I’m a professor in the Department of Communication at University of Illinois at Chicago. My research focuses on examining how new forms of communication and technology mediate various social institutions and cultural practices. My work on online privacy, cyber nationalism, digital cultural production, digital infrastructure and platform, and other related topics have been published in leading journals in the broad interdisciplinary field of communication, including Journal of Communication, New Media & Society, Information, Communication & Society, Mass Communication & Society, Journalism Studies, Asian Journal of Communication, and Chinese Journal of communication.
I earned my Ph.D. in Media, Technology, & Society from Northwestern University and held visiting and fellowship appointments with the University of Freiburg (2023), the University of Copenhagen (2020), and London School of Economics and Political Science (2015). Over the years, my research has been enriched by my interdisciplinary and international collaborative networks and supported by many prestigious research institutes including Chiang Ching-kuo foundation, Kaifeng Foundation, Social Science Research Council, U.S. 21-Century Institute, UIC’s Institute of Public Civic Engagement, the Institute for the Humanities, and Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy.
Beyond work, I migrate between Chicago, Copenhagen, and Beijing, enjoying frequently shifting scenes and fresh perspectives.
BOOKS
2021, University of Toronto Press
Outstanding book of The National Communication Association’s Asian Pacific American Caucus and Communication Studies Division
2024, Michigan State University Press
Within the broad interdisciplinary field of mediated communication, digital technology, and social change, my research has focused on three areas: 1) understanding communication and media practices in relation to their socio-political contexts and cultural histories, 2) explicating symbolic representation and cultural (re)production in structural and institutional contexts of power 3) examining local technological developments in the broad political economy of global capitalism. With empirical sites both in the U.S., China, and other Asian societies, these cross-fertilized areas reflect my broad comparative perspective that draws on diverse theoretical traditions, methodological approaches, and collaborative enterprises, to cover a wide range of research questions.
More publications can be found here on academic.com.
Yuan, E. J. (2024) Making virtual celebrity: Platformization and intermediation in digital cultural production. International Journal of Cultural Studies.
Zhang, L. & Yuan, E. J. (2022). Entrepreneurs in China’s “Silicon Valley”: State-led financialization and mass entrepreneurship/innovation.” Information, Communication & Society, 26(2), 286-303. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2022.2155486
Wu, Q., Liu, X., & Yuan, E. J. (2021). Debating the two-child policy: The role of social media in China. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 65(5), 699-723. doi:10.1080/08838151.2021.1999957
Yuan, E. J. (2021). Governing risk society: The socio-technological experiences of China and South Korea in the COVID-19 pandemic. Asian Journal of Communication, 31(5), 322-336. doi:10.1080/01292986.2021.1913620
Yuan, E. J., Feng, M., & Liu, X. (2017). The r/evolution of civic engagement: An exploratory network analysis of the Facebook groups of Occupy Chicago. Information, Communication and Society. DOI 10.1080/1369118X.2017.1371786
Yuan, E. J., & Ksiazek, T. (2015). A Network Analytic Approach to Audience Behavior and Market Structure: The Case of China and the United States. Mass Communication & Society, 18(1), 58-78. DOI: 10.1080/15205436.2013.879667
Yuan, E. J. (2015). The new political of mediated activism in China: A critical review. In W. Chen & S. D. Reese (eds.), Networked China: Global Dynamics of Digital Media and Civic Engagement (pp.214-230). New York: Routledge.
Feng, M. & Yuan, E. J. (2014). Public opinion in Chinese social media: The Diaoyu Islands dispute on Sina Weibo. In T. A. Hollihan (ed.), The Dispute over the Diaoyou/Senkaku Islands: How Media Narratives Shape Public Opinion and Challenge the Global Order (pp.266-281). New York: Palgrave.
Yuan, E. J., #Feng, M., & Danowski, J. A. (2013). “Privacy” in semantic networks on Chinese social media: The case of Sina Weibo. Journal of Communication, 63(6), 1011-1131. 10.1111/jcom.12058
Yuan, E. J. (2013). Online journalism in social transformations: A community structure approach. Journalism Studies, 14(1), 78-93. DOI: 10.1080/1461670X.2012.679861