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My research and teaching focus on how mindfulness can enhance learning and wellbeing in higher education and healthcare settings. Using qualitative methods in linguistic anthropology and sociocultural linguistics, I investigate how language and interaction shape experiences of mindfulness and mechanisms of therapeutic change.
Current Research Projects
A mindfulness intervention for postgraduate students in Macau and Hong Kong: A randomized controlled trial demonstrating significant improvements in student mental health (published in BMC Psychology, 2025).
Discourse analysis of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT): Corpus and linguistic analyses of MBCT classes examining how specific interactional and linguistic practices constitute mindfulness skills and support the prevention of depressive relapse.
Mindfulness-integrated language instruction: Explores how contemplative practices shape the lived experience of language learning, reducing foreign language anxiety and fostering well-being in university English classrooms.
World Meditation Survey: A global collaborative research project investigating diverse meditation experiences, practices, and their meanings across cultures and contemplative traditions.
See also current events at the Mindfulness Research & Teaching Group at UM.
Current Positions
Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics, English Language Centre, University of Macau
Honorary Associate Professor of English, School of English, University of Hong Kong
Academic Visitor, Oxford Mindfulness Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford
Education
PhD & MA Linguistics, University of Michigan
MPhil & BA (Hons) English, University of Hong Kong
Mindfulness teacher qualification
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Life (MBCTL) Foundational Teacher Training, Trauma-sensitive Mindfulness (TSM) Training, the Oxford Mindfulness Foundation
Deeper Mindfulness (DM) Teacher Training, the Mindfulness Network
Interpersonal Mindfulness Program (IMP) teacher training, Association pour le Développement de la Mindfulness
Contact katherinec@umich.edu
2026 Katherine Chen
I see language as a window to the understanding of human social relationships and meanings, and I am especially interested in the nexus of discourse, identity, and ideology in diverse contexts. See my research projects below, click the titles to go to each research page. Some papers are available at Academia.edu and ResearchGate.
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