Claire Lee

Expertise

Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Cyberterrorism, Technologies & Society, Social Media, Immigration

Research Interests

Claire Lee, Ph.D., conducts research focusing on comprehending the mechanisms and networks of deviant behaviors at both the state and individual levels, with a particular emphasis on those facilitated by cyber-resources or located in cyberspace. Additionally, she explores the online and offline behaviors and patterns of various social phenomena, as well as the behaviors of terrorists, extremists, and the general public.

Education

• Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.): Sociology, National University of Singapore - Singapore
• Master of Arts (MA): Sociology, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies - Seoul, South Korea
• Bachelor of Arts (BA): Chinese Studies, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies - Seoul, South Korea
  • Supporting Area: Education

Biosketch

Claire S. Lee, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the School of Criminology and Justice Studies. She is a Co-Director of the Center for Asian American Studies. She is also a Faculty Member of the University’s Center for Internet Security and Forensics Education and Research (iSAFER), the Center for Terrorism and Security Studies, and a Fellow of the Center for Public Opinion. Using her interdisciplinary and multilingual background, Dr. Lee’s research focuses on deviance and crime in cyberspace, cybersecurity, cyberterrorism, social media, and the social implications of social and new technologies, and cybersecurity education. She studies these issues using quantitative, qualitative, computational, and mixed methodologies.

Selected Awards and Honors

• Recognized as “Publications - Most by College” (March 2022; November 2022; November 2024)
• U.S.-Korea NextGen Scholars Program, CSIS Korea Chair and USC Korean Studies Institute (2022 - 2023)
• Outstanding Teaching Award (2022)
• Young Faculty Award, Korean Society of Criminologists in America (KOSCA) (2021)

Selected Publications

• Gong, W., Lee, C. S., Li, S., Adkison, D., Li, N., Wu, L., & Ye, X. (2025). “Cyber Victimization in Hybrid Space: An Analysis of Employment Scams Using Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning Models.” Journal of Crime and Justice.
• Graham, R. S., Humer, S., Lee, C. S., & Nagy, V. (2024). Routledge International Handbook of Online Deviance. Routledge.
• Kim, C., Lim, H., & Lee, C. S. (2024). “Hate Crime against Racial/ethnic Minorities: A Systematic Review of Empirical Research and Assessment of Next Steps.” Aggression and Violent Behavior, 79.
• Lee, C. S., & Wang, Y. (2024). “A multilevel latent class analysis of victimization of cybercrime.” Crime & Delinquency, 70(4), 1196-1223.
• Lee, C. S., & Jang, A. (2023). “Sharing experiences and seeking informal justice online: A grounded theory analysis of Zoombombing victimization on Reddit.” Victims & Offenders.
• Choi, K.-S., & Lee, C. S. (2023). “In The Name of Dark Web Justice: A Crime Script Analysis of Hacking Services and the Underground Justice System.” Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice.
• Lee, C. S., & Kim, D. (2023). “Pathways to cybersecurity awareness and cybersecurity behaviors in South Korea.” Journal of Computer Information Systems, 63(1), 94-106.
• Kim, C., Lee, C. S., & Lim, H. (2023). “Hate-motivated crime/incidents against Asian in the United States of America: A systematic review.” Race & Justice, 13(1), 9-31.
• Lee, C. S. (2022). “How online fraud victims are targeted in China: A crime script analysis of Baidu C2C fraud.” Crime & Delinquency, 68(13-14), 2529–2553, 
• Lee, C. S., Merizalde, J., Colautti, J., An, J., & Kwak, H. (2022). “Storm the Capitol: Linking offline political speech and online Twitter extra-representational participation on QAnon and the January 6 insurrection.” Frontiers in Sociology, DOI: 10.3389/fsoc.2022.876070
• Lee, C. S., & Colautti, J. (2022). “ISIS’s COVID-19 Messaging on Twitter: An Analysis of Tweet Sentiment and Emotions.” Crime & Delinquency, 68(8), 1347-1370. 10.1177/00111287221083881
• Lee, C. S. (2022). “Analyzing Zoombombing as a new communication tool of cyberhate in the COVID-19 era.” Online Information Review, 46(1), 147-163.
• Lee, C. S., & Jang, A. (2022). “Questing for justice on Twitter: Topic modeling of #StopAsianHate discourses in the wake of Atlanta shooting.” Crime & Delinquency, https://doi.org/10.1177/00111287211057855
• Lee, C. S., Choi, K.-S., Shandler, R., & Kayser, C. (2021). “Mapping global cyberterror networks: A study of al Qaeda and ISIS cyberterror events, 2011-2016.” Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 37(3), 333-355. 
• Lee, C. S. (2021). “Online fraud victimization in China: A case study of Baidu Tieba.” Victims & Offenders, 16(3), 343-362.

Selected Contracts, Fellowships, Grants and Sponsored Research

• Department of State, Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Person Office, Co-PI (2023 – 2025)
• Korea Foundation, PI, The Trends, Patterns, and Tactics of Cyberattacks on the Korean Peninsula (2023 – 2024)
• National Security Agency and National Science Foundation, USA
  Co-PI, GenCyber Summer Camp at the University of Massachusetts Lowell (2021 - 2022)
• National Security Agency and National Science Foundation, USA
  Co-PI, GenCyber Summer Camp at the University of Massachusetts Lowell (2020 – 2021)

Research Currently in Progress

Posts

• Co-Director, Center for Asian American Studies at UML (2025 – Present)
• Member, Center for Internet Security and Forensics Education and Research (iSAFER)
• Member, Center for Terrorism and Security Studies (CTSS) at UML
• Fellow, Center for Public Opinion
• Executive Board (2025 - 2026); Vice Chair (2023 – 2024), Division of Cybercrime, American Society of Criminology (ASC)
• Constitution and Bylaw Committee Chair, Korean Society of Criminologists in America (KOSCA) (2021 - 2023)
• Member, MassCyberCenter
• Academic Editor, PLOS One (2022 - Present)
• Editorial Board, The Sociological Review (2021 - 2026)
• Editorial Board, Journal of Applied Security Research (2023 - 2025)