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Pauline Cheong

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Hugh Downs School Of Human Communication
Professor and Director of Engagement and Innovation
Faculty w/Admin Appointment, TEMPE Campus, Mailcode 1205
Center For Asian Research
Affiliated Faculty
Faculty, TEMPE Campus, Mailcode 1205
English
Affiliated Faculty
Faculty, TEMPE Campus, Mailcode 1205
Affiliate Faculty, Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict
Professor
Faculty, TEMPE Campus, Mailcode 1205
Sustainability Scientists and Scholars
Senior Sustainability Scientist
Faculty, TEMPE Campus, Mailcode 1205
Biography

Pauline Cheong studies the complex interactions between communication technologies and different cultural communities around the world.  She believes that invisible yet powerful cultural and communicative forces make up how we interact and organize with digital media, to impact participation and power in society.

Her recent grant funded projects related to changing knowledge, authority and leadership practices examine how clergy and teachers maintain the interest of their students and congregations when the use of mobile and social media is so prevalent.   Another of her interests concerns how religious groups use technology to interact and form local and global communities. She has investigated how communication technologies facilitate and constrain relations within cyber-vigilante groups and rumor-mongers. She has also documented how underserved and youth populations experience multiple digital divides.

Cheong has published more than 80 articles and books and has received research awards by the National Communication Association, Western Communication Association, and the International Communication Association. She is often invited to teach and speak in Asia, North America and Europe.

In 2016, she received the Zebulon Pearce Distinguished Teaching Award in the Social Sciences, the highest teaching honor in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. She has also received the Master Teacher Award (Western States Communication Association), and the Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award (Faculty Women's Association, ASU).

Cheong serves on national and international boards and committees, and has chaired doctoral colloquiums for the Association of Internet Researchers and the International Society of Media, Religion & Culture. At ASU’s Center for Asian Research, she is co-director of @AsiaMediated: Interdisciplinary research and teaching innovation, funded by the U.S. Department of Education.

Education
  • Visiting Postdoctoral Fellow. Jointly award by the Social Science Research Council, U.S.A. and the Economic and Social Research Council, U.K.
  • Ph.D. Communication, University of Southern California
  • M.A. Communication, University of Southern California
  • B.S. Communication, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Research Website
http://www.drpaulinecheong.com
Research Interests

communication technologies and culture, authority and community, religion, globalization

Publications

Recent and selected works:

