Xi Cui
Associate Professor

Dr. Xi Cui joined the Department of Communication in 2016. He teaches courses of media studies and research methods, among other topics. Prior to his appointment at College of Charleston, he taught media theory and production courses at Dixie State University, Utah and Communication University of China, Beijing. He also has anchoring experience at China Central Television and China National Radio, and has been a freelance voiceover actor in Chinese.
Dr. Cui is a firm supporter of student research and strives for teaching excellence and innovation. He received Promising Professor Award of the Mass Communication and Society Division of AEJMC in 2016.
Dr. Cui’s research investigates the interaction between media and socio-cultural structures. Specifically, he is interested in topics such as media rituals, social identity and social networks. His research employs a variety of methods ranging from quantitative surveys and experiments to qualitative textual analysis and netnography. His research has appeared in Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, International Journal of Communication, Chinese Journal of Communication, Journalism, and several edited books.
Education
Ph.D., Telecommunication and Media Studies, Texas A&M University
M.A., Applied Linguistics, Communication University of China
B.A., Broadcasting Arts, Communication University of China
Research Interests
- Media rituals
- Media and Social Identity
- Social Network Analysis
Publications
Work in progress:
Cui, X. Hanfu as therapeutic governance in neo/non-liberal China: A multimodal discourse analysis of Hanfu videos on Bilibili. Under review at Chinese Journal of Communication.
Cui, X., Rui, J., & Liu, Y., The situated influence of individual cultural orientation on online political expression through self-presentational concern. Under review at Communication Quarterly.
Cui, X. (in press). Critical and cultural studies. In S. Zhou & B. Beasley (Eds.) Research methods in communication. Vision Press.
Selected Publications:
Rui, J. & Cui, X. (2022). How technological affordances predict political expression via Quora: Mediated by risk appraisal and moderated by social motivation. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 16(3), Article 10. https://doi.org/10.5817/CP2022-3-10
Cui, X. & Chen, F. (2022). Between the liminal and the normal: How the news constructed the social change of face-covering during the covid-19 pandemic in the united states. International Journal of Communication, 16(2022), 3110-3132.
Chen, F. & Cui, X. (2022). Teaching controversial issues online: Exploring college professors’ risk appraisals and coping strategies in the US. Teaching and Teacher Education, 115, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2022.103728
Cui, X. (2022). Smart Home: Smart Devices and the Everyday Experiences of the Home. In T. Cinque & J. B. Vincent (eds.), Materializing Digital Futures: Touch, Movement, Sound and Vision (pp.249-268). London, UK: Bloomsbury.
Rui, J. R., Cui, X., Xu, Q., & Yu, N. (2021). How public interactions via WeChat moments predict the emotional well-being of Chinese seniors and emerging seniors: The moderating roles of perceived self-network discrepancy and age. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 15(3), https://doi.org/10.5817/CP2021-3-2
Cui, X. & Xu, Q. (2021). Television vs social media: examining the effects of media platforms on audience’s emotion and sense of social solidarity during a media event. Western Journal of Communication. https://doi.org/10.1080/10570314.2021.1970216.
Rui, J., Cui, X. & Liu, Y. (2020). They are watching me: a self-presentational approach to political expression on Facebook. Mass Communication and Society, http://doi.org/10.1080/15205436.2020.1740741
Cui, X. & Xu, Q. (2020). The roles of identity and emotion in media events’ social integration mechanism: a case study of the 2017 U.S. presidential inauguration. Atlantic Journal of Communication, 28(2), 138-152, doi: 10.1080/15456870.2019.1613406.
Cui, X. (2019). Mediatized rituals: Understanding the media in the age of deep mediatization. International Journal of Communication, 13(2019), 4155-4168.
Cui, X. (2019). Identity-based emotional expressions and practices on Twitter: Triangulating multiple contexts of breaking events and mundane communication. In I. Chiluwa & G. Bouvier (eds.), Twitter: Global Perspectives, Uses and Research Techniques, Hersey, PA: IGI International.
Rui, J., Yu, N. Xu, Q. & Cui, X. (2018), Getting connected while aging: the effects of WeChat network characteristics on the well-being of Chinese mature adults, Chinese Journal of Communication, DOI: 10.1080/17544750.2018.1530270
Cui, X. (2018). Emotional contagion or symbolic cognition: A social-identity perspective on media events. Journal of Broadcast & Electronic Media, 62(1), 91-108.
Liu, Y., J. R. Rui, and X. Cui (2017). Are people willing to share their political opinions on Facebook? Exploring roles of self-presentational concern in spiral of silence. Computers in Human Behavior, 76(2017), 294-302.
Cui, X. & Rothenbuhler, E. (2017) Terror as communication: mediatization and ritualization. Television & New Media, 19(2), 155-165.Cui, X. (2017). Deconstructing the bystander: TVmoji as a story-reteller. Chinese Journal of Communication, 11(2), 155-168.
Wallis, C., Cui, X. (2017). “Our media”? Sina Weibo and the elusiveness of voice. In L. Hjorth, H. Horst, A. Galloway, and G. Bell (Eds.) The Routledge Companion to Digital Ethnography (pp.135-146), Routledge: NY.
Cui, X., J. Rui & F. Su (2016). From immediate community to imagined community: co-viewing of media events. Global Media and China, 1(4), 481-496.
Cui, X., Y. Liu (2016). How does online news curate linked sources: a cross-sectional content analysis. Journalism, 18(7), 852-870.
Cui, X., E. Rothenbuhler (2016). Ritual. In Jensen, K. B. (Ed.), The International Encyclopedia of Communication Theory and Philosophy, Wiley-Blackwell, Hoboken, NJ.
Cui, X. (2016). Mobile media event: Social cohesion through IM App. In Poulakidakos, S. & B. Mitu, (Eds.), Media Events: A Critical Contemporary Approach, Palgrave, London, UK., pp. 243-261.
Couldry, N. (2016). Meijie Yishi: Yizhong Pipan de Shijiao [Media Rituals: A Critical Approach], Translated by X. Cui. Renmin University Press.
Cui, X. (2015). How it’s done: cultural and critical studies. In Zhou, S. & WM. Sloan (Eds.) Research Methods in Communication (3rd Ed.), Vision Press, Northport, AL.
Cui, X. (2013). Media events are still alive: The Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympics as a media ritual. International Journal of Communication, 7, 1220-1235.
Cui, X. (2012). Discourse on Shanzhai cultural production in Chinese newspapers: authenticity and legitimacy. Chinese Journal of Communication, 5(4), 399-416.
Cui, X. (2010) Social influence on the adoption and uses of social network sites: A case study of www.xiaonei.com. Global Media Journal, 7(1).
Cui, X. (2010) Media representations of news anchors’ professionalism in the US and in China: Comparative case studies of newspaper coverage of Walter Cronkite and Jing Luo. Global Media Journal, 7(2).