Valerie Soon

Valerie Soon is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of California San Diego. She holds a PhD in Philosophy from Duke University, an MA in Philosophy from the University of Houston, and a BA in Philosophy and Economics from Wellesley College. Prior to UCSD, she was a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University’s McCoy Family Center for Ethics in Society.

• Education:
• PhD in Philosophy, Duke University
• MA in Philosophy, University of Houston
• BA in Philosophy and Economics, Wellesley College

Her research focuses on distributive justice, liberty, and the intersection of social structures (e.g., norms, networks) with political institutions. Methodologically, she emphasizes minimal models and explanatory frameworks in political theory. Current projects address social capital, spatial inequality, reparative justice, and segregation metrics.

Her articles explore themes of freedom of association, spatial contract theory, and implicit bias. Recent work interrogates tensions between individual freedoms and systemic inequities, leveraging interdisciplinary tools from political philosophy, sociology, and cognitive science.

• Awards: No awards explicitly listed in the provided text.

Valerie advises no listed graduate students and has no disclosed grants. She is affiliated with UCSD’s Department of Political Science and previously with Stanford’s Ethics in Society program. Her research lab or team is not explicitly mentioned in the text.