Research

My scholarship examines the political economy and the racial construction of transnational education mobility. Drawing on theories from education, urban geography, migration studies, and transnational racial theories, I study class, racial and spatial relations during the era of globalization of education. My research ethnographically explores how the broader political, economic and social contexts shape the seemingly individual pursuit of global education and housing, and the agency of mobile individuals in transferring, challenging and/or reinforcing global class and racial hierarchy.

My most recent research project examines Chinese international students’ political activism at the University of California, Berkeley. It seeks to understand 1) how are Chinese international students at UC-Berkeley navigating ethnic spaces, such as PRC-affiliated Chinese student organizations, housing enclaves, and Chinese state media in the US? 2) What are Chinese students’ attitudes towards social movements in the US, such as BlackLivesMatter, LGBTQ protests, and Stop Asian Hate during COVID-19?

I am also working on a book project Transnational Student Mobility and City Building. It expands my doctoral dissertation to examine how the urban capital, wealth, and global aspirations of elite Chinese transnational students facilitate the market-driven globalization of higher education and gentrification in the US.

Publications

Peer-Reviewed Journals

Jiang, Shanshan. (2021). "The Call of the Homeland: Rethinking Transnational Education in the Era of Neoliberal Globalization and Resurgent Nationalism." Comparative Education Review. https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/712053

Jiang, Shanshan. (2020). “Diversity without Integration? Racialization and Spaces of Exclusion in International Higher Education.” British Journal of Sociology of Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2020.1847635

Jiang, Shanshan. (2019). Contemplating the Standard-Market Dichotomy: School Reforms, Markets, and Politics. Journal of Urban History. Volume: 45, issue 2, pp. 372-376. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0096144218816633.

Jiang, Shanshan. (2017). “Book Review: From boom to bubble: how finance built the new Chicago. Rachel Weber”. Journal of Economic Geography. lbx002. DOI: 10.1093/jeg/lbx002.

Public Scholarship

Jiang, Shanshan. (2020). Asian and Asian American College Students’ Educational and Career Dilemmas during COVID-19. Center for Research on College-Workforce Transitions. The Wisconsin Center for Education Research. http://ccwt.wceruw.org/documents/ccwt_report_Asian%20and%20Asian%20American%20College%20Students%E2%80%99%20Educational%20and%20Career%20Dilemmas%20during%20COVID-19.pdf