Dr. Ji Kim
The Teaching and Learning Center’s STEM Pedagogy Institute (SPI) has named Professor Jihyun Kim, Assistant Professor of Science at Guttman Community College, a fellow for summer 2022. SPI serves to engage with critical issues associated with STEM-related disciplines and fields. More specifically, SPI seeks to attract, support, and retain ethnic, racial, and gender minorities. Methodical and empathetic pedagogical approaches can help students from underrepresented groups develop deeper connections to STEM inquiry. In the process, students can envision diverse futures made possible by STEM learning.
In summer 2022, SPI will bring together faculty and graduate student instructors from various STEM disciplines with researchers and TLC staff to examine, develop, and implement inclusive and employment-focused teaching strategies in STEM courses at all levels across CUNY. Drawing upon the latest scholarship on inclusive and culturally-responsive practices in STEM education, the TLC will develop workshops, seminars, co-working sessions, partnerships, and a speaker series that helps SPI Faculty Fellows better understand the racial and gendered inequalities of the college to career pipeline; improve the sense of belonging and confidence in future STEM careers felt by Black, Latinx, indigenous, and female students; integrate mentorship, early research, and experiential learning opportunities into course work; and foster the collaborative learning that helps with student retention. The curriculum will focus on how to combine career preparation, culturally-inclusive pedagogies, and cross-domain thinking with technical training, and will draw upon the strengths of CUNY undergraduates in ways that help them imagine a variety of career pathways. All materials developed as a part of the SPI will be released as open educational resources, and research from the Institute will be shared broadly. As a faculty fellow, Dr. Kim will be awarded $5,000 for her participation in the Institute.
Dr. Kim earned her Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Georgetown University in Washington, DC. She conducted her postdoctoral studies in breast cancer at the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center in Washington, DC., and was awarded a fellowship from the Susan Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Before starting at Guttman in 2017, Dr. Kim taught courses in all areas of chemistry at multiple colleges in the CUNY system, as well as William Paterson University and Ramapo College of New Jersey. Along with Dr. Lawrence Pratt from Medgar Evers College, CUNY, Dr. Kim received a three-year National Science Foundation grant toward the development of a new biofuel from a mixture of brown grease and waste plastics.
