Multicultural Identity Personal Statement

I came to understand diversity at a very young age as I learned to navigate through multicultural, multilingual social terrains as a Korean-American lesbian in the United States and South Korea. The social consequences of racism, sexism, and homophobia greatly impacted my life; for excelling in athletics, being an assertive young woman, and not fitting into traditional gender roles and norms, I have been targeted by racially charged, sexist, and homophobic verbal and physical threats from strangers, peers, in classrooms, and on social media. I lacked role models to show me how to persevere when faced with such adversities, but decided to never let these negative experiences define who I ought to be. Instead, I found my determination through

I use my sociological training to critically examine how racial, gender, and sexual inequality and identity politics in the larger social structure shape the ways in which individuals understand their own social locations (i.e. as a racial minority, immigrant). More specifically, I examine how intersecting identities (i.e. racial, sexual, gender identities) influence individuals’ perceptions of social institutions (i.e. marriage, education) based on personal experiences of marginalization and in turn, how these micro-level social mechanisms affect the larger structures. From my research experiences, I have co-authored one article, which was published on The Society Pages, and completed one sole-authored publication, which is currently under review at Ethnic and Racial

In my teaching and mentoring, I use diversity as a resource to educate and enrich students. I use my own experiences and positionality as a woman of color and sexual minority to facilitate discussions regarding discrimination, diversity, and equality. In doing so, I invite my students to make connections among their own lived experiences, course materials, and the larger public discourse around issues of race, class, gender, and sexuality. These critical pedagogical techniques allow me to employ, emphasize, and help legitimize students lived experiences as learning and teaching tools. Further, these mentoring and teaching experiences allow me to better understand the challenges we must overcome in order to increase diversity in academia. Students of diversity need understanding and empathetic mentors who share their experiences and will guide their research, which is the role I want to fill. I intend to further motivate them not only to actively engage in discussion of diversity, but also pursue diversity as a tangible social and personal goal by becoming a role model for