Inkyu Kang, Ph.D.

Inkyu Kang, Ph.D.
Professor of Journalism and Communication, Communication
46 Kochel

Mailing Address:
PENN STATE BEHREND
170 KOCHEL CENTER
ERIE, PA 16563

Dr. Inkyu Kang is a Professor of Digital Journalism. His research interests include new media technologies, visual communication, and global media. At Penn State Behrend, he teaches mass media, journalism, graphic design, and multimedia production. Before joining Behrend, he taught television and popular culture at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, from which he holds a Ph.D. in Communication Arts.

Dr. Kang has written two books, contributing to several journals and anthologies including Korean Popular Culture Reader (2014, Durham: Duke University Press) and K-Pop: The International Rise of the Korean Music Industry (2015, London: Routledge). He co-authored/co-edited a book on sports and media, published by Routledge in 2017. He received the “Best Faculty Paper” award at the International Communication Association conference in 2014 and the “Best Paper” award at the National Communication Association conference in 2008.

Dr. Kang is also an award-winning journalist/translator. He has been writing for OhmyNews, the world’s first participatory news medium, earning the “Journalist of the Year” awards in 2008 and 2011. He has translated a number of books including Social Networks and Blogs (2010), Entertainment and Gaming (2010), and Semiotics: The Basics (2003, London: Routledge). Before entering academia, Dr. Kang worked in the fashion industry, moonlighting as an illustrator and cartoonist. He is convinced that Erie has one of the most beautiful sunsets in the world. He loves long walks on Presque Isle, photographing its breathtaking views. 

Courses Taught

  • COMM 001, Newspaper Practicum
  • COMM 002, Newspaper Editorial Staff
  • COMM 100, The Mass Media and Society
  • COMM 251, The Nature of Media
  • COMM 260W, News Writing and Reporting
  • COMM 241, Graphic Design for Communications
  • COMM 270, Introduction to Multimedia Production
  • COMM 315, Applications for Media Writing
  • COMM 363, Desktop Publishing
  • COMM 470A, Convergent Media News Service: Newspaper Production
  • GD 100, Introduction to Graphic Design

new media technology, global media, visual communication, media semiotics

The sociality of journalism, media and the internet: In search of a perspective, Russian Journal of Media Studies - June 1, 2023
Collaborators: Alexander Marchenko, Co-Author; Sergey Korkonosenko, Co-Author; Alves Wedencley, Co-Author; Yan Liu, Co-Author

How to hold the leader accountable, OhmyNews - November 30, 2022

Long on promise, short on delivery: AI and autonomous driving, OhmyNews - June 29, 2022

Unexpected threat to self-driving cars: Traffic cones, OhmyNews - June 21, 2022

What we should know about the comeback of South Korean conservatives, OhmyNews - March 16, 2022

The lessons of Trump and Brexit, OhmyNews - February 23, 2022

Why we're still decades away from self-driving cars, OhmyNews - October 16, 2021

Cloning national pride: Science, technology, and the Korean dream of joining the "advanced world" - August 30, 2021

Elon Musk's empty promises, OhmyNews - August 2, 2021

Different 10 minutes: Bezos' space trip and his employees' bathroom break, OhmyNews - July 23, 2021

What South Korea's Covid-19 success story means to the world, OhmyNews - July 15, 2021

Why I got off Facebook a decade ago, OhmyNews - July 7, 2021

How 'fake news' is born, OhmyNews - July 6, 2021

The first 100 days of Biden's presidency, Weekly Kyunghyang - May 22, 2021

How delivery apps put your favorite restaurants in trouble, OhmyNews - March 4, 2021

Study: Infection risk lower among students attending more in-person courses, OhmyNews - December 15, 2020

