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Pauline Cheong

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Hugh Downs School Of Human Communication
Professor
Faculty, TEMPE Campus, Mailcode 1205
Hugh Downs School Of Human Communication
Professor
Faculty, TEMPE Campus, Mailcode 1205
English
Affiliated Faculty
Faculty, TEMPE Campus, Mailcode 1205
Graduate Faculty
Professor
Faculty, TEMPE Campus, Mailcode 1205
Core Faculty
Professor
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.

Dr. Cheong has published more than 70 articles and books and has received several research awards by the National Communication and 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).

Dr. 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.

CV
Binary Data Curriculum Vitae
Education

Visiting Post-Doctoral fellow, jointly awarded by the Social Science Research Council, U.S.A. & the Economic & 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

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. (in press). The vitality of new media and religion: Communicative perspectives, practices and authority in spiritual organization. New Media & Society. doi:10.1177/1461444816649913
  • Cheong, P.H. & Yang, A. (in press). Chinese non-governmental organizations, media, and culture: communication perspectives, practices, and provocations. Chinese Journal of Communication. doi: 10.1080/17544750.2017.1275084
  • Cheong, P.H. (in press). Religion and the Internet. In B. L. Warf (Ed). The SAGE Encyclopedia of the Internet. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
  • Shuter, R., Dutta, U., Cheong, P.H., Chen, Y. * & Shuter, J. * (in press). Digital Behavior of University Students in India and the U.S.: Cultural Values and Communication Technologies in the Classroom. Western Journal of Communication.
  • 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
  • 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 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
Fall 2014
Course NumberCourse Title
COM 492Honors Directed Study
COM 792Research
Summer 2014
Course NumberCourse Title
COM 792Research
Spring 2014
Course NumberCourse Title
COM 263Elements Intercultural Comm
COM 394Special Topics
COM 690Reading and Conference
COM 792Research
Fall 2013
Course NumberCourse Title
COM 263Elements Intercultural Comm
COM 394Special Topics
COM 792Research
Spring 2013
Course NumberCourse Title
COM 263Elements Intercultural Comm
COM 394Special Topics
COM 493Honors Thesis
Presentations
  • Cheong, P.H. & Gong, J. Emerging media collaboration and civic participation: Flesh search, Fresh supervision?. 96th Conference of the National Communication Association (Nov 2011).
  • Cheong, P.H. (2010). Branding religious organizations and strategic faith narratives. 11th annual International and Interdisciplinary Conference of the Association of Internet Researcher (Oct 2011).
  • Cheong, P.H. , Trethewey, A. & Clow, C. Global Transmediation of Terrorism: Narrating the "Underwear Bomber". the Global Media and the ‘War on Terror’: an international conference (Sep 2011).
  • Cheong, P.H. & Clow, C. (2010). Understanding the Digital Transmediation of Terrorism: (Re)presentation of the "Underwear Bomber" in new and social media. Terrorism and New Media: Building a Research Network conference (Sep 2011).
  • Cheong, P.H. The im/materiality of terrorism: Addressing the political and cultural implications of (counter) narratives in strategic communication. 60th annual International Communication Association conference (Jun 2011).
  • Cheong, P.H. & Goodall, H.L. Addressing Challenges of Multidisciplinary Research: Resolving Story, Coding, and Transmediation Literatures and Methods. 96th Conference of the National Communication Association (Nov 2010).
  • Cheong, P.H., Huang, S. & Poon, J. Online and Offline Pathways to Enlightenment: (Re)legitimizing authority and regulations in Buddhist organizations. 7th Conference of Media, Religion and Culture, (Aug 2010).
  • Kong, J.Y., Cheong, P.H. & Trethewey, A. (2010). Megachurches.com: Religious Organizations and Faith Brand Community Building Online. 60th annual International Communication Association conference (Jun 2010).
  • Lundry, C. & Cheong, P.H. (2010). The Gendered Construction and Transmediation of a Terrorist’s Life Story. 60th annual International Communication Association conference (Jun 2010).
  • Cheong, P.H. & Martin, J. (2010). Online Outsiders within: A critical cultural approach to digital inclusion. Cultural Attitudes towards Technology and Communication conference (Jun 2010).
  • Cheong, P.H. (2010). Understanding terrorism related stories: Prosumption and Transmediation in new and social media. Qualitative Research in Management and Organization Conference (Apr 2010).
  • Sanderson, J. & Cheong, P.H. Tweeting Prayers and Communicating Grief over Michael Jackson Online. Western States Communication Association (Mar 2010).
  • Cheong, P.H. (2010). The Ethics of Social Media. Invited lecture presented at the 23rd Annual David C. Bicker Communication Ethics Conference (Mar 2010).
  • Lundry, C. & Cheong, P.H. (2010). Rumor and Strategic Communication across Old and New Media in Southeast Asia: the Case of Terrorist Noordin Top. Political and Social Impact of Rumors (Feb 2010).
  • Cheong, P.H. (2010). Twitter of Faith: Understanding Web 2.0 and microblogging rituals as religious practices. the Church and Mission in a Multireligious Third Millennium conference, (Feb 2010).
  • Lundry, C. & Cheong, P.H. Rumour and Strategic Communication across Old and New Media in Southeast Asia: the Case of Terrorist Noordin Top. the Political and Social Impact of Rumors workshop (Feb 2010).
  • Lagoe, C. & Cheong, P.H. To Professor@University.edu: Student-Instructor online and offline communication, email expectations and academic performance. National Communication Association conference (Nov 2009).
  • Cheong, P.H., & Poon, J.P. Weaving webs of faith: Examining Internet use and religious communication among Chinese protestant transmigrants. the International Communication Association conference, (May 2009).
  • Cheong, P.H., Brooks-Bertram, P.A., & Nevergold, B. A. econdary Digital divides and Online Outsiders within: Reexamining health Internet use and dialectical tensions among African American women. Western States Communication Association Conference (Mar 2009).
  • Karras, E. & Cheong, P.H. Examining new media use and interability communication. the International Communication Association conference, (Feb 2009).
  • Lin, W.Y, Cheong, P.H., Kim, Y.C. & Jung, J.Y. Investigating and Comparing Youths' New Media Connections in five East Asian cities. the Association of Internet Researchers Conference, (Oct 2008).
  • Lin, W.Y, Cheong, P.H., Kim, Y.C. & Jung, J.Y. Investigating and Comparing Youths' New Media Connections in five East Asian cities. Paper presented at the Association of Internet Researchers Conference, (Oct 2008).
  • Karras, E. & Cheong, P.H. An examination of the communicative behaviors and digital divides among the Deaf. the International Communication Association Conference, (May 2008).
  • Lackaff, D. & Cheong. P.H. On whose authority: Examining Internet credibility among college students. International Communication Association Conference, (May 2008).
  • Cheong, P.H. E-Cohesion? The Internet and social cohesion in wired cities. International conference on theoretical perspectives on social cohesion and social capital (May 2008).
  • Cheong, P.H. ,Poon, J., Huang, S. & Casas, I. The Internet Highway and Religious Communities: Mapping and Contesting Spaces in Religion-Online. Annual meeting of the American Association of Geographers (Apr 2008).
  • Cheong, P.H. & Poon, J. Non-state legal orders and religious communities. The annual regional sociolegal studies Conference, (May 2007).
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 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.

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

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