Mi-Young Kim earned her Ph.D. in Language and Literacy Education at UBC and M.A. in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her dissertation topic as well as her main research focus is on academic socialization of second language learners, particularly those who studied English as a foreign language and are from a different academic culture. Her other research and teaching interests include sociolinguistics, especially on the topic of identity and ideology of language learners, academic writing, translation, TESL, English for Academic Purposes (EAP), among many others.

“Fad, fashion, or fit?”

The Atkins diet, K-pop, fidget spinner, Pokémon Go, virtual reality games, mindfulness, body modification, and media hype of certain news… what do these have in common? They were (or are) once a fad. When does a fad become a fashion and finally settle as a “fit”? (or does it?) Which one of these has informational social influence or normative social influence? How does this particular type of social influence affect us as producers, distributors, and/or consumers? In this section of WRDS150, we will address some of these questions and explore how a fad shapes and forms our identities and values. We will also become familiar with the conventions of academic writing and the basic premise of research,  as well as participate in academic conversations through our own research on the topic of “fad, fashion, or fit”.

A selection of unabridged, peer-reviewed scholarly articles on the topic from several disciplinary perspectives including but not limited to media studies, socioeconomics, science, and psychology will help us see how scholarly texts with various research methods and writing styles can produce different types of knowledge and understanding of this particular type of social influence.