Dr. Minjie Li is an assistant professor in the Tombras School of Advertising and Public Relations at the University of Tennessee. He locates his research at the intersection of multicultural advertising, prosocial strategic communication, activism, implicit bias, emerging technologies/platforms, media inclusivity, and media psychology in relation to social change. He has applied diverse quantitative and qualitative research methods to examine critical issues within the contexts of health disparities, brand activism, LGBTQ movements, racial inequality, influencer/digital marketing communication, among others. He has published his scholarship in journals like International Journal of Advertising, Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, Digital Journalism, International Journal of Strategic Communication, Journalism Practice, etc. Dr. Li is an active member presenting at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), the International Communication Association (ICA), and the American Academy of Advertising (AAA).

For his commitment to research, Dr. Li has received 6 top paper awards as well as several prestigious external grants and fellowships from organizations such as AAA, AEJMC, the National Communication Association (NCA), and so forth. In the capacity of leadership, he has been the head of the LGBTQ Interest Group at AEJMC, and has