Welcome! I am a PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology at Emory University. I am on the academic job market in Fall 2026.

My research focuses on nationalism, political culture, and public opinion formation. My dissertation examines how non-state actors shape cultural governance and political messaging in authoritarian contexts. Focusing on China’s entertainment industry, I analyze how celebrities are co-opted to amplify nationalist narratives and how audiences interpret these displays to draw symbolic boundaries of national belonging. An article developed from a dissertation chapter has been published in the American Sociological Review and has won several ASA section awards. My research has been funded by the Halle Institute for Global Research and Learning, the OYCF-Chow Fellowship, and the Institute for Humane Studies.

I received a B.A. degree in Sociology and Translation from the University of Hong Kong. I am a first-generation-to-college student.

Feel free to contact me at lingxiao.chen [at] emory.edu.