Liwei Shen

About Me

I’m a Ph.D. candidate in Communication Science in the Department of Communication Arts. My research interests primarily lie in persuasion, the cognitive and relational aspects of information processing and how information spreads. I am also interested in applying advanced statistical and computational methods to communication research (statistical modeling, network analysis, natural language processing, and parameter selection…). My current projects look into 1) collective narcissist expression on social media and political violence; 2) scaling up misinformation correction on social media; 3) understanding individuals’ misconceptions as belief networks. Besides being a graduate student, I am a recreational tennis player, a pawrent, and a radar for delicious food.

Education

B.S. in Mathematics and Communication studies, University of Michigan – Ann Arbor, 2018

M.A. in Communication Arts, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2022

Publications

Yang, S., Tao, R., Bhattar, M., Shen, L., Jones, M., Garbacz, A., & Passmore, S. R. (2023). Designing and testing social media campaign messages to promote COVID-19 vaccine confidence among rural adults: A community-engaged approach featuring rural community leader and clinician testimonials. Preventive Medicine Reports.

Okada T., Shen L. (2023) Politicized Science and Rural-Urban Divides: Exploring How Rurality and Red/Blue Media Use Affected Attitudes Toward Scientists Before/During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy.

Li, J., Tao, R., Shen, L., Yang, S. (2023) Hope Over Fear: The Effectiveness of Hope Appeal Enhancements to Debunk COVID-19 Misinformation Amid Heightened Threat. Social Science and Medicine.

Yang S., Shen L., Gregory S., Edwards D. (2023) Passmore S. Applying the Hornik & Woolf Approach to Identify Messaging Themes and Improve Healthcare Workers’ COVID-19 Vaccine Confidence. Journal of Health Communication.

Sun, L., Wei, M., Sun, Y., Suh, Y. J., Shen, L., & Yang, S. (2023). Smiling Women Pitching Down: Auditing Representational and Presentational Gender Biases in Image Generative AI. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication (accepted).

Lane, D.S., Lee, S.S., Liang, F., Kim, D.H., Shen, L., Weeks, B.E., & Kwak, N..(2019) Expression and the political self: How political expression on social media can strengthen political self concepts. Journal of Communication.