  • Cheong, P.H. (2018). Religion and the Internet. In B. L. Warf (Ed). The SAGE Encyclopedia of the Internet, 725-729. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781473960367.n214
  • Dutta, U., Cheong, P.H. & Shuter, R. (2018). Contemporary gurus in Indian classrooms: Changing professorial authority and cultural tensions in managing digital connectivity. International Journal of Communication, 12, 1369-1388.
  • Cheong, P.H. (2017). The vitality of new media and religion: Communicative perspectives, practices and authority in spiritual organization. New Media & Society, 19(1), 25-33. doi:10.1177/1461444816649913
  • Cheong, P.H. & Yang, A. (2017). Chinese non-governmental organizations, media, and culture: communication perspectives, practices, and provocations. Chinese Journal of Communication, 10 (1), 1-11. doi: 10.1080/17544750.2017.1275084 
  • Shuter, R., Dutta, U., Cheong, P.H., Chen, Y. & Shuter, J. (2017). Digital Behavior of University Students in India and the U.S.: Cultural Values and Communication Technologies in the Classroom, 1-21. Western Journal of Communication, 82(2), 160-180.  https://doi.org/10.1080/10570314.2017.1294703
  • Cheong, P.H., Shuter, R. & Jittaporn, T. (2016). Managing student digital distractions and hyperconnectivity: Communication strategies and challenges for professorial authority. Communication Education, 65 (3), 272-289.  doi:10.1080/03634523.2016.1159317
  • Cheong, P.H. (2016). Religious authority and social media branding in a culture of religious celebrification. In S. Hoover (Ed). The Media and Religious Authority. (pp.81-104) PA: Penn State University Press.
  • Shuter, R., Cheong, P.H., & Chen, Y. (2016). The influence of cultural values on US and Danish students' digital behavior: Exploring culture, new media, and social context. Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, 9 (2), 161-178. doi:10.1080/17513057.2016.1154183
  • Brummans, H.J.M., Cheong, P.H. & Hwang, J.M. (2016). Faith-based non-governmental environmental organizing in action: Veroes' campaigning for vegetarianism and mindful food consumption. International Journal of Communication, 10, 4807-4829.
  • Cheong, P.H. & Arasa, D. (2015). Religion. In L. Cantoni & J. Danowski (Eds.) Handbooks of Communication Science. Vol 5. Communication and Technology (pp. 455-466). Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton.
  • Cheong P.H., Brummans H.J.M., & Hwang J.M. (2015). Researching religious authority in organizations from a communicative perspective: A connective online-offline approach. In Contractor S, Shakkour S (Ed.), Digital Methodologies in the Sociology of Religion (pp. 137-146). London: Bloomsbury.
  • Cheong, P.H. & Chen, Y. (2015). Memetic Engagement as Middle Path Resistance: Contesting Mainland Chinese Immigration and Social Cohesion. In W. Chen & S. Reese (Eds.), Networked China: Global Dynamics of Digital Media and Civic Engagement (pp. 93-124). NY: Routledge.
  • Cheong, P.H. (2014). Tweet the message? Religious authority and social media innovation. Journal of Religion, Media and Digital Culture, 3 (3), 1-19. http://www.jrmdc.com/journal/article/view/27. Lead Article.
  • Cheong, P.H., Hwang, J.M. & Brummans, H.J.M. (2014). Transnational immanence: The autopoietic co-constitution of a Chinese spiritual organization through mediated communication. Information, Communication & Society, 17 (1), 7-25. Lead Article.
  • Cheong, P.H. (2014). Religion and the Internet: Understanding digital religion, social media and culture.  In G. Laderman & L. Leon (Eds). Religion and American Cultures. An Encyclopedia of Traditions, Diversity and Popular Expressions (pp. 1215-1236). Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO.
  • Cheong, P.H. & Lundry, C. (2012). Prosumption, transmediation and resistance: Terrorism and man-hunting in Southeast Asia. American Behavioral Scientist, 56 (4), 488-510.
  • Cheong, P.H., Huang, S.H., & Poon, J.P.H. (2011). Religious communication and epistemic authority of leaders in wired faith organizations. Journal of Communication, 61 (5), 938-958.
  • Cheong, P.H., Huang, S.H., & Poon, J.P.H (2011). Cultivating online and offline pathways to enlightenment: Religious authority in wired Buddhist organizations. Information, Communication & Society, 14 (8), 1160-1180.
  • Cheong, P.H., & Halverson, J. F. (2010). Youths in violent extremist discourse: Mediated identifications and interventions. Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, 33 (12), 1104-1123.
  • Cheong, P.H. & Gong, J. (2010). Cyber vigilantism, transmedia collective intelligence, and civic participation.  Chinese Journal of Communication, 3 (4), 471-487. 
  • Sanderson, J. & Cheong, P.H. (2010). Tweeting prayers and communicating grief over Michael Jackson online. Bulletin of Science, Technology, & Society, 30 (5), 328-340.
  • Cheong, P.H., Poon, J.P.H., Huang, S.H., Casas, I. (2009). The Internet highway and religious communities: Mapping and contesting spaces in religion-online. The Information Society, 25 (5), 291-302. Lead Article.
  • Cheong, P.H. & Poon, J.P.H. (2009). Weaving webs of faith:  Examining Internet use and religious communication among Chinese Protestant transmigrants. Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, 2(3), 189-207. Lead Article. Top Research Paper.
  • Cheong, P.H. & Poon, J.P.H. (2008). ‘WWW.Faith.Org’: (Re)structuring communication and social capital building among religious organizations. Information, Communication and Society, 11 (1), 89-110.
  • Cheong, P.H., Halavis, A. & Kwon, K.H.* (2008) The chronicles of me: Understanding blogging as a religious practice. Journal of Media and Religion, 7, 107-131. Lead Article.
  • Cheong, P.H. (2008). The young and techless? Internet use and problem solving behaviors among young adults in Singapore. New Media and Society, 10 (5), 771-791.
  • Cheong, P.H., Edwards, R., Goulbourne, H. & Solomos, J. (2007) Immigration, social capital, and social cohesion: A critical review. Critical Social Policy, 27 (1), 24- 49.
Research Activity
Fall 2019
Course NumberCourse Title
COM 263Elements Intercultural Comm
COM 799Dissertation
Summer 2019
Course NumberCourse Title
COM 799Dissertation
Spring 2019
Course NumberCourse Title
COM 394Special Topics
COM 499Individualized Instruction
COM 598Special Topics
COM 792Research
COM 799Dissertation
Fall 2018
Course NumberCourse Title
COM 263Elements Intercultural Comm
COM 394Special Topics
COM 799Dissertation
Summer 2018
Course NumberCourse Title
COM 799Dissertation
Spring 2018
Course NumberCourse Title
COM 598Special Topics
COM 691Seminar
COM 792Research
COM 799Dissertation
Fall 2017
Course NumberCourse Title
COM 394Special Topics
COM 493Honors Thesis
COM 799Dissertation
Summer 2017
Course NumberCourse Title
COM 792Research
COM 799Dissertation
Spring 2017
Course NumberCourse Title
COM 394Special Topics
COM 492Honors Directed Study
COM 690Reading and Conference
COM 792Research
COM 799Dissertation
Fall 2016
Course NumberCourse Title
COM 263Elements Intercultural Comm
COM 394Special Topics
COM 792Research
COM 799Dissertation
Summer 2016
Course NumberCourse Title
COM 690Reading and Conference
COM 799Dissertation
Spring 2016
Course NumberCourse Title
COM 263Elements Intercultural Comm
COM 394Special Topics
COM 493Honors Thesis
COM 792Research
COM 799Dissertation
Fall 2015
Course NumberCourse Title
COM 394Special Topics
COM 492Honors Directed Study
COM 691Seminar
COM 792Research
Summer 2015
Course NumberCourse Title
COM 799Dissertation
Spring 2015
Course NumberCourse Title
COM 493Honors Thesis
COM 792Research
COM 799Dissertation
Honors / Awards

