September 09, 2015

Scholar to share research regarding Chinese TV

by Pete Rosenbery

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- A presentation next week at Southern Illinois University Carbondale will look at how Chinese television represents rural migrant workers. 

Hongyan Li, an adjunct professor in the College of Mass Communication and Media Arts, will present her research during a lecture Sept. 18 in the Communications Building, Room 1032. The lecture, “Migrant Workers and State Identity: Chinese Television News and the representation of agricultural labor,” is sponsored by the Global Media Research Center. 

The presentation begins at 4 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. 

Li is from China Agricultural University’s College of Humanities and Development Studies in Beijing. She is concluding a yearlong visit as a scholar with the Global Media Research Center, Jay F. Needham, professor and center interim director, said. 

Li’s research is that China’s official news agencies “use images and stories of migrants to support state-approved messages of social transformation,” Needham said. 

“Dr. Li’s research is unique and is central to our understanding of how governments propagate and sustain cultural narratives in the media,” Needham said. 

Established in 2004, the Global Media Research Center’s mission includes assembling a core group of faculty, graduate and undergraduate students to research global media issues, establish national and international partnerships to promote research, and play host to visiting scholars and artists as it seeks to develop new courses addressing global media issues.