About

Hi! My name is Xiang Lu (吕想). I am an Assistant Professor at Institute for Advanced Study in Humanities and Social Sciences (IAS) and the Department of Sociology, Zhejiang University. Before joining ZJU, I received my PhD in Sociology from New York University.

My research focuses on migration, race and ethnicity, and urban sociology, using a mixed-methods approach that includes computational, statistical, experimental, and qualitative methods. My recent projects examine racial representation in contemporary media and colorism in Mexican society, Chinese attitudes toward emigration, and the construction of “the Chinese nation” in state-owned Chinese media, applying computational, experimental, and statistical techniques.

To learn more about my research interests, check out my researchgate and ORCiD pages.

Contact: xiang.lu@zju.edu.cn

Education

• 2015-2021, Ph.D., Sociology, New York University
• 2015-2019, M.Phil., Sociology, New York University
• 2011-2015, LL.B., Sociology, Tsinghua University

Publications

• Faith in Flux: The Diverse Religious Adaptations of Hui Muslim Internal Migrants in a Global Market Town in Southeast China (forthcoming)

  Xiang Lu

  In Journal of Contemporary Religion [Paper]

• Navigating Ethnic Capital and Ethnic Penalty: Chinese Muslim Internal Migrants in an International Trade Hub (2024)

  Xiang Lu

  In Ethnic and Racial Studies [Paper]

• Linking Race and Genes: Racial Conceptualization Among Genetic Ancestry Test-Takers (2024)

  Olivia Y. Hu, Xiang Lu, and Wendy D. Roth (co-first author)

  In Ethnic and Racial Studies 47(8): 1574-1596 [Paper]

• Official Classification, Affirmative Action, and Self-Identification: Hui-Han Biethnic College Students in China (2022)

  Xiang Lu

  In Identities 29(2): 186-204. [Paper]

• Identity Construction Among Twice-Minority Immigrants: A Comparative Study of Korean-Chinese and Uyghurs in the United States (2021)

  Xiang Lu

  In Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 47(7): 1558-1577 [Paper]

Works under review

• Lu, Xiang. “Discursive Construction of the Chinese Nation: A Topic Modeling Analysis of the Shifting Themes of ‘Zhonghua Minzu’ in Chinese Official Media, 1946-2023.” [Manuscript]

• Lu, Xiang. “The Impact of National Pride and Migrant Skill Level on Attitudes Toward Emigrants: Evidence from a Survey Experiment in China.” [Manuscript]

• Lu, Xiang. “Shifting Tides in the Majority Group’s Attitudes Towards Affirmative Action in Higher Education Admission: an Online Survey Experiment in China.” [Manuscript]

• Lu, Xiang. “Reimagining Roots and Relations: Perceptions of Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) Muslims Among Hui Internal Migrants in a Global Market Town.” [Manuscript]

Works in progress

• “Colorism in Contemporary Advertisements and Fashion Magazines: A Computational Visual Analysis.”

• “Internalized Colorism: Discrepancies Between Self-Perceived and Externally-Assessed Skin Tone in Mexico and Their Association with Health and Life Satisfaction.”

• “Teaching Race and Ethnicity in Modern China: A Study of Chinese Geography and History Textbooks, 1903-1984.”