co-principal investigator on a study focused on public opinion about nuclear energy and data centers in the US and the East Tennessee, in particular. The study is funded by the University of Tennessee Knoxville Office of Research, Innovation, and Economic Development (ORIED). The research team plans to extend their research to Japan and Taiwan for a comparative perspective.
The 2026 cohort of the SSRC-JFNY Japan Global Workshop brought together PhD students, early career faculty, and researchers representing a range of disciplinary and institutional backgrounds, including participants from Princeton University, University of Hawaii, Warren Wilson College, University of Delaware, Old Dominion University, University of Pennsylvania, Texas A&M University, and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Discussions were facilitated by senior scholars from Pomona College, Indiana University, and University of Tokyo.
During the workshop, participants discussed theoretical and methodological approaches and explored strategies for communicating research beyond academia. C. Kuular received feedback on refining the project design for Japan and Taiwan, identified potential collaborators for cross-national data collection and analysis, and learned more about SSRC and JFNY research funding opportunities.