Dr. Ying Zhu is a professor in and the Chair of the Department of Media Culture at the City University of New York, College of Staten Island. She has published eight books, including Two Billion Eyes: The Story of China Central Television (New Press, 2012). A leading scholar on Chinese cinema and media studies, her writings have appeared in major academic journals and publications such as The Atlantic, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal. Her work has been translated into Chinese, Dutch, French, Italian, and Spanish.
Zhu is a recipient of a US National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship (2006) and an American Council of Learned Societies Fellowship (2008). Her 2003 research monograph, Chinese Cinema during the Era of Reform: The Ingenuity of the System, a groundbreaking book, that initiated the study of Chinese cinema within the framework of political economy. Her 2008 research monograph, Television in Post-Reform China: Serial Drama, Confucian Leadership and the Global Television Market, together with two book volumes in which her work featured prominently—TV China (2009) and TV Drama in China (2008)—pioneered the subfield of Chinese TV drama studies. Her books on Chinese film and media are widely adopted for courses in universities in the United States and beyond. She has given talks and keynote speeches at leading universities and media institutions around the globe. She reviews manuscripts for major publications in the U.S. and the United Kingdom and evaluates grant proposals for research foundations in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, the U.K., and the U.S. Zhu also produces current affairs documentary films, highlights include Google vs. China (2011) and China: From Cartier to Confucius (2012), both screened on Netherlands Public Television. She is currently working on a new book project that examines the shifting power dynamic between Hollywood and the Chinese film industry, with cinema serving as both soft power and hard currency.