Jane Yeahin Pyo

Hi! I am Jane Yeahin Pyo (she/her). I am currently a Postdoctoral Research at the Communication Department at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. I am also a Postdoctoral Fellow of the Global Technology for Social Justice Lab (GloTech Lab@UMass).  

I received my PhD from the Institute of Communications Research, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

My interdisciplinary research brings a critical and global perspective to digital media with a focus on digital politics, global technology, and the Asian American race. My research examines how digital media technology impacts and shapes our civic and social life. 

My current research examines new modes of digital politics that seek to challenge the repressive news media environment. My book project, Attacktivism: New digital politics of contentions, anger, and online attacks in South Korea, explores how the marginalized political left adopts and operationalizes online harassment of journalists as their way to criticize and challenge the elitist, conservative, and authoritative news media system. 

My next project weaves the perspective of race, specifically focusing on Asian American communities. My work looks at ethnic digital media platforms from global and transnational perspectives, inquiring into their cultural impact on diasporic communities, with a focus on the disinformation environment. I explore how global digital platforms (e.g., KakaoTalk, WeChat) create an intimate yet intimidating environment for diasporic Asians in their encounter with misinformation.

I received my MA in Communication from Yonsei University (2017) and BA in Media Studies and English Literature and Language from Korea University (2015). In my free time, I love working out--weightlifting, swimming, running..sometimes all in one day!