Teaching

In my teaching, I am passionate about equipping students from diverse disciplinary backgrounds with quantitative skills and computational literacy, and about integrating feminist social science insights with rigorous quantitative methods.

Denison University

• Issues in Feminism [Syllabus].

  An introduction to the field of Women’s and Gender Studies, this interdisciplinary course considers the socio-political meanings and practices of gender in our lives. It examines whether gender is biologically or socially constructed and how notions of femininity and masculinity are (re)produced. Students will analyze the workings of power and the social production of inequality in institutions such as the family, the workplace, and the state, taking into account the intersections among gender, race, class, ethnicity, nationality, and sexuality. Topics will include sexual and gender violence, equal rights, reproductive technologies, body image, and transnational feminist issues. A central aim of the course is to develop critical reading and thinking about the plurality of women’s experiences and about the ways in which women have resisted inequalities and engaged in local/global politics for social transformation and change.

• When AI Meets Feminism [Syllabus].

  Can AI (artificial intelligence) be feminist? The recent explosion in data, algorithms, and AI systems pushes boundaries of technology in human society, but often exacerbates existing inequalities and generates social harms. This course explores why feminist AI is needed and how it is possible. We will engage with intersectional feminist scholarship to identify the unequal power structures within AI systems, ranging from facial recognition technologies and decision-making algorithms to the recent generative AI tools. We will also apply feminist insights to produce actionable strategies for designing more equitable and inclusive AI technologies. Over the course of the semester, we will learn and practice data analytics and visualization skills, by applying feminist principles discussed in the class to real-world examples. Students will also form interdisciplinary groups to complete a final research project tackling AI and social justice, which allows them to apply their unique expertise. For course materials and assignments, we will use the programming language Python and the Jupyter platform.

• Gender and Diginal Inequality in Contemporary China

  This course explores the intersection of gender and technology development, particularly digital technologies, in contemporary China. Based on scholarship from sociology, science and technology studies, and intersectional feminism, we will examine how digital technologies both shape and are shaped by the dynamics of gender relations in contemporary China. Key topics include the gender digital divide, labor inequalities in the tech sector, the changing STEM education, digitalization of family life, as well as women’s contributions to the digital economy and the role of social media in emerging feminist activism. Students will also work with large-scale datasets from China and the U.S. to learn how to analyze and visualize data to answer theory-driven questions. By combining theoretical reading and empirical endeavors, students will understand the complex role of technology in both empowering and marginalizing women in a non-Western context.

The Ohio State University

• Introduction to Sociology

  What is the relationship between individuals and the whole society? Why social inequality—across a range of categories, such as age, race, gender, class, sexual orientation, immigration status, nationality etc.—exists in the modern society? How social changes happen and impact individuals? If you ever thought about these questions, you are at the right place! As a field of social sciences, sociology earns its name by (trying to) answering those questions and more. This course provides you with a broad introduction to this interesting field. You will become familiar with the foundational knowledge of sociology, be able to think sociologically, and understand basic principles of doing sociology. We will begin by introducing basic concepts in sociological theories and methods, after which you can identify what is sociological imagination and what are some common research questions (and methods trying to solve them). Then we will dig deeper to understand specific social phenomena through a lens of social stratification and inequality. These topics and discussions will help you to better understand how social categories and identities create social inequalities. We will then discuss major social institutions in our society, and you could better understand the organization of the society on a more macro level. The course will end with several hottest topics in sociology, and they can serve as more examples of state-of-the-art research in sociology.