Lili Shi
(She/Her)
Professor of Communication Studies at CUNY Kingsborough
Dr. Lili Shi is a professor of communication studies at the Department of Communication and Performing Arts of Kingsborough Community College at the City University of New York. She grew up in Southwest China’s Yunnan Province as a descendant of Yi ethnic group. She studied communication and culture at Arizona State University (MA, 2006) and Howard University (Ph.D. 2010). Her teaching and research focus on an interdisciplinary approach to study gender, space, identity, diaspora, and transnationalism in Brooklyn Chinatown(s). She serves on the editorial board of Women’s Studies Quarterly (WSQ) and on the board of CUNY’s Asian American and Asian Research Institute (AAARI). She’s an awardee of CUNY’s Black Race and Ethnic Studies Initiative (BRESI) grant, and served as a fellow at the Committee on Globalization and Social Change at the Graduate Center of CUNY.
Contact
(718)-368-5179
Education
- Howard University, Ph.D. in Communication Studies, 2010
- Arizona State University, MA in Communication Studies, 2006
- Ningbo University (中国浙江宁波大学, P.R. China), BA in English, 2003
Publications
“Meandering through the intersections and gaps: An intercultural exploration of feminist mothering as a transnational migrant academic mom”. In A. O’Reilly, V. Bailey, and F. J. Green (Eds.) Coming into Being: Mothers on Finding and Realizing Feminism. Demeter Press. Summer 2023.
“From transnational to translocal: An autoethnography of (re)searching Chineseness in the diaspora”. In M. Victoria (Ed.) Researching Transculturally. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Fall 2022.
“Asian Diasporas”. Co-edited with Yadira Perez Hazel. A special issue of WSQ (Women’s Studies Quarterly), Spring/Summer 2019.
“Locating Feminism in Asian Diasporas: An Introduction”. In “Asian Diasporas”. Co-edited with Yadira Perez Hazel. A special issue of WSQ (Women’s Studies Quarterly), Spring/Summer 2019.
“On reproducing Chineseness as diaspora: An authoethnography of transnational pregnancy as a Chinese immigrant woman. Journal of Mother Studies, 4, Fall 2019.
“Gender and Space: Negotiating Identities as Young Adults through Neighborhoods of New York City”. In N, S. Gordon (Ed.) GenderSpectives: Reflections on Gender from a Communication Point-of-View. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2017.
“Race, Gender, and Diasporic Belonging: A Critical Interpretive Study on Chinese Immigrant Women’s Lived Experiences of Transnational Maternity in Brooklyn Chinatown”. The Journal of Mother Studies, 1, September 2016.
“Imagining a Diasporic Confucian Feminist Ethos: An Interpretive Study of Chinese Immigrant Women’s Acculturation Narratives”. China Media Research, 10(4), November 2014
“Communication Ethics: a Gandhian Perspective” (with William Starosta). China Media Research, 3(4) November 2007.
Positions
Projects
- Digitizing the Diaspora: Chinatown Mothers’ Pandemic Feminist Organizing through WeChat. Black, Race, and Ethnic Studies Initiative (BRESI) at CUNY (RFP 8. Faculty research grants for community colleges), The Mellon Foundation, June 2023.
- Digital Socialities and Diasporic Crisis Relief: Chinatown Immigrant Maternity Group Using WeChat during Covid-19. PSC-CUNY Research Grant (Traditional A), The City University of New York, 2020-2021.
Grants
Co-awardee, CUNY Interdisciplinary Research Grant (IRG), with Jiwon Kim and Paoyi Huang, Research Foundation CUNY.
Awardee, Black, Race, and Ethnic Studies Initiative (BRESI) at City University of New York, The Mellon Foundation, Sept 2022 – June 2023
PSC-CUNY Research Grant, The City University of New York, 2020-2021
The Waterhouse Family Institute Research (WFI) Grant for the Study of Communication and Society, Villanova University, 2016-2018
PSC-CUNY Research Grant, The City University of New York, 2016-2017
Teaching Fellow, National Endowment Fund Summer Institute for Building Asian American Studies in Community College Classrooms, Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY, summer 2016
Bridging Cultures to Form a Nation Grant, a group curriculum development award offered by the Association of American Colleges and Universities and the Democracy Commitment, 2012 -2014
Diversity Professional Development Fund Award, The City University of New York, 2012
Academic Interests
motherhood, space, identity, diaspora, and transnationalism in Brooklyn Chinatown(s)
