Yuchen Chen

Yuchen Chen is a critical media scholar and ethnographer whose research lies at the intersection of science and technology studies, urban studies, and contemporary global China. Her research examines two main themes: China’s data-driven governance and China's global outreach via digital platforms. Her work has appeared in communication and media studies venues such as New Media & Society and Information, Communication & Society, as well as social computing venues such as ACM CHI and CSCW.

Yuchen is currently completing her first monograph, tentatively entitled Brokering New York City: Global China, Real Estate, and the Politics of (Im)Mobilities. The book offers a novel account of real estate development in gentrifying New York City through the lens of Chinese immigrants and the transnational mobilities their investments create. Drawing on over two years of multi-sited ethnographic research in real estate and immigration-through-investment (EB-5 visa) brokerages, I examine how brokers leverage digital platforms, legal-juridical opportunities, and real estate financing projects to offer Chinese immigrants access to U.S. permanent residency. 

Before joining NYU, Yuchen was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at Baruch College, City University of New York (CUNY). She received her Ph.D. in Communication and Media from the University of Michigan.