Coming from Japan, Kei (pronounced kay-ee) joined UIUC in 2023 as a Ph.D. student in the Department of Geography and Geographical Science. His research interests lie at the intersection of urban geographies, settler colonial studies, and Indigenous geographies. He seeks to understand how settler colonialism constructs cities in the 21st century U.S., where settler colonialism is intertwined with multiculturalism, and how Indigenous peoples and their communities navigate such cities. Because modern liberal queer politics significantly characterize U.S. urban politics, he also aims to investigate how queer inclusion contributes to (or challenges) urban settler colonialism.