Chengbao Seong-Bo Jin (they/them)

Hi, I'm Chengbao! You can also call me Seong-Bo, which is my Korean name (I use my Korean name as the middle name to unapologetically accuse settler colonialism and my displaced identity conspired by the Japanese colonization in the Korean Peninsula, American imperial occupation after the Korean War and ongoing cultural erasure and plunder by Han settlers). I'm a Korean Chinese transnational media studies researcher and activist. My primary works focus on 1) the (historical) political economy of the Korean cultural industry; 2) inter-Asian queer politics and the "arts" of queer activism; and 3) transcoloniality and transcolonialism across the Indigenous Pacific. Broadly, I’m interested in how Asian queer communities perceive and negotiate the global queer culture and (inversely) radicalize queer politics in the democratic agenda. By focusing on digital media contexts in East Asia, my research takes a decolonial approach to tracing the tensions between cultural autonomy and postcolonial transnationalism through the lens of sexuality. Through my research, I ask about the impossibility of cultural recuperation in the aftermath of colonial decimation and the refurbishment of late capitalism. My work attempts to historicize and archive the flash moments brought by brave queer feminist activists in East Asia to contemplate the democratic progress in the conjuncture of authority, postcoloniality and imperial shades.

My research philosophy is rooted in my diasporic upbringing, reflecting on my eternal in-betweenness and liminal identity.

Currently, I'm a first-year MA student in Media, Culture and Technology and in Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies and American Studies at the University of Virginia. I'm also an affiliate member of the Center for Information, Technology, and Public Life (CITAP) at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. My previous work concerning the above topics appeared at several international conferences, including ICA, NCA, 4S, and so on.

You can find me on:

• Linkedin

• Bluesky

You are also welcome to reach out with your thoughts via my email! 

• Email: anh9ry@virginia.edu