My name is Yuzhe (Julian) Lei. I am a Ph.D. student at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. I also work as a research fellow at the Politics, Identity, and Communication Lab (PICL).
My research is broadly situated within cultural studies and examines identity in global and political communication contexts. Specifically, I study the cultural identity of the Chinese diaspora, examining how diasporic communities construct, negotiate, and perform their identities in digital spaces, and how they maintain their social, cultural, and political ties to their homelands through digital media.
Methodologically, my work is primarily grounded in qualitative approaches, such as multimodal critical discourse analysis and in-depth interviews. I also bring computational and quantitative training to collaborative, mixed-methods research.
My work has been published in leading communication journals, including The International Journal of Press/Politics and Political Communication. My recent projects examine the performative construction of Chineseness in the “Becoming Chinese” trend and the cruel optimism that shapes Chinese adoptees’ birth-family searches on RedNote.
In my free time, I enjoy watching movies, photography, and visiting museums. In 2025, I watched 187 movies in theaters. I’m a big fan of true crime podcasts. I’m also a dog person.
<aside> <img src="attachment:cb2b0180-2382-46e8-977a-798a8ab38575:UniversityofPennsylvania_Shield_RGB-2.png" alt="attachment:cb2b0180-2382-46e8-977a-798a8ab38575:UniversityofPennsylvania_Shield_RGB-2.png" width="40px" /> University of Pennsylvania (2025 - 2030 Expected)
Ph.D. Student in Communication
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<aside> <img src="attachment:8734927e-2772-47a4-877b-a897d0087b02:University_of_Texas_at_Austin_seal.svg.png" alt="attachment:8734927e-2772-47a4-877b-a897d0087b02:University_of_Texas_at_Austin_seal.svg.png" width="40px" /> The University of Texas at Austin (2023 - 2025)
M.A. in Journalism and Media (Research and Theory Track)
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<aside> <img src="attachment:2dee80ec-2be2-4b55-a596-9cb714b11634:Emblem_of_CU.png" alt="attachment:2dee80ec-2be2-4b55-a596-9cb714b11634:Emblem_of_CU.png" width="40px" /> The Chinese University of Hong Kong (2021 - 2022)
M.S.Sc. in Advertising
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<aside> <img src="attachment:81fc29ca-c429-4dee-873d-9bb6138b25c0:Renmin_University_of_China_logo.svg.png" alt="attachment:81fc29ca-c429-4dee-873d-9bb6138b25c0:Renmin_University_of_China_logo.svg.png" width="40px" /> Renmin University of China (2017 - 2021)
B.Mgmt. in Labor and Social Security (Minor in Journalism)
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