Contact Information
Office Hours
Research Areas
Biography
Minkyung Kim specializes in organizational communication, with a focus on its implications for community resilience and sustainability. Her research primarily explores how organizations serving vulnerable populations utilize communication processes—such as inter-organizational networks—to enhance their impact on communities. Dr. Kim also investigates the role of symbolic, material, and mediated artifacts as organizational tools, examining how these elements empower culturally and politically marginalized groups. Dr. Kim’s work has been published in esteemed journals, including the Journal of Communication, Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, and the Quarterly Journal of Speech. Her research has also gained recognition in mainstream and ethnic news media across South Korea and Europe.
Prior to her academic career, Dr. Kim began her career as an intercountry adoption caseworker and later as a public relations specialist in both the private and nonprofit sectors. She has also made significant contributions to English as a Second Language (ESL) education in Korea. She authored a series of textbooks designed for learners of various proficiency levels and was instrumental in launching a 1:1 English education platform tailored for professionals in finance and engineering.
Research Interests
Organizational communication, community resilience, global/ intercultural communication, inter-organizational networks, digital inequality, ethnic media, intercultural rhetoric
Education
Ph.D. Communication, Rutgers University
B.A. & M.A., Communication Studies, Colorado State University
TESOL, Ewha Womans University
Grants
Inagural JDMJA Professorial Scholar
Global Partnership Grant
Provost Research Grant
Awards and Honors
Faculty Top Paper in Global Communication Division, International Communication Association
Outstanding Teaching and Mentoring Award, National Communication Association
Outstanding Doctoral Student Award
Top Paper Award in Intercultural Division, International Communication Association
Distinguished Teaching Assistant Award
Outstanding Master's Thesis Award
Courses Taught
Organizational Communication
Organizations and Community Impact
Additional Campus Affiliations
Assistant Professor, Communication
Highlighted Publications
Kim, M. (In press/Expected 2026). Engaging marginalized communities in interorganizational relationships. In M.L. Doerfel, J. Theiss, M. Venetis, & K. Scharp (Eds.). Handbook of Communication and Resilience. Routledge.
Kim, M., & Doerfel, M.L. (In press/2025). Digital inequality and resilience in humanitarian refugee organizations. International Journal of Communication
Randazzo, C., Kim, M., Kwestel, M., & Doerfel, M.L. (2025). “We’re losing our neighborhoods. We’re losing our community”: A comparative analysis of community discourse in online and offline public spheres across disaster phases. Submitted to Computer-Supported Cooperative Work.
Kwestel, M., Kim, M., Doerfel, M.L., and Randazzo, C. (2024) Formal and social structures as organizing mechanisms of disaster response: A longitudinal social network analysis. International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters, 1-18. https://doi.org/ 10.1177/02807270241283777
Kim, M., & Doerfel, M.L. (2024). Engaged interorganizational networks and resilience in the humanitarian sector. Journal of Communication, 74(4), 299-309. https://doi.org/10.1093/joc/jqae018
Kim, M., & Williams, E.A. (2022). Emotional sustainability in human services organizations: Cultural and communicative paths to dealing with emotional work. Sustainability, 14 (15470), 1-17, doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/su142215470.
Doerfel, M.L., Kim, M., Kwestel, M., Youn, H., & Quow, J. (2022). Resilience organizing: A multi-level communication framework. Journal of Communication, 00, 1-14. doi: http://doi.org/10.1093/joc/jqac027.
Kim, M., Kwestel, M., Youn, H., Quow, J., & Doerfel, M.L. (2021). Serving the vulnerable while being vulnerable: Organizing resilience in a social service sector. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 00 (0), 1-22, Doi:10.1177/08997640211013912
Khrebtan-Hörhager, J., & Kim, M. (2020). Re-Membering Comfort Women: From on-screen storytelling and rhetoric of materiality to re-thinking history and belonging. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 106(4), 427-452, Doi:10.1080/00335630.2020.1828606.
Recent Publications
Kim, M., & Kwestel, M. (2023). Unengaged Presence: The Paradox of Refugee Voices on Humanitarian Organizations’ Websites. In J. Sergio, J. Khrebtan-Hörhager, A. Soto-Vásquiz, & M. Lechuga (Eds.). Migrant World Making, East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press.