Zhuo Ban

Zhuo Ban

Associate Professor

Assistant Professor

Professional Summary

Dr. Zhuo Ban studies processes of neoliberal globalization and marginalization from a Public Relations perspective. Her recent work explores how industrial workers in offshore manufacturing units in Southern China construct their identities as marginalized publics in the global diffusion of production. She is also interested in the study of global-local dialectics of sweatshop activism; from consumer-based activism in the US to grassroots organizing in sweatshop sites in China.

Education

PhD: Purdue University West Lafayette, IN, 2012 (Communication)

MA: Tsinghua University Beijing, China, 2008 (Communication)

Research and Practice Interests

Activism and Resistance: As a Public Relations scholar, my research seeks to further theoretical understanding of activism in contemporary globalized contexts. My research offers a critical evaluation of existing theoretical models of activism, and takes a culture-centered approach to re-invigorating dominant understandings of activism and resistance.
Globalization and Marginalization: Challenging the functional rationality prevalent in the understanding of globalization in Public Relations scholarship, my research interrogates the process of globalization vis-à-vis the process of marginalization, and attempts to theorize public relations from the margin.    
Offshoring and the US-China Relationship: A related line of my research looks at the complex relationship between China and the West in the context of China’s emergence as a major offshore production destination. Some of my current work looks at how US companies construct China’s business environment in documents like the Chamber of Commerce’s Commercial Guide for Companies; another effort look at how the rising economic clout of China is constructed in mainstream US public discourse.

Abbreviated Publications

Peer Reviewed Publications

Ban, Z., & Dutta, M. J. (2012). Minding their business: Discourses of Colonialism and Neoliberalism in the Commercial Guide for U.S. Companies in China. Public Relations Inquiry, 1, 197-220. doi: 10.1177/2046147X11435079

Dutta, M. J., Ban, Z. & Pal, M. (2012). Engaging worldviews, cultures, and structures through dialogue: The culture-centered approach to public relations. PRism 9(2)

Ban, Z., Sastry, S., & Dutta, M. (2013). “Shoppers' Republic of China”: Orientalism in Neoliberal U.S. News Discourse. Journal of International and Intercultural Communication. doi: 10.1080/17513057.2013.792941

Book Chapter

Ban, Z. “Good mums use American formula”: Online discourses on breastfeeding as an infant health risk in urban China. To appear in S. Hartnett, L. Keranen, and D. Conley (eds). The Dilemmas and Opportunities of U.S.-China Communication in an Age of Globalization. Edited collection in review

Work in Progress

From slave labor to illegal immigrants: a discourse analysis of labor in-sourcing in Prato, Italy.

In Press

Ban, Z. (in press). Delineating Responsibility, Decisions and Compromises:
A Frame Analysis of Fast Food Industry’s Online CSR Communication. Journal of Applied Communication Research.

Under Review

Ban, Z. (2016). Religion, Corporate & Marginalized Labor: An Analysis of Discursive Tension and Identity in the Context of a Chinese House Church. Manuscript submitted for publication.

Ban, Z. (2016). Framing Labor (Mal)practices: An Analysis of Garment Corporates' CSR Messages about Supply Chain. Manuscript submitted for publication.

Molony, S., Ban, Z. (2016). Of The Mothers, by The Mothers And for The Mothers: A Frame Analysis of Motherhood Discourse in Female Politicians’ Speeches. Manuscript submitted for publication. 

Ban, Z. (2016). Negotiating Oppressive Structure and Resistive Impulse: A Cultural-Centered Ethnography of A House Church in China. Manuscript submitted for publication.

Presentations

Paper Presentations

Ban, Z., Dillard, S.Jones, C., Kumar, R. & Sastry, S. (11-2012. ) Community, Culture, and Power: Culture-centered approaches to communication and social change. Orlando, FL. Conference. Level:National

Ban, Zhuo (02-2014. ) “Good mums use American formula”: Online discourses on breastfeeding as an infant health risk in urban China. P .Anaheim, CA. Conference. Level:Regional

Ban, Zhuo (03-2014. ) Towards an emic understanding of labor retention —A culture-centered approach to measurement development. Miami, FL. Conference. Level:International

Zhuo Ban (11-2014. ) Negotiating Oppressive Structure and Resistive Impulse: An Ethnography of A House Church in China .Chicago, IL. Conference. Level:National

Zhuo Ban, Shaunak Sastry (05-2015. ) Delineating Responsibility, Decisions and Compromises: A Frame Analysis of QSR’s Online Communication about Nutrition .San Juan, Puerto Rico. Conference. Level:International

Zhuo Ban (11-15-2015. ) Religion, Corporate & Marginalized Labor: Discursive Tensions and Identity in a Chinese House Church .Las Vegas, NV. Conference. Level:National

Service

National Communication Association (Public Relations Division ) Reviewer Type:Editorial Service Level:Prof. Org. 2013 -To Present

Communication, Culture and Critique Reviewer Type:Editorial Service Level:International 2012 -To Present

Environmental Communication: A Journal of Nature and Culture Reviewer Type:Editorial Service Level:International 2012 -To Present

Health Communication Reviewer Type:Editorial Service Level:International 2014

(Research Working Group ) Member Type:Departmental Service Level:Department 2013 -To Present

Department of Communication (LEAF team ) Type:Departmental Service Level:Department

Department of Communication (Graduate Admission Committee ) Committee Member Type:Departmental Service Level:Department

Department of Communication (Educator Faculty Search Committee ) Committee Member Type:Departmental Service Level:Department

Department of Communication (Diversity and Inclusion Committee ) Committee Member Type:Departmental Service Level:Department 03-2016

Health Communication Peer Review/Referee Type:Editorial Service Level:Prof. Org. 2014

Journal of Applied Communication Research Peer Review/Referee Type:Editorial Service Level:Prof. Org. 2016

Professional Affiliation

2009 -To Present: Member National Communication Association,

2009 -To Present: Member International Communication Association,

Courses Taught

-COMM-3000 PR RESEARCH Level:Undergraduate

Seminar on Public Relations & Issue Management Level:Graduate

-COMM-3000 PR RESEARCH Level:Undergraduate

-COMM-3000 PR RESEARCH

Seminar in Public Relations and Issue Management Level:Graduate

-COMM-4042 PR CAMPAIGNS Level:Undergraduate

-COMM-5009 ID IMAGE ISSUE MAN Level:Undergraduate