Q&A with new faculty member, Dr. Youngji Seo
Could you share a little about your academic and professional journey that led you to Baylor?
"Before I came here, I actually came to the States in 2017. I was studying PR and health communication in South Korea. I met my advisor for my master's degree over there, who was really productive in doing research. At the time, I was really interested in conducting research area focusing on health communication, risk communication and crisis communication. That makes me think, 'Okay, I could pursue my PhD degree' … So that's why I came to the United States in 2017 for my PhD degree. I completed my PhD degree at the University of Georgia in 2022, and I graduated. After that, I was working as a teaching professor at Temple University in Philadelphia. Also, the tenure-track faculty at Syracuse University. Both programs were really amazing, like Baylor. But my husband, my family, they're all living in Georgia. So, we have to separate living [with] each other in Georgia and upstate New York. So, we decided … maybe we can settle down in Texas or the southern area, because my husband's job was, most of his job is in the southern area of the United States. So, we decided to come to Baylor, and yeah, that's why I'm here today."
What inspired you to pursue a career in journalism, public relations and new media?
"Actually, my bachelor's degree was in visual communication, graphic communication ... leaning more toward the art and design part. But after I graduated, I wanted to be more planned. I want to plan the messaging or design the messaging, not [be] the artist. So, I pursued the PR job after I graduated with my bachelor's degree. So, my first job and my only job in the industry was PR officer in a non-profit organization underneath the one of the ministry in South Korea, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. So, I oversaw all the PR work at that time. I made some news releases, newsletters and we also have to encourage some donations from our stakeholders … After three years, I feel like I need more knowledge or input about this PR area because that is not my background, so that's why I decided to go back to school to study more."
Are there any specific areas of research or creative work you are passionate about?
"I think in terms of the research, I am more interested in the unintended effects of communication because we observed that the COVID, we suffered from COVID-19 for a few years, and what I frequently observed on social media was message fatigue. People are always tiring of hearing the redundant, repeated message, 'Hey, you have to keep distance, you have to always cover your mouth and nose.' That is a really important message, but if you keep going, if you keep sending the same message to your stakeholder, your audience, the people may feel fatigue, tiredness, boredom. So, I wanted to study what factors lead to unintended effects of the communication that the message sender did not expect when they designed the messages. So, that is one part of my research area, and another part of my research is comments. Because of social media, we are observing a lot of the comments, and we observed that most of the comments are really polarized nowadays because of their political affiliation, their political view or their race, their background. So, I wanted to find some of the gaps and how to reduce the gap between these groups."
How do you envision contributing to the department’s growth and innovation?
"Of course, the teaching and the research are both really important. In terms of their teaching, because of my background as a teaching professor, as I mentioned before, I can teach a variety of courses here. And also, I have a really, I also use my social media skills in my research too … We already have a social media course right now, but I want to incorporate the social media listening and monitoring skills into my social media courses so that students can more easily get their internship opportunities, or they can prepare. If they are interested in getting a job in the social media field, that should be a really great addition to our course."
What skills or perspectives do you think are essential for students entering the media industry today?
"In my classroom, the campaign class, I ask my students to do research about the case study. That is the first thing to do before they actually plan for the real-world campaign. So, of course, working with the real-world client is really important, but they have to review, they have to do the research, on how the real enterprise or their company or the brand they are actually doing in their campaign. Was it successful or not? They have to evaluate that one first before starting their own campaign."
What advice would you give to journalism and PR students to thrive academically and professionally?
"Don't be shy to visit your professor's office. We are always willing to help you mature into a good person who is ready … Regardless of your year in college, whether you're a sophomore you’re a freshman, you can visit us … We have a lot of students who graduate from PR, and all of the students from the other university are all of your competitors, right? Yes, but you have to prepare yourself from day one in college. So develop your portfolio, always upload your resume and your portfolio [and be] looking for an internship [during] freshman year."
Could you share a fun fact or personal interest that helps students get to know you better?
"I am a really huge and crazy fan of Harry Potter … So, when I get really stressed out, I usually go home and then just turn on the TV and then watch [movies] one to three. It's quite bright compared to [movies] four to seven. So yeah, I don't know, I didn't count how many times I watched the Harry Potter series. It should be more than 100 times."
*These responses have been edited for clarity and brevity.