What the election results tell us, OhmyNews - December 13, 2020

The rise of BTS and Gen Z, OhmyNews - October 13, 2020

The dark side of remote work, OhmyNews - September 22, 2020

The myths of the digital economy, OhmyNews - August 21, 2020

It’s not technology that’s disrupting our jobs, OhmyNews - August 3, 2020

Why smart education is not a smart solution, OhmyNews - July 14, 2020

Distant learning and empathy, OhmyNews - June 23, 2020

The doom of Zoom, OhmyNews - June 16, 2020

No, the future is not contactless, OhmyNews - June 8, 2020

Contextualizing South Korea’s COVID-19 success story, OhmyNews - May 6, 2020

How COVID exposes the underbelly of society, OhmyNews - March 25, 2020

The unknown truth of the Red Flag Act, OhmyNews - January 6, 2020

How technology becomes an exploitative ideology, OhmyNews - December 17, 2019

The dilemma faced by Prosecutor General Yoon, OhmyNews - September 30, 2019

There's no such thing as a self-driving car, OhmyNews - July 22, 2019

Barriers to autonomous vehicle adoption, OhmyNews - July 2, 2019

How Uber threatens public transportation, OhmyNews - June 12, 2019

Car-sharing does not reduce the number of cars, OhmyNews - May 30, 2019

Is the sharing economy a fraud?, OhmyNews - May 27, 2019

The Internet is plural: The sociopolitical shaping of the Russian and Korean "internets" - April 30, 2019
Collaborator: Alexander Marchenko, Co-Author

What car-sharing really shares, OhmyNews - December 24, 2018

The platform economy and destructive monopoly, OhmyNews - December 13, 2018

YouTube's algorithm creates echo chambers , OhmyNews - December 4, 2018

Hearing the other side online, OhmyNews - November 14, 2018

YouTube and political polarization, OhmyNews - October 2, 2018

The interpretation of an ellipsis in court, OhmyNews - September 26, 2018

Meet Gen C: The YouTube Generation, OhmyNews - September 16, 2018

Women's access to justice, OhmyNews - September 1, 2018

Resisting idealized victimhood, OhmyNews - August 21, 2018

Who's afraid of a ₩8350 minimum wage?, OhmyNews - July 30, 2018

Middle class income shrinks as the union membership rate declines, OhmyNews - July 17, 2018

The state of reshoring in South Korea, OhmyNews - July 9, 2018

Automotive industry creates five jobs for every worker it employs, OhmyNews - July 2, 2018

Why unions aren't your enemy, OhmyNews - July 2, 2018

How to identify fake news, OhmyNews - June 11, 2018

How (not) to report on the President's actions, OhmyNews - June 1, 2018

Why the 2nd inter-Korean summit matters, OhmyNews - May 28, 2018

Standing in solidarity against violence towards women, OhmyNews - May 24, 2018

The song of my life, Weekly Kyunghyang - May 14, 2018

Why Korea needs the affirmative consent reforms, OhmyNews - May 4, 2018

Who's afraid of the inter-Korea peace process?, OhmyNews - May 2, 2018

Why consensual sex must be redefined, OhmyNews - May 2, 2018

What we can learn from the resignation of Justice Robin Camp, OhmyNews - April 26, 2018

#MeToo: A role for men, OhmyNews - April 2, 2018

The danger of 'Mike Pence Rule', OhmyNews - April 2, 2018

The #MeToo movement and femme fatale, OhmyNews - April 1, 2018

How the BBC reporting was misinterpreted, OhmyNews - March 23, 2018

Gender bias of the court, OhmyNews - March 14, 2018

Americans in an arms race with themselves, OhmyNews - February 28, 2018

Neo‐​McCarthyism in Korea, OhmyNews - February 19, 2018

What makes the Pyeong Chang opening ceremony special, OhmyNews - February 12, 2018

Only yes means yes, OhmyNews - February 5, 2018

Revisiting the October Revolution, OhmyNews - February 5, 2018

Does the blockchain really matter?, OhmyNews - February 1, 2018

Sport in Korea: History, development, management - January, 2018
Collaborators: Dae Hee Kwak, Co-Editor; Yong Jae Ko, Co-Editor; Mark Rosentraub, Co-Editor

Sport in Korea: Introduction - January 30, 2018
Collaborators: Dae Hee Kwak, Co-Author; Yong Jae Ko, Co-Author; Mark Rosentraub, Co-Author

Who's afraid of soccer fans? The double-edged sword of South Korea's sports nationalism - January 30, 2018