Master Teacher Award, Communication and Instruction interest group, Western States Communication Association, 2017

Zebulon Pearce Distinguished Teaching Award in the Social Sciences, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, 2015-2016

Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award, Faculty Women's Association, Arizona State University, 2016

Outstanding co-authored Book Award of the Year, International and Intercultural Communication Division, National Communication Association, 2013

Exceptional scientific achievement group research award, Human Social Culture Behavior Modeling Program, Office of Naval Research, 2011

Top 4 Paper Award. Environmental Communication Division, National Communication Association, 2018.

Top 3 Paper Award. Environmental Communication Interest Group, Western States Communication Association, 2017. 

Top Faculty Paper Award, Global Communication and Social Change Division, International Communication Association, 2009

Applied & Public Policy Group Research Award, International Communication Association, 2009

Editorships

Editorial board, Journal of Communication

Editorial board, Western Journal of Communication

Editorial board, Journal of Religion, Media and Digital Culture

Service

Graduate Mentoring Activities

Founding Chair & Mentor, Inaugural Doctoral Colloquium, International Society of Media, Religion & Culture conference, Seoul, Korea, August 1, 2016.

Chair & Senior Mentor, Doctoral Colloquium, Association of Internet Researchers Conference, Phoenix, USA, October 21, 2015

Top Scholar Mentor and Respondent, International and Intercultural Communication Division, National Communication Association Conference, Honors Graduate Student Seminar, Chicago, USA, November 22, 2014.

Tutor, Oxford Internet Institute Summer Doctoral Program, University of Oxford. Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, China, July 7-21 2005.

Undergraduate Mentoring Activities

Disciplinary Faculty, Honors Thesis Director & Advisor, Barrett, The Honors College

Faculty Mentor, President Barack Obama Scholars program

Faculty Mentor, Undergraduate Research Fellows Program, The Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict

Chair, Undergraduate Summer Enrichment Award, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

Journal and Conference reviewing Activities

Journal reviewer for:

New Media and Society, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Information, Communication and Society, Journal of Communication, Journal of Religion, Media and Digital Culture, Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, Journal of Health Communication, The Open Communication Journal, Women's Studies International Forum, Political Studies, International Sociology, Progress in Development Studies, Australian Religion Studies Review, Journal of Applied Communication Research, Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, Western Journal of Communication, Social Science and Computer Review, Australian Journal of Communication, Feminist Media Studies, Mobile Media & Communication, Asian Communication Research, Language and Intercultural Communication, Chinese Journal of Communication, Religions, Church, Communication and Culture, International Journal of Communication. 

Conference Paper reviewer for:

Association of Internet Researchers, International Society of Media, Religion & Culture, Cultural Attitudes towards Technology and Communication, Western States Communication Association, National Communication Association, International Communication Association.

University Service

College Marshal, University undergraduate commencement ceremony, May 9th, 2016

Speaker, A.T. Steele Lecture, Center for Asian Research, April 5th, 2016

Chair, Council for Southeast Asia, Arizona State University, 2015-2016

Executive Committee, Center for Asian Research, Arizona State University, 2012-2016

Consultant, Center of the Study of Religion and Conflict, Arizona State University, Difficult Dialogues Initiative, funded by the Ford Foundation.

School Committees

- Chair of the Academic Program (7 year) Review Committee, Chair of the Honors Program Committee

- Personnel (Promotion & Tenure), Job Search, International PhD Student Concerns, Globalization of Graduate students, Graduate Faculty Council.

Expertise Areas
Communication Technologies
Intercultural Communication
Digital Media
Globalization
Human Dimensions of Science and Technology
Science and Religion