Expertise and Activities
Yizhou (Joe) Xu is a PhD candidate in Media & Cultural Studies at UW–Madison’s Department of Communication Arts. His research interest deals with the mobile tech industry in China, particularly at the intersections of platforms, labor and state policy. Prior to the UW–Madison, Joe was a documentarian and broadcast journalist based in Beijing working for new agencies including CBS News, NPR, and Swiss TV.
Education
- M.A. Media & Cultural Studies, University of Wisconsin – Madison, 2017
- B.A. History & International Relations, Bucknell University, 2010
Articles
- 2021. “Digitizing Death: Commodification of Joss Paper on Chinese Online Cemetery.” Journal of Cultural Economy, doi: 10.1080/17530350.2021.1952099
- 2018. “Programmatic Dreams: Technographic Inquiry into Censorship of Chinese Chatbots.” Social Media + Society, https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305118808780.
- 2016. “The postmodern aesthetic of Chinese online comment cultures.” Communication and the Public, 1 (4), 436-451, http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/2057047316677839.
Chapters
- Xu, Y. & Morris, J. (2021). App Radio: The Reconfiguration of Audible Publics in China through Ximalaya.FM. Edited by Guobin Yang & Wei Wang. Engaging Social Media in China: Platforms, Publics, and Production. Michigan State University Press.
Films
- The People’s Republic of Love (2015). Writer & Producer. Available for streaming on Amazon Prime
- Digital Death (2014). Writer & Producer. Swiss TV (SRF)
News
- 2011. China’s Internet Censored, But Not Silent. CBS News: World Watch.
- 2010. China’s ‘Little Emperors’ Lucky, Yet Lonely In Life. Photo/research. NPR.
Courses Taught
- CA 100: Introduction to Speech Composition
- CA 346: Critical Internet Studies
- CA 351: Television Industries