Joel Jin, Munyi Shea, David C. Wang and Paul Y. Kim

For those who are going through some of life’s most difficult situations, what might gratitude look like? Does it even make sense to talk about gratitude? And what is helpful about such gratitude, and what might not be as helpful or even harmful? These are some of the big picture questions that my psychology colleagues…

I (Paul Kim) love mentoring undergraduate research. Something about teaching undergraduate students to refine the academic and professional skills normally reserved for their more advanced counterparts, combined with the eagerness and appropriate level of fear that younger students might bring into the first-time experience of joining a research lab, makes the research mentoring experience uniquely…

Why and How We Should Study Culture and Psychology in a Christian Faith Perspective How Should We Approach Culture, Psychology, and Christian Faith? With the love of all neighbors as the basis, I will propose how we might implement studying psychology in a Christian perspective. If the overarching goal is the love of all neighbors,…

In the second part of this blog post, Paul Kim continues to share insights from his colleagues Katie Douglass (practical theologian) and Brittany Tausen (social psychologist) about their co-authored book, Love Your Neighbor: How Psychology Can Enliven Faith and Transform Community. PK: In a recent Christian Scholar’s Review article, you have written compellingly and thoughtfully…

In this two-part blog post, I (Paul Kim) am excited to feature insights from my colleagues Katie Douglass (practical theologian) and Brittany Tausen (social psychologist) about their co-authored book, Love Your Neighbor: How Psychology Can Enliven Faith and Transform Community. This book explores how to love others better through the lens of both psychology and…

I am late for class. More precisely, I arrive in the classroom too close to the start time for my liking. I frantically go through the pre-class ritual: log into the podium computer, open my PowerPoint file, lay out lecture notes, grab a few whiteboard markers, find the attendance sheet, and take a big sip…

My wife and I are co-writing a book on marriage. When I told my mother-in-law about this project, she had a simple advice that continues to stay with me in the writing process: “If you write such a book, you must be willing to open up your 마음 (ma-eum).” The Korean word, ma-eum, captures several…

In my Counseling Theory & Practice class for undergraduate psychology students, the first skills practice session focuses on the reflection of feelings. As such, many of the guidelines for this session spotlight what to say and how to say it. For example, I provide students with a list of “feeling” words to add to their…

Author’s note: As I read about President Trump’s recent executive order declaring English as the official language of the United States and reflected on its potential implications, I was reminded of a podcast episode in which I interviewed Dr. Grace Inae Blum.  Dr. Blum teaches and writes about humanizing teacher education, teacher preparation for culturally…

As someone who teaches about the psychological pitfalls of racial colorblindness, it’s been jolting to see this ideology being touted as an ideal way of relating to one another. For example, President Trump has repeatedly used this term, including during his inauguration speech. Recently, against the backdrop of the current public sentiments about racial colorblindness,…

In my family, like many Korean American families, we regularly communicate using Konglish (Korean + English). We rely on Konglish when something complicated or multilayered can be better expressed using a combination of Korean and English words. The other day, during an evening walk with my spouse, I said the following about two students who…

Editor’s Note: This is Part 2 of a dual reflection on The War and Women’s Human Rights Museum (aka “Comfort Women Memorial”) by Eimi Ichimura, a Ph.D. student, and Paul Kim, a professor of psychology at Seattle Pacific University.  Emi identifies as Japanese American and Paul identifies as Korean American. They disclose this information upfront so…

The War and Women’s Human Rights Museum (aka “Comfort Women Memorial”) in South Korea is a powerful place of remembrance. Specifically, in a small building (it’s literally the size of a large American house) located near the tourist hotspot of the Hongdae neighborhood, the museum is filled with painful stories of women who were forced…

As a psychologist trained in the United States, I tend to view the expression of emotions as a good thing. So, the flipside of the expression of emotion – restraint of feelings, or emotional self-control – is sometimes viewed as an unhealthy practice, or at least a corollary of unfavorable health and mental health outcomes.…

When I was a doctoral student, one mentor secretly sent their friend (another professor) to my poster at a professional conference to ask the most difficult methodological and statistical questions about my research content. I think my mentor viewed this as an initiation of some kind to the academic presentation experience. Suffice it to say,…

Teachers, have you ever cried in front of your students? With your students? I have not. I have come close a few times. When I stood in front of my class shortly after a campus shooting, I felt the heaviness of the collectively traumatic experience. When I asked my students to join me in prayer…

It feels like students have stopped coming to my office hours. Or at least, the number of office hour appointments on my calendar has slowed to a trickle. What might explain the underutilization of office hours? I chalk it up to multiple factors. It could be that the articulated benefits of meeting with professors outside…

Even though the classroom space is necessarily different from a counseling one, it strikes me that given the frequency and the duration of my interactions with students, they are also likely to internalize certain things that I say or do in the classroom; that they “hear” my voice throughout the academic term, and maybe even…

In recent days, I have found myself asking these rhetorical questions about my foray into public-facing scholarship. I have learned that whenever I engage in these big-picture, existential questions, I can usually point to some kind of internal conflict or dissonance.

Over my thirteen years in Christian higher education as faculty, I have written about (and this is a conservative estimate) a dozen essays reflecting on my Christian faith and how it shapes my personal and professional life. In addition, I have served on numerous committees reading such essays crafted by job candidates and colleagues seeking…