Zhenting(Christina) HE’s Curriculum Vitae

Research Interests #

I am interested in cultural studies, particularly in the interplay between technology and culture. My recent work focuses on the critical analysis of digital media culture and digital activism. Methodologically, I am primarily trained in qualitative research, employing semi-structured depth interview and analyzing empirical materials through thematic analysis informed by grounded theory. Other ongoing interests include digital journalism, gender studies and comparative-historical methods.

Personal Information #

Educational Background #

  1. M.A. in Journalism and Communication Shenzhen University, China, 2022-2025

  2. Visiting student in Cultural and Social Anthropology Philipps University of Marburg, Germany, 2024-2025

  3. B.A. in Journalism (Journalism/Radio and Television Studies) Jiangxi Normal University, China, 2018-2022

Contact Details #

Website: zhentinghe.com
Emails: heyzhenting@gmail.com; zhentinghe@proton.me
Phone/WhatsApp: 49-015231658290
Mobile: 86-15920892958

Publication #

Huang, W., He, Z., Zhao, Q., & Chang, J., Public Trust and Community Develpment: A Review of Communication Research in 2023, Press, 2024, (01), 32-48. 【Chinese Social Sciences Citation Index】
This article uses the LDA topic model to conduct a comprehensive and detailed review of global communication research in 2023 and summarizes the core issues and evolving patterns of the current theoretical development of communication studies. Through topic clustering and text mining of 2210 academic papers, this article distills six major sections and 19 themes of journalism research this year and analyzes representative literature under different themes. This article finds three core characteristics of global communication research in 2023: exploring how public trust is reaffirmed and reconstructed in the digital media ecosystem; interpreting the close relationship between digital media technology and the development of different types of communities; concerning people’s physical and mental health and spiritual well-being in the digital information environment. This article believes that in an era of highly integrated concepts and experiences, overly refined typological systems and sectoral consciousness have become obstacles to theoretical growth. Communication academia must make changes to the sociology-political science binary that dominates its development to realize real growth.

Peer-reviewed Conference Presentations #

  1. He, Z. 2024. Aesthetics as an Invisible Power: A Chronological Examination Based on Youth’ s Cultural Consumption of Celebrities. Paper Presented at the 107th Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication(AEJMC), Philadelphia, America.
    As one of the most prevalent symbols in media culture, celebrity has an equally important influence on the aesthetic culture of society at large. Based on this, this study conducted in-depth interviews with 27 individuals from different generations, aiming to reveal the changes in the consumption of celebrity symbols by Chinese youth, and to explore the role of aesthetic power in this field. It is found that the changes in individuals’ aesthetic experiences not only reflect the ideologies and social disciplines of different eras, but also the process of consumers adjusting their aesthetics for greater exchange value. This paper asserts that the process of celebrity consumption is an intertwining of aesthetic change and fantasy overflow in reality, reflecting the complex aesthetic mechanisms and cultural dynamics in consumer society.

  2. He, Z. 2024. Relational Practices of Digital Mourning Through the Lens of Continuing Bonds. Paper Presented at the 107th Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication(AEJMC), Philadelphia, America.
    This study explores the changes in the object, time, and space of digital mourning relative to traditional mourning, as well as the role of technology and its impact on socio-emotional connections. Through semi-structured in-depth interviews with 35 individuals who honored non-family members and friends on social media, the study found that the object of digital mourning extends to non-family members, that mourning is not strictly limited in time, and can be instantaneous or continuous; and that spatially it occurs in virtual space, breaking down physical spatial constraints. The spread of technology, the expansion of social networks, and the convenience of social media are the main drivers.

  3. He, Z. 2024. Research on the Female Images in Hou Hsiao-hsien’ s Films. Paper Presented at the 2024 International Association for Media and Communication Research(IAMCR), Christchurch, New Zealand.
    This paper employs textual analysis as the primary research method, examining the portrayal of women in the 19 films directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien and categorizing it into two distinct groups: women within the family and women in society. It then proceeds to interpret and refine these portrayals through the use of comparison and analogical analysis, as well as dialectical thinking to elucidate the differences and similarities in the representation of female images and the characterization under the mapping of female images.

Undereviewed Paper #

  1. He, Z. The Work Ethic of Chinese Digital Feminists: From the Neoliberalism Perspective
    In this essay, I employ online ethnographic study and in-depth interviews with 35 Chinese digital feminists to illustrate how digital feminists in China respondto neoliberal conditions and how they sustain their activism despite a lack of unanimous support within their own groups. My analysis indicates that digital feminists in China have employed public interest activities as a cultural instrument tochallenge the advancement of global neoliberalism. Consequently, they have progressively investigated the formulation of a feminist cultural politics that is alignedwith the political and commercial contexts of China.

