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Dongwook Kim, PhD, MSW, LGSW, MA

Dongwook Kim, PhD, MSW, LGSW, MA

Assistant Professor
Social Work

Education

  • PhD Arizona State University
  • MSW University of Minnesota Twin Cities
  • MA University of London, King's College
  • BSc Korea National Open University
  • BA Korea University

Biography

Dr. Dongwook Kim currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Social Work in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work at the University of South Alabama. He holds a B.A in English and Political Science from Korea University. He earned his master’s in Conflict, Security, and Development at King’s College London as a Chevening Scholar. He obtained his MSW from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and a doctorate in Social Work from Arizona State University.

Before entering social work education and scholarship, Dr. Kim spent over a decade working in global nonprofits and human service settings. His roles included Child Protection Officer, Program Coordinator, and Country Director with NGOs in South Sudan, South Korea, and Rwanda. Dr. Kim also led needs assessments and program evaluation efforts for various initiatives in Ethiopia and Tanzania.

Dr. Kim’s research interests primarily lie in the areas of behavioral health, particularly stigma reduction and resilience building in social work settings and within public health establishments in relation to chronic infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS. Additionally, his research explores disaster risk reduction and care continuity to foster resilience among vulnerable populations. Collaborating with interdisciplinary teams, Dr. Kim is dedicated to advancing health equity and disaster preparedness for Gulf Coast residents navigating compounding public health and environmental crises. Methodologically, he employs advanced quantitative modeling, qualitative inquiry, and computational social science approaches to address pressing social problems.

Selected Publications

  • Kim, D., Beltran, R., Sevillano, L., Cordero, L., Hong, C., Garner, A., Howell, S., & Holloway, I. (2026). Freedom of movement, social support, and psychological wellbeing: Resilience against COVID-19 related loneliness among sexual minority men living in high versus low LGBT acceptance countries. Journal of Sexual and Gender Diversity in Social Services, 38(3), 419-442. https://doi.org/10.1080/29933021.2026.2680113
  • Kim, J., Yoon, Y., Kim, D., Lee, J., & Lee, H. Y. (2026). Associations between social technology use and social engagement: A race- and ethnicity-stratified analysis among older adults. Journal of Social Service Research, 1-17. Research. https://doi.org/10.1080/01488376.2026.2643587
  • Jung, W., Kim, S., Kim, D., Sihombing, A., Tabar, M., & Lee, D. (2026). From crowdsourced data to policy design: Monitoring and forecasting homeless tents. EPJ Data Science, 15(32). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjds/s13688-026-00631-8
  • Lee, H. Y., Lee, L. H., Kim, D., Yoon, Y. J., Noh, H., Gong, J., & Jones, S. (2026). Does gender moderate the relationship between depressive symptoms and non-household transportation use? Findings from a cross sectional study in rural Alabama. Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspective, 36. 101893. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trip.2026.101893
  • Kim, D., Peri, A., & Marker, N. (2025). Leveraging clinical decision support to improve depression screening and follow-up: Insights from a quality improvement case study. BMJ Family Medicine and Community Health, 13, e003426. https://doi.org/10.1136/fmch-2025-003426

Courses

  • Social Welfare Policy
  • Generalist Practice Ⅱ