Sam Richards | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1960 (age 64–65) |
| Spouse | Laurie Mulvey [1] [2] |
| Academic background | |
| Education | University of Toledo (BA, MA) Rutgers University (PhD) |
| Thesis | Priests and praxis: Liberation theology and socioeconomic change in Ecuador (1992) |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Sociology |
| Main interests | Korean studies |
Samuel Martell Richards [3] is a sociologist and professor at Pennsylvania State University,and a distinguished professor of digital culture and content in Konkuk University. [4]
Richards was born in 1960 in Toledo,Ohio. [5] [6] During his younger years,Richards aspired to become a rock and roll star,but later found an interest in sociology after enrolling in college. [5] He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1983 and a Master of Arts degree in 1985,at the University of Toledo. He achieved his doctorate in sociology in 1992 at Rutgers University. [6] [7]
Richards married Laurie Mulvey,a Penn State graduate,in 1993. [5]
In 1990,Richards was appointed as a professor of sociology at Pennsylvania State University. [6] From 2011,he began uploading streams of his course,Sociology 119:"Race,Ethnicity,and Culture" (SOC 119),on YouTube. [6] [8] In 2018,SOC 119 was featured on "You Can't Say That",a reality TV broadcast which won the Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards in 2016. [9] [10]
In the early 2000s,Richards co-founded World in Conversation,a public diplomacy center within Penn State's College of the Liberal Arts,with Mulvey. [11] [12]
On May 25,2023,Konkuk University announced its nomination of Richards as a distinguished professor of digital culture and content. [13] On December 26,2023,Richards was nominated as a 'Kimchi Ambassador' by the World Institute of Kimchi,a South Korean government research organization under the Ministry of Science and ICT. [14]
Richards was featured in David Horowitz's 2006 book, The Professors:The 101 Most Dangerous Academics in America ,which criticized his alleged issuing of "out-of-class assignments," including the "viewing of left-wing propaganda films,such as The Oil Factor." Richards responded to these claims,citing that his students "also receive credit for attending 'conservative' events,including a talk by none other than David Horowitz" himself. [15]
In 2018, [16] Richards lectured on the rising influence of South Korean media on SOC 119,arguing that South Korean media content —citing BTS as an example—would become widely popular in the following years. [17] From 2021,Richards began gaining recognition in South Korea as a "hallyu missionary" [2] when his 2018 lecture resurfaced virally following the success of Squid Game . [17] [18] Richards has pinpointed the relative absence of violence or nudity in Korean media, [19] along with the integration of globalized digital media platforms,as the driving forces behind the emergence of the Korean Wave. [18] He has commended the enlistment of BTS members in South Korea's mandatory military service, [20] and has suggested the preservation of "Koreaness" for the long-term success of Korean content. [19]