  2. He, Z. Finding Positive Elements in a Negative Ecology: Based on Field Observations of Gender NGOs in China
    This paper employs a mixed-methods approach, integrating data from two sources: participatory observation of two gender NGOs in X City from April to October 2024 and global feminist oral interviews. This integration allows for a comprehensive examination of the existential landscape of contemporary gender NGOs in China. The analysis is grounded in a continuous and three-dimensional view of contemporary feminist history in China.

  3. He, Z. Affective Mechanisms in Digital Journalism: What is Possible and What is Doable
    This paper examines the characteristics of different disciplines to review the literature on “digital journalism”, “emotion/affect” and “emotional/affective research in digital journalism”. It highlights the importance of emotional mechanisms in digital journalism from both theoretical and epistemological perspectives. Building on this foundation, the paper analyzes and summarizes existing research on emotional mechanisms within the global academic community, focusing on the levels of journalism production, distribution, and reception.

Ongoing Project #

The empathy machine under the perspective of platform capitalism: based on a study of disadvantaged groups with disabilities in Douyin

Academic Serivice #

  1. Manuscript Reviewer, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), April - May, 2024
  2. Student Assistant to the Organiser, Annual Conference on Digital Journalism in China, May, 2024
  3. Assistant to the Organiser, Tencent Global Digital Ecosystem Summit, September, 2024

Research Experiences #

Digital Media Culture Lab, Shenzhen University #

Student Research Assistant, Feburary,2023 - August, 2024 #

  1. Participated in four research projects focusing on media discourse and national narratives. My main work covered the entire research process, including literature review, data collection/interviews, empirical analysis, and final writing revisions.These projects gave me a broad understanding of communication dynamics, improved my knowledge of different research methods, and confirmed my decision to focus on qualitative research. In addition to my advisor Jiang CHANG, the project faculty includes Wensen HUANG (assistant professor at Shenzhen University) and Hao TIAN (Young Associate Research Fellow at Fudan University).
  2. Managed the influential academic public platform “Media Culture Review” launched by my advisor, and as of August 2024, the account has 27,674 subscribers in China. Through this training, I have developed a better academic taste for the research directions of digital media culture and digital journalism, opened up international perspectives and learned to keep a close eye on international cutting-edge developments and seminars.
  3. Assisted my advisor in the revision of academic papers and research proposals, ensuring clarity, coherence, and adherence to academic publishing standards, which helps me a lot about English academic writing skills.

National Survey Reseach Center, Renmin University of China #

Remote Internship Project Assistant, April - September, 2021 #

  1. Participated in interviews for five of China’ s large research projects, including topics such as the Winter Olympics, carbon neutrality, and student employment.Through these projects, I learned the importance of scheduling interviews and being sincere, polite, and confident. This experience helped me build a strong foundation for conducting interviews in my qualitative research.
  2. Conducted result analyses on various project questionnaires, by utilizing STATA and SPSS data analysis software, significantly enhancing my statistical knowledge and data analysis skills. This experience has empowered me to read academic articles related to these methods with greater ease and comprehension.

Awards and Fellowships #

  1. 2023-2024 National Scholarship (Top 0.2% ), Ministry of Education of the People’ s Republic of China
  2. 2022-2023 Top-level Academic Scholarship , Shenzhen University
  3. 2018-2022 Outstanding Students Scholarship (Top 1%, fourth) , Jiangxi Normal University
  4. 2022 Honours Degree & Outstanding Graduates, Jiangxi Normal University
  5. 2021 Honorable Mention of Art Design, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of Chinathe People’ s Republic of China
  6. 2021 Outstanding Volunteer(Top 0.7%), Jiangxi Normal University
  7. 2021 National Second Prize for Videography, Academy Award of Advertising Arts Festival
  8. 2021 National Second Prize for Visualization Design, Chinese Collegiate Computing Competition
  9. 2020 Best in Arts and Culture News Reporting, Campus Newspaper Award, China Daily Asia
  10. 2019 National Second Prize, National English Competition for College Students

Skills #

Professional Skills #

  1. Data analysis: NVIVO (Proficient), MAXQDA (Proficient), SPSS (Intermediate), STATA (Intermediate)
  2. Languages: Mandarin(native), Hakka (Native), English (Proficient), Korean (Intermediate), German (Elementary)

Additional Skills & Interests #

  1. Applications: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Premiere, Final Cut Pro, Davinci Resolve
  2. Specialties & hobbies: Guzheng (Level 8 Certificate), Trap, Swimming, Detective (thriller-mystery) movies

Last modified on 0001-01-01