Min Tang

Associate Teaching Professor

Min Tang

B.A., Broadcasting and TV Journalism, Fudan University
M.A., Global Communication, University of Southern California
Ph.D., Communication, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Office: UW2-324
Email: tangmin@uw.edu

Teaching

I believe that education “is not the filling of a pail but the lighting of a fire.” As a critical political economy scholar, my role as a teacher is to encourage and inspire students to critically think and write about media and social problems, such as the roles of media practices, corporate power, government policies and participatory democracy in informing and shaping (in)justice and (in)equalities.

As a teacher in media and communication, I see teaching as a process of communication. Throughout my teaching practices and interactions with students, I strive to set an example of being a good communicator—effective, passionate, supportive and inclusive. With a multicultural background, I am particularly keen on brining my professional experience and cross-cultural skills to the classroom in building an inclusive, supporting and diverse learning environment and fulfilling students’ individualized needs for education. 

Recent Courses Taught

BIS 178 Introduction to Communication
BIS 204 Introduction Journalism
BIS 235 Critical Media Literacy
BIS 313 Issues in Media Study: Reimagine Disney
BIS 332 Global Digital Industries
BIS 393 Special Topics: U.S. Media and Politics: The 2020 Election
BIS 490 Chinese Media and Society
BISMCS 234 Media and Communication Techniques: Journalism Writing
BISMCS 333 Media and Communication Studies

Research/Scholarship

My research primarily focuses on the political economy of media and communications, which is to look at how capitalist relations and power structures shape the provision system of communication and information in our society. Specifically, my major research areas include:

  • The political economy of information communication technology (ICT) and media industries
  • ICT policies and information geopolitics
  • International communication and the Global South
  • Class relations and social movements
  • Contemporary China

My current work explores how information communication technology (ICT) industries are emerging as sites of capitalist reproduction, with a focus on China’s internet industry.  My dissertation, Tencent as a Nexus: The Political Economy of China’s Internet Industry 1998-2016, examines the interaction between two unfolding poles of growth in transnational capitalism: the Internet and China. By building a case study on a developing Chinese Internet company: Tencent, I contribute to the knowledge of the political economy of Internet industry as well as the nature of contemporary China’s development. My future projects aim to examine the relations between global financial sector and the Internet, as well as the ICT industries in emerging economies such as BRICS countries.

Selected Publications