The bright and dark sides of cryptocurrencies, OhmyNews - January 22, 2018

Cryptocurrencies need regulation, OhmyNews - January 16, 2018

The Russian Santa delivers presents on New Year's Day, OhmyNews - January 1, 2018

It's time to talk about affirmative consent , OhmyNews - December 23, 2017

A new study finds why the majority of sexual assault survivors don't fight back, OhmyNews - December 3, 2017

A majority of sexual assaults are not reported to law enforcement, OhmyNews - November 29, 2017

Recognizing perpetrator presentations and narratives, OhmyNews - November 27, 2017

Silencing the victim, OhmyNews - November 21, 2017

Big Tech's threat to democracy , OhmyNews - October 30, 2017

Revealing the identity of the accused , OhmyNews - October 30, 2017

The cultural significance of ballet in Russia, OhmyNews - October 19, 2017

Russia marks a century since the revolution, OhmyNews - October 6, 2017

Robots don't pay taxes , OhmyNews - September 23, 2017

When news is created and delivered without news media, OhmyNews - September 20, 2017

Big data is watching you, OhmyNews - September 2, 2017

The Fourth Industrial Revolution: Hype or reality? , OhmyNews - August 16, 2017

What tech giants spend millions lobbying for, OhmyNews - August 2, 2017

Technology, culture, and meanings: How the discourses of progress and modernity have shaped South Korea’s Internet diffusion, Media, Culture & Society - July 30, 2017

Chopin, White Nights, and a Korean pianist, OhmyNews - July 26, 2017

The 18th anniversary of Seoul's pride parade, OhmyNews - July 14, 2017

Davos: Does it really matter?, OhmyNews - July 2, 2017

Let Judge Kim, aka Mr. Minority Opinion, to serve, OhmyNews - June 6, 2017

Why bunker sales soar, OhmyNews - June 5, 2017

Kim Jung Un is not a mad man, OhmyNews - June 3, 2017

Strategic patience is no strategy, OhmyNews - May 21, 2017

Understanding North Korea, OhmyNews - May 16, 2017

The presidential election and the future of Korean conservatives , OhmyNews - May 10, 2017

A letter to presidential candidate Hong Joon-pyo II, OhmyNews - May 2, 2017

A letter to presidential candidate Hong Joon-pyo I, OhmyNews - May 1, 2017

When North and South Korean leaders hold a surprise meeting, OhmyNews - April 25, 2017

Respecting the national flag, OhmyNews - March 31, 2017

Facing the THAD dilemma, OhmyNews - March 29, 2017

Constitutional Court judges: We've got your back, OhmyNews - March 28, 2017

Why people believe in fake news, OhmyNews - February 15, 2017

When technology becomes a religion, OhmyNews - January 31, 2017

Justice and national interest, OhmyNews - January 27, 2017

Ban Ki-moon, his past and present, OhmyNews - January 16, 2017

Mr. Ban, everybody's friend is nobody's friend, OhmyNews - January 12, 2017

On the legacy of Ban Ki-moon , OhmyNews - January 2, 2017

My biggest news of the year , OhmyNews - December 29, 2016

Ms. President, your time is up, OhmyNews - December 6, 2016

The president's third apology , OhmyNews - November 30, 2016

180 communication scholars ask for the resignation of the South Korean president, OhmyNews - November 22, 2016

Impeachment: The end means the beginning, OhmyNews - November 14, 2016

South Korean media and their discontents, OhmyNews - October 31, 2016

Leadership, either absent or irresponsible , OhmyNews - October 28, 2016

Journalists fear a government clampdown on the press, OhmyNews - October 20, 2016

Web 2.0, UGC, and citizen journalism: Revisiting South Korea’s OhmyNews model in the age of social media, Telematics and Informatics - July 30, 2016

The question of authorship and art fraud, OhmyNews - July 14, 2016

The Cho Young-nam case: Art, creativity and the law, OhmyNews - July 12, 2016

Denying rape culture, OhmyNews - June 19, 2016

What Korea can learn from Italy's mistakes, OhmyNews - June 10, 2016

Korean women: Ordinary fear, violence and personal safety, OhmyNews - June 4, 2016

