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Prof. LU Miao 路淼

Assistant Professor

Location: Room 129, Ho Sin Hang Building 何善衡樓129室

Phone: (852) 26167477

Fax: (852) 2572 5170

Email: miaolu@ln.edu.hk

Areas of Interest

  • Digital Culture and Society
  • Globalization
  • China and Africa
  • STS
  • Media Infrastructure
  • Critical Data Studies
  • Education

    Ph.D. in Communication, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
    M.A. in International Journalism, Communication University of China
    Bachelor of Arts (major), Central China Normal University
    Bachelor of Economics (minor), Wuhan University

  • Selected Publication

    Monograph:

    Lu, M. “Deep Ploughing”: A mobile phone company’s technology translations between China and Ghana. University of Illinois Press (Geopolitics of Information Series) (Under contract, Delivery Date: January 5, 2023)

    Articles in Referred Journals:

    Lu, M. & Qiu, J. L. (2022). Empowerment or warfare? Dark skin, AI camera, and Transsion’s patent narratives. Information, Communication & Society (AoIR special issue: Independence), 25(6), 768-784.

    Chen, K.H., Lu, M., & Qiu, J. L. (2022). Back to Bandung for the future: The never-ending project of deimperialization. Communication Theory, 32(2), 281-288.

    Lu, M. (2022). Mobile phone repair in Ghana: Comparing three approaches. New Media & Society. DOI: 10.1177/14614448221083652

    Lu, M. & Qiu, J. L. (2022). Transfer or translation? Rethinking traveling technologies from the Global South. Science, Technology & Human Values. DOI: 10.1177/01622439211072205

    Lu, M. (2022). From “working class culture” to “public culture”: Changing national memories of the Workers’ Cultural Palace (1949-2015). Communication & Society, 60, 157-183. [In Chinese]

    Lu, M. (2021). Translating a Chinese approach? Rural distribution and marketing in Ghana’s phone industry. Media, Culture & Society, 43(2), 309-325.

    Lu, M. (2021). Designed for the bottom of the pyramid: A case study of a Chinese phone brand in Africa. Chinese Journal of Communication, 14(1), 24-39.

    Lu, M. & Fan, H. (2018). I sang, therefore I am! Uses and gratifications of self-mocking memes and the effects on psychological well-being. International Journal of Cyber Behavior, Psychology and Learning (IJCBPL), 8(2), 35-50.

    Book Chapter:

    Lu, M. (2022). Technology translations between China and Ghana: The case of low-end phone design. In R. Hoyng & G. P. Chong (Eds.), Critiquing communication innovation: New media in a multipolar world (pp.172-205). Michigan State University Press.

  • Conference Presentations

    Xie, Z. & Lu, M. (2022, forthcoming). The making of “bodily infrastructure”: Exploring the body-technology nexus and cross-border traveling during COVID-19. The 23rd annual conference of the Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR), November 2022, Dublin, Ireland.

    Lu, M. & Xie, Z. (2022, forthcoming). Unstable body, fragile mobility: Digital media, Covid-19 and biometric borders between China and Africa. The International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) Annual Conference 2022, July 11-15, Beijing.

    Lu, M. & Wang, G.Y. (2022). Africa as the new battlefield of smartphone wars: A comparative study of Transsion and Xiaomi. The 72nd International Communication Association (ICA) Annual Conference, May 26-30, Paris, France.

    Dong, D., Lu, M., Fung, H. C. E., Nichini, E., Zeng, Y., Fang, Z., Zhu, L., & Wei, R. (2022). A systematic review of qualitative studies on the COVID-19 infodemics and a meta-ethnography. The 72nd International Communication Association (ICA) Annual Conference, May 26-30, Paris, France.

    Lo, V.H., Wei, R., Lu, M., Zhang, G., & Qiu, J.L. (2022). A comparative study of the impact of digital media environments, information processing, and presumed influence on behavioral responses to COVID-19 misinformation in Asia. The 72nd International Communication Association (ICA) Annual Conference, May 26-30, Paris, France.

    Lu, M. & Lo, V.H. (2022). Examining media exposure and the influence of presumed influence on Hong Kong citizens’ behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2022 Greater China Visiting Scholar Program: COVID-19 Pandemic and Media, January 20-21, Hong Kong.

    Lu, M. & Qiu, J. L. (2021). Algorithmic empowerment or imperialist warfare? Dark skin, AI camera, and a Chinese company’s patent strategy. The 22nd annual conference of the Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR), October 13-16, Virtual conference.

    Lu, M. (2021). Rethinking “development” in the China-Africa context: A genealogy and a new conceptualization. The International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) Conference 2021, July 11-15, Virtual conference.

    Qiu, J. L., Lu, M., & Wang, Z. (2021). Repair the business of repair. The Cost of Convenience: Technology and the Environment Workshop, Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy, University of Cambridge, July 17, Virtual workshop.

    Lu, M. (2021). An ethnographic study of repair in Ghana’s phone industry: Comparing three approaches. The 71st International Communication Association (ICA) Annual Conference, May 27-31, Virtual conference.

    Lu, M. (2021). “Oburoni” or “Sister Beijing”? Fieldwork reflections from China and Ghana. “Revisiting Networked China” Conference, MoodyCollege of Communication, The University of Texas at Austin, April 3 & 10, Virtual conference.

    Lu, M. (2020). Transfer or translation? Rethinking traveling technologies from the Global South. The 70th International Communication Association (ICA) Annual Conference, May 21-25, Virtual conference. (ICA Fee Waiver)

    Lu, M. (2020). “Below the Line”: A Chinese phone company’s rural marketing in Ghana. @frica: Digital Media Conference, February 27-28, Houston, USA.

    Lu, M. (2019). Designed for the bottom of the pyramid: Examining a Chinese phone company in Africa. The 17th Annual Chinese Internet Research Conference (CIRC), June 28, Singapore. (Top Student Paper Award)

    Lu, M. (2019). The politics of big battery: Marketing a Chinese phone brand to rural Africa. The 69th Annual International Communication Association (ICA) Conference, May 24-28, Washington DC, USA.

    Lu, M. (2019). Designing phones for the poor: An ethnographic study of a Chinese phone company. The 68th Annual International Communication Association (ICA) Conference, May 24-28, Washington DC, USA.

    Lu, M. (2018). Representing Africa in China: Comparing the Maoist and Post-Maoist eras. The 67th Annual International Communication Association (ICA) Conference, May 24-28, Prague, Czech Republic.

    Lu, M., & Fan, Hua. (2017). Self-mockery as an alternative social strategy: Gratifications-sought, need for humor, narcissism, and self-mocking meme usage. The 100th Annual Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) Conference, August 9-12, Chicago, Illinois, USA.

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