Get To Know 22-23 RSM Visiting Scholar: Yong Jin Park

Yong Jin Park is a 2022-2023 Visiting Scholar at the Institute for Rebooting Social Media (RSM) at the Berkman Klein Center as well as a Professor at Howard University's School of Communications. He works on the effects of emerging technologies in intersection with social and policy problems, with focuses on AI, algorithm, personal data, and digital inequalities.  

How were you introduced to the world of tech policy research? 

Wow, it’s quite a long story. I'm a fully first-generation Korean, and I first landed in California for college. I fell in love with it. When I was in San Francisco, that’s around [when] the dot-com bubble burst, and Steve Jobs came back to Apple and created all those colorful Mac computers. Being in San Francisco was a very different and liberating experience for me coming from Korea, which was very conservative in the ‘90s. To me, it’s still conservative in a lot of ways, though it’s changed a lot. Although I wasn’t directly wasn’t a part of Silicon Valley, witnessing what was happening to technology at the time really informed me intellectually. 

When I was studying in Los Angeles, one of [my professors] was a scholar in Intercultural Studies, which is adjacent to sociology. He introduced the kind of qualitative scholarship I fell in love with. He was very intellectually liberating. When I went to the University of Michigan thereafter, I took a course with Professor W. Russel Neuman on the political economy of telecommunication, which sounds pretty boring, but I found it amazingly interesting. That’s where I really got into studying tech policy. So Michigan is where I got to study policy and technology as a social scientist. 

How has your experience at Howard University contributed to your previous work? 

My experience at Howard University introduced me to significant cultural and economic shocks. I first arrived at Howard during the peak of the 2008 economic downturn, and the situation was quite severe. People were suffering not only economically but also emotionally. The Black/African-American community was hit particularly hard; you could really feel it. When I started at Howard, I wasn't particularly focused on inequality as a concept in my mind or as an intellectual pursuit. I didn't identify myself as a scholar of inequality. However, after I arrived and went through [these] personal experiences, I found myself thinking, “Wow, the US is quite different.” 

There's a striking difference between Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs) and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). HBCUs are significantly under-resourced in terms of libraries, staff, and so forth. There was a considerable lack of financial support. Around 60% of the students were awarded the Pell Grant, and most of them were first-generation college students. This experience was markedly different from anything I had experienced in Korea, Michigan, or California. It was then that I realized this was an area I could thoroughly engage with intellectually, particularly considering my background in technology, policy, and social science. 

How did you come to join BKC and what has been a highlight of being here? 

One of my graduate students actually told me about BKC and said, “They have a call for applications; you should definitely apply because your interests align exactly with RSM.” So I looked it up, and she was right. The institutional support and intellectual spirit, especially at weekly community meetings, have been enlightening. My papers are a reflection of the conversations I have with others. If I hadn't joined RSM, my recent papers wouldn't have been created.  

Another highlight is that I applied for and received a grant, which will be a continuation of my efforts to understand AI bias issues. It's a truly exciting project. Many people at RSM are contemplating these kinds of issues. It connects with my intellectual journey at Michigan, as well as issues related to race, bias, poverty, and my personal experiences. 

Interviewer 

Michelle Lee is a student from New Jersey studying Sociology and Computer Science at Wellesley College. Her interests lie in policy and legal regulation of the burgeoning world of tech along with the intersections of social science and cyber innovation. During the summer of 2023, she interned with the Berkman Klein Center’s leadership team.