Greetings to Professor Kwak, the New Sociology and Criminology Professor at Mason Korea

Dr. Hyunjin Deborah Kwak is an assistant professor teaching sociology, conflict, and criminal justice courses at Mason Korea.

Photo Credit: https://masonkorea.gmu.edu/people/hkwak4

In Spring 2021, George Mason University Korea welcomed Professor Hyunjin Deborah Kwak who introduced the fields of sociology and criminology. Prior to joining Mason Korea, she was an Assistant Professor of Sociology and Criminal and Restorative Justice at Malone University in Canton, Ohio after obtaining her Ph.D. in Social and Peace Studies from the University of Notre Dame. Covering diverse aspects of social studies including social injustices, criminal and restorative justice, Dr. Kwak eagerly seeks to contribute to broadening the learning spectrum of Mason Korea.

Q1: Can you briefly introduce yourself, stating your majored degree and the courses you teach in Mason Korea?

A: My name is Deborah Kwak and I got my Ph.D. in Sociology and Peace and Conflict studies. I teach sociology courses and a conflict course right now as well as criminal justice.

Q2: What has prompted you to start teaching at Mason Korea?

A: I had to [move to Korea] because my husband got an offer at a Korean university in Korea. So it was a practical decision for me and my whole family … So I began to search for faculty positions in Korea, and Mason Korea came up. Because as a Conflict and Peace studies person, Mason has a #1 undergraduate conflict program in the US so definitely I knew about the institution. I was thrilled that they were looking for somebody not just for conflict but an interdisciplinary person who can teach sociology courses and conflict and criminal justice. So I think I was very lucky [that] I applied and I got in.

Q3: What is the biggest difficulty that you faced teaching in this new environment, being under the impact of COVID 19 as well?

A: Going online is my primary concern because it would affect my interaction with students. I come from a very small Liberal Arts Christian college and so I value my interaction with students. I think it's important that the faculty try all that they can to really help students through their academic career, and so face-to-face [interaction] is important. There’s this middle ground where you are trying to adjust and do well at the same time and you don't know your professor because people like me who the students are taking the class for the first time with me- they don't know my style, and they have to do everything online, and I think that's the most challenging. Being online doesn’t mean I'm not caring about you, but rather that I want to commit to this relationship with you.

Q4: What motivated you to study and major in the area of the studies that you are currently teaching- what is the beauty of the subjects?

A: The beauty of the subject that I teach is that all sociology courses, and to a large extent, criminal justice, are about trying to understand people and their behaviors. I think that's the primary concern for sociologists, and I think that's the beauty of it. I am trying to understand myself, my students, and people in general- why do they act the way they act, why do they behave the way that they do, [and] what kind of beliefs do they have and why do they think that way… I thought I was very interested in international institutions and organizations, big NGOs, big states, and stuff like that, and I am like that, but I realized after undergrad that what I'm interested in is people. I'm interested in individuals, and what and how they do things.

Q5: For students studying what fields would the courses you teach be the most helpful with?

A: I think, for crime and sociology, it would be interesting for students who are genuinely interested in people. I almost always start with those two courses talking about human behavior, crime being one of the human behaviors, and why do people do that. So people who are interested in answering those questions about human behavior could take sociology and crime, and also I want to make it more applicable to students. If you think about it, you graduate, you get your first job and, indeed, a lot of tension and stress you get from your work is not really about the work that you do; a lot of the time it is about the people you work with. Your social relationships are so important… So I hope that in any kind of class that I teach, the students will learn how to communicate well with people, how to effectively communicate, and collaborate well.

Q6: What do you plan to achieve, your overarching goal, while teaching here?

A: I think the one thing that I want [to achieve] is critical thinking. There are substandard topics of sociology that I want them to think about like race, gender, immigration, human rights, and substandard topics are important, but I don't think that they're the most important goal for my courses or teachings in general, because I think the most important would be the ‘how.. I want to emphasize how you live your life as the most important. If students don't get the substandard topics from my courses, I'm not really concerned about that. If they really valued and practiced collaboration, critical thinking, self-understanding, and communication in my class, I think that's probably the most important goal that I wanna accomplish in my class.

Q7: What is your priority in teaching here?

A: My priority is trying to model that in my classroom, through the way that I speak, the way that I consider my students’ opinions, the way I listen to them, and the way that I listen to different discussions and I've been going back to the challenge of online teaching, and that’s one of the challenges where they only get to see the half of me on the screen, and seeing my whole body language, the way that I talk with them 1-1, and stuff like that, and I think that probably might have been the challenge.

Q8: Any last words to the Mason Korea students you wish to convey?

A: I think my first impression of first-semester teaching here was that my students in Mason Korea are competent, and I don't say this just to make everyone feel positive but I was really impressed by the competence and their willingness to learn and be curious, and I'm very excited to be in this community.

During her interview with The Voice, Dr. Kwak showed clear excitement, dedication, and introspection regarding her new position as an assistant professor at Mason Korea. Through her unique position as a conflict resolution scholar with an emphasis on sociology and criminology, her classes offer a distinct learning experience for Mason Korea students. While there are challenges she still faces in the classroom because of COVID-19, students and Dr. Kwak alike are eager to spend more time together. If students are interested in learning more about Dr. Kwak or how different social systems influence their life, they can sign-up for her classes, CONF 393 “Violence Causes and Alternatives,” SOCI 101 “Introductory to Sociology,” SOCI 355 “Social Inequality, and CRIM 100 “Introduction to Criminal Justice,” in the Fall semester.

Written by Dawn Oh, Staff Writer