PhD Candidate (ABD)
About
Natalie Ngai is a PhD Candidate (ABD) in Communication and Media at the University of Michigan. Natalie's research brings together the sub-fields of film and media history, global media studies, and digital studies. She uses an intersectional feminist approach and a cultural studies approach to study cuteness in the media. Natalie's work emphasizes the liberating meanings of cuteness to individuals, especially girls and women, and disputes the notion that cuteness is childish, self-indulgent, only popular in East Asia, and if performed by women, anti-feminist.
Natalie received her MPhil in Multi-disciplinary Gender Studies from St Edmund's College, the University of Cambridge, where she held a full scholarship. Natalie obtained her Bachelor's in Communication (Broadcast Journalism) from Hong Kong Baptist University, where she received multiple awards for her academic and journalistic work. Natalie lived in Hong Kong, the Czech Republic, and England before moving to the United States.
Research Awards:
2022 The British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies (BAFTSS) Best Essay by a Doctoral Student
2022 Society for Cinema and Media Studies (SCMS) Fan and Audiences Studies Graduate Student Paper Award
2022 The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) Entertainment Studies Interest Group Top Student Paper Award and Anne Cooper-Chen Research Award
Recent Publications:
Original research:
"Sugar and Spice (and Everything Nice?)" in Media, Culture & Society
"The Temptation of Performing Cuteness" in Feminist Media Studies
"Women Under Authoritarianism" in International Journal of Communication
"Homemade Pet Celebrities" in Celebrity Studies
“The Mother of a Famous Child” In Media Work, Mothers and Motherhood
Review articles:
"Cuteness is everywhere" (review) in Cultural Studies
"Why does cuteness matter? A review of The Power of Cute" (review) in Critical Studies in Media Communication
Field(s) of Study:
- Cuteness
- Celebrity Studies
- Feminist Media Studies
- Critical Race Studies
