After serving on the faculty for over six years and securing tenure at UC Davis, I returned to my alma mater in South Korea. Soon after, when I met with my ICA friends, who are mostly based in the U.S., they often asked how I managed the disadvantages of being a young (well, it was a long time ago!) female professor. Regrettably, their concerns were legitimate, given that South Korea's gender gap index score was-and still is-one of the lowest.
However, I couldn't respond immediately. Yes, I was the youngest and only the second female professor in the Department. Yet, I rarely, if ever, felt marginalized or denied access to resources and opportunities because of my age or gender. If anything, being a female professor at SNU led some to think that I must have been exceptionally good to land a position there, "despite being a woman." (If you've seen Squid Game, you'll know that SNU is considered the Harvard of Korea :)).
What my ICA friends did not realize was that I always felt inherently disadvantaged while I was in the States. No, there was absolutely no discrimination based on my gender or ethnicity-and I am truly grateful to my former colleagues for that. Nevertheless, being a Communication professor "whose thick accent interfered with her teaching" made it nearly impossible not to view my identity as a handicap. Lacking cultural knowledge was another non-trivial challenge in classroom settings as well as in daily interactions. Ironically, it requires a certain level of self-confidence to openly acknowledge one's ignorance, which I didn't have (I think Socrates could publicly declare his ignorance, for he knew that others were even more ignorant than he was). I was always very tense, feeling constrained and inferior. These were feelings I might not have known had I not left my home country, but they forced me to see things from another perspective.
The World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development is celebrated globally on 21 May every year. It was declared by the UN General Assembly in 2002, following UNESCO's adoption of the Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity in 2001. It "celebrates not only the richness of the world's cultures, but also the essential role of intercultural dialogue for achieving peace and sustainable development." For communication scholars, this day serves as a gentle reminder to reflect on the importance of diversity in our discipline and to reassess our roles in facilitating dialogue and understanding across cultures. Let us remember that diversity is not just an abstract concept to be studied, but a reality to be lived in our everyday professional practices. At its core, promoting cultural diversity is none other than respecting our shared dignity. It reflects a commitment to human rights, aptly captured in the #ICA24 conference theme. At ICA, I become highly conscious of how different I am from others, but still feel safe, welcomed, and respected. I do hope you feel the same.