KU distinguished professor will emphasize community partnerships and civic engagement in inaugural lecture
LAWRENCE — Partnerships are at the heart of University Distinguished Professor Hyunjin Seo’s scholarship. Her award-winning research, published in leading academic journals, explores networked communication in the context of social change, collective action and civic engagement.
Seo will draw from her interdisciplinary research and long-term collaborations with community partners during her inaugural distinguished professor lecture, “From Digital Literacy to Civic Engagement: University-Community Partnerships for Economic Mobility and Community Capacity Building.” The lecture will take place at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 4 in the Big 12 Room of the Kansas Union. Individuals can register to attend the lecture in person or via livestream, and a recording of the lecture will be posted afterward on the Office of Faculty Affairs website.
During her presentation, Seo will explore how community-engaged scholarship reduces persistent gaps in technology access and fosters learning and civic participation in the United States. She will highlight higher education’s role in promoting economic mobility through community partnerships and offer strategies for sustained institutional impact. Her lecture will reimagine scholarship to include community-engaged initiatives that expand access to information and strengthen critical thinking skills essential to a healthy democracy.
Katy Hamilton, senior director of workforce and career development at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, will also speak during the event. She will discuss the foundation’s projects that support local community work, including its collaborations with Seo.
The lecture will explore frameworks for creating, co-designing and implementing collaborative projects that bring together universities, community organizations and citizens to address critical issues at the local, national and international levels.
“My lecture will draw on examples from our interdisciplinary team’s empirical research and evidence-based programs, which were co-designed in partnership with public libraries, workforce centers, local governments, grassroots organizations and citizens in Kansas and Missouri,” Seo said.
Using longitudinal and cross-sectional research, Seo’s multidisciplinary team has provided digital skills training to various groups in Kansas and Missouri, including low-income older adults and women transitioning from incarceration. These research-informed initiatives have supported participants’ employment, education and civic engagement.
Seo serves as Oscar Stauffer Chair in the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications at KU and previously served as associate dean for research and faculty development. She is the founding director of the KU Center for Digital Inclusion, which supports citizen participation in social, economic, cultural and civic activities through digital information competence. In 2022, the center received the University Economic Development Association’s Award of Excellence for its community-engaged work offering digital skills training to women transitioning out of incarceration.
Seo’s research has been recognized with more than a dozen top paper awards from leading academic associations in the field of media and communication. She has served as principal investigator on interdisciplinary projects funded by various federal and state agencies and private foundations, including the National Science Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Kansas Department of Commerce, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, Kansas Health Foundation and Spencer Foundation.
Seo is the author of “Networked Collective Actions: The Making of an Impeachment” (2022) and has held prestigious faculty fellowships at Harvard and Yale universities. Seo has been invited to present her research at academic institutions and community events around the world, and her scholarship has been featured in national and international media outlets.
Her excellence in teaching and mentoring has been recognized through numerous awards, including KU Faculty Excellence in Service Learning Award (2017) and the Louise Byrd Graduate Mentor Award (2024). She also received a national teaching award from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) as well as KU curriculum innovation awards and teaching grants, which advanced curriculum on social media and emerging technologies.
Seo has a long record of service at KU and in her field. She has led key university committees, mentored early-career faculty and developed programs that foster academic excellence. Her professional service includes editorial board appointments and leadership roles in scholarly organizations, and she has been recognized with a service award from the AEJMC.
“I am deeply honored and grateful to be named a University Distinguished Professor. I’ve been fortunate to work with wonderful mentors, colleagues, collaborators and students throughout my academic career,” Seo said. “I plan to continue refining my approaches to community-engaged scholarship to make positive impacts on society.”
The first distinguished professorships were established at KU in 1958. A university distinguished professorship is awarded wholly based on merit, following exacting criteria. A complete list is available on the Distinguished Professor website.