Global Storytelling, vol. 5, no. 1

Global Storytelling: Journal of Digital and Moving Images, housed at the Academy of Film and published by Michigan Publishing (https://services.publishing.umich.edu/) , is an open access, peer-reviewed international and interdisciplinary journal for intellectual debates concerning the politics, economics, culture, media, and technology of the moving image.

Jun Lei is associate professor of Chinese at Texas A&M University, specializing in Chinese literary and cultural studies, gender and sexuality studies, and digital media studies. Her research examines the interplay of gender, nationalism, and cultural production in modern and contemporary China, with a recent focus on how digital platforms and global media flows reshape geopolitics and cultural expression across global Asia. She is the author of Mastery of Words and Swords: Negotiating Intellectual Masculinities in Modern China, 1890s–1930s (Hong Kong University Press, 2022). Her articles have appeared in Modern China, Modern Chinese Literature and Culture, Men and Masculinities, and Chinese Film Studies, among others. She is guest editor for the special issue “Reimagining Asian Masculinities in the Regime of Global Capital” for Men and Masculinities (2025).

Shaohua Guo is associate professor of Chinese at Carleton College. Her research interests focus on contemporary Chinese studies, digital media studies, and cultural studies. She is the author of The Evolution of the Chinese Internet: Creative Visibility in the Digital Public (Stanford University Press, 2021). Her articles have appeared in the Journal of Asian Studies, Modern Chinese Literature and Culture, Media, Culture and Society, and Communication and the Public, among others.

Siyun Pan is a PhD student in the Department of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia. She currently works on popular culture, fandom, and media in contemporary China, with particular attention to fan productions and the urban mediascape. She holds an MA in East Asian studies from the University of Toronto and a BA from McGill University.

Ka Wong received his PhD in Chinese and an MA in arts from the University of Hawaiʻi and another MA in Thai studies from Chulalongkom University, Thailand. His research interests explore the symbiotic ties and tensions between individual identity and cultural discourse across a wide range of topics. He has received various national grants and awards, including from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), the Associated Colleges of the Midwest (ACM), ASIANetwork, the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC), and the Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS), to name a few. His publications encompass four books, along with numerous journal articles and book chapters, spanning areas such as language pedagogy, film, literature, visual culture, and Asian American studies. His most recent book is Enmity and Empathy: Japanese Americans in Minnesota During World War II (Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2025).

Ying Zhou received her PhD in Chinese linguistics and her MA in second language studies from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. She earned her BA in English from Beijing Language and Culture University in China. Her research centers on second language acquisition and pedagogy, with particular interest in affective factors in language learning and second language assessment. She has published journal articles and book chapters on individual differences and affective variables in learning Chinese as a second language. Her broader research interests include second language assessment, individual differences, curriculum design, linguistic landscapes, and intercultural studies.

Wee Yang Gelles-Soh is a doctoral candidate in sociocultural and linguistic anthropology at the University of Chicago, where he specializes in the intersection of new media, language, and politics. His dissertation examines the contemporary K-pop industry, exploring how its production processes are shaped by both aesthetic and ethical commitments to the creation of “precise” pop culture media. His research focuses particularly on the interplay between Korean nationalism and the increasing influence of foreign creatives in shaping Korean popular culture for global audiences. Beyond his dissertation, Gelles-Soh has written on topics such as the role of online memes in digital protest in Singapore, the rise of right-wing populism in Asia, and the potential for fostering bridging politics through gaming and new media. He is also a cofounder of Talking Politics, an interdisciplinary platform dedicated to facilitating constructive dialogue on contemporary American and international political discourse.

So Yoon Lee is a PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology at the University of Chicago. She earned her BA in political science and Asian and Middle Eastern studies from Duke University and her MA in international relations from the University of Chicago. Her research explores vocational training, labor markets, and work within the K-pop industry, with particular focus on gendered career trajectories and the role of hagwons in facilitating youth entry into the industry.

Amirah Fadhlina is a PhD candidate in sociocultural anthropology at Boston University. She holds an MA in theological studies from Harvard Divinity School and a BA in human development and social relations from Earlham College. Her research explores the intersections of identity, new media, gender, and religion in Indonesia. Centered in Yogyakarta, her dissertation examines how gender nonconforming and queer individuals across generations create alternative spaces and navigate visibility within a Muslim-majority society. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, archival research, and media analysis, the project traces emerging forms of queer activism and gender pluralist embodiment. While grounded in Indonesia, her work offers broader insights into how queer communities assert power and contribute to social change under rapid cultural and political transformations in Southeast Asia.

Linh-Ngoc Bui is a graduate student in the Department of Literature at the University of California, San Diego. They are interested in the intersection between documentary and trans* cinema in Vietnam and Southeast Asia. Their current project seeks to examine gender transgression and queer time in Vietnamese queer films.

Xiaoying Qu is a photographer and filmmaker who graduated from Carleton College. Her creative work focuses on intergenerational narratives, contemporary East Asian culture, and questions of identity and belonging. Her short films and photo projects have been supported by Carleton’s fellowships, such as the Larson International Fellowship and the Tiny Toni Grant, and her work has been selected for screening at the 2025 Twin Cities Film Fest.

Cameron L. White is a PhD candidate in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Michigan, researching the role of film translation and localization in Taiwan and Hong Kong film culture. His work has appeared in Film Quarterly, Film Appreciation (《電影欣賞》), and the edited volume Chinese Films Abroad: Distribution and Translation (Routledge 2024).

Patrick Terry is an adjunct assistant professor at Portland State University in the School of Film teaching studies courses on East Asian cinemas and is an affiliated faculty member of the Center for Japanese Studies.