I study media and communication to understand how power shapes the symbolic systems we use to articulate identity, coordinate interpersonal relationships, and make moral claims regarding social justice.Â
The main framework I use is communication ecology, meaning that I'm interested in the ways individuals or organizations interact with one another to facilitate social networks and build communities.
I often work with minority communities and fringe groups, whose niche networks see complicated identities emerge and constructed. My current research focuses on LGBTQ+ communities in both China and the United States.
I work as the community liaison researcher on the Stories for All initiative. Our team curates digital storytelling projects representing marginalized histories and cultures and fosters collaboration among over 50 community partners. This is the report I created for Stories for All.
The philosophy guiding my research is that knowledge production should be informed by both theoretical constructs and community experience. I benefit a lot from my journalistic background and am eager to adopt a collaborative, engaging approach to academic work. Most of my projects are interdisciplinary, transcultural while contextualized in specific cases. The topics I study range from porn to politics (there's much politics in porn, indeed).
Below are my main research areas:
Media ecology
Journalism studies
Cultural studies
Digital humanities
Public humanities and community-engaged methodology
Queer theory
Gender and sexuality studies
Science and technology studies
Discourse studies
To learn more about my projects, please check out the pages listed on the drop-down menu.