Random violence and hate crimes, OhmyNews - June 1, 2016

Corruption and Freudian slip , OhmyNews - May 24, 2016

Religion, politics and moral dilemma, OhmyNews - May 4, 2016

The Sewol ferry disaster was an accident but a system failure, OhmyNews - April 20, 2016

Movies to watch after the election, OhmyNews - April 14, 2016

Ways to look at North Korea's impact on the general election, OhmyNews - April 12, 2016

Give voters bread, roses and romance, OhmyNews - April 3, 2016

What the explosive popularity of Chopin in Korea tells us, OhmyNews - March 31, 2016

The Korean Patriot Act?, OhmyNews - February 26, 2016

The rise and fall of South Korean neo-authoritarianism: 2013-2018 - February 20, 2016

Why manufacturing still matters , OhmyNews - February 17, 2016

Competition and corruption , OhmyNews - February 1, 2016

Is competition really good? , OhmyNews - February 1, 2016

Does Ban Ki-moon deserve the criticism?, OhmyNews - January 7, 2016

Contextualizing President Park's international policy , OhmyNews - December 31, 2015

Harrison Ford to Trump: 'It was just a movie', OhmyNews - December 16, 2015

Democracy in crisis and the concentration of media ownership in Korea, OhmyNews - December 1, 2015

The anti-mask law and the freedom of speech and assembly, OhmyNews - November 28, 2015

Politics in crisis and the role independent media , OhmyNews - November 12, 2015

Say no to state-made history textbooks, OhmyNews - November 2, 2015

Why the marketplace of ideas matter in teaching history, OhmyNews - October 15, 2015

Revive manufacturing to create jobs, OhmyNews - October 4, 2015

Unions are good for the economy, OhmyNews - October 1, 2015

The internet is not the answer, OhmyNews - September 2, 2015

The wage peak system fails to create jobs, OhmyNews - September 1, 2015

Solving the NIS mystery, OhmyNews - July 30, 2015

It's not a money matter, OhmyNews - June 30, 2015

The same-sex marriage battle continues, OhmyNews - June 30, 2015

Dealing with the most dangerous man, OhmyNews - June 17, 2015

The government lies again, OhmyNews - June 4, 2015

Is flag burning unpatriotic? , OhmyNews - June 1, 2015

Not talking about looks, OhmyNews - May 25, 2015

Unpatriotic patriotism, OhmyNews - April 6, 2015

Who really killed Boris Nemtsov?, OhmyNews - March 31, 2015

Welfare benefits: Selective or universal?, OhmyNews - March 6, 2015

Decoding the president's words and deeds, OhmyNews - March 2, 2015

Unfulfilled promises of economic growth, OhmyNews - March 2, 2015

President Park's true legacy, OhmyNews - February 4, 2015

The age of apathy, OhmyNews - February 2, 2015

The political economy of idols: South Korea’s neoliberal restructuring and its impact on the entertainment labor force - January 30, 2015

Communicating with the leader, OhmyNews - January 2, 2015

New technology, old habits: The decline of the Internet as a democratic tool in South Korea, International Journal of Information Communication Technologies and Human Development - October 30, 2014

It all started with a bang: The role of PC bangs in South Korea’s cybercultures - February 28, 2014

Entertainment and gaming - August, 2013

On being a journalist - April, 2013

'The end of men: And the rise of women' by Hanna Rosin, New York: Riverhead Books, 2012. - April, 2013

Social networks and blogs - December, 2012

Destroyed and ignored: Essays on social change - November, 2012

'Were you born on the wrong continent?' by Thomas Geoghegan, New York: The New Press, 2011. - April, 2012

Going online in the PC graveyard: The sociocultural evolution of Japan’s mobile Internet - March, 2011

Reading into American cultural codes - August, 2008

Semiotics: The basics - November, 2006

Semiotics: The struggle over meaning - October, 2003

Advertising, masculinity, and the myth of virility - September, 2002

PhD, Communication Arts, The University of Wisconsin

MA, Communication Arts, The University of Wisconsin

MA, Media Studies, Sogang University

BA, English, International Economics, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies