Name: Joon Kim
URI Position: Assistant Professor of Public Relations
Email: joonkim@uri.edu
Pronouns: he/his/him
Three adjectives he’d use to describe himself: caring, passionate, and open-minded

One of newest members of the URI faculty, Assistant Professor of Public Relations Joon Kim, joins us from the University of South Carolina (USC). Kim earned his Ph.D. from USC this past July; his dissertation analyzing what predicts individuals’ support on electronic cigarette advertisement regulations. “I am interested in this topic because e-cigarette use has become increasingly popular among minors in the US,” he explains. “Using the third-person effect hypothesis as the theoretical framework, I found that adults believe exposure to e-cigarette advertising will lead teenagers, but not themselves, to try e-cigarettes, and that this perceptual gap motivated adults to support regulations on e-cigarette advertising.”

Drawn to URI by what he describes as the kindness, expertise, and professionalism of his fellow faculty and staff — as well as the students’ enthusiasm — Kim says he couldn’t be more excited to join the Harrington School of Communication and Media. He is teaching two sections of PRS 300: Social Media Strategies for PR Professionals this semester, and he looks forward to further exploring his research interests. “I am very interested in how organizations, including corporations, sports organizations, and non-profit organizations, take a stance on political and controversial social issues, and how the public views such activities,” he says. “Although a growing number of organizations have taken a stance on social issues, for some organizations, such practices were not received well by the public and resulted in boycotts or backlashes. I would like to conduct more research to understand what leads the public to support or not support organizations’ social advocacy.”

While this semester looks more than a little different than it has in the past, Kim encourages students to stay vigilant and never hesitate to reach out to their instructors. “I would advise current students in the liberal arts to be more proactive during this unpleasant time,” he says. “Although this semester comes with new challenges, I encourage students to stay connected with their friends and family and reach out to faculty members, including me, whenever they need help. Also, students should take advantage of what they have learned from the classes. For example, they should watch movies or Netflix shows critically and think about how such content presents current important social issues such as social justice and diversity. They should not let their skills get rusty!”

~Written by Chase Hoffman, Writing & Rhetoric and Anthropology Double Major, URI Class of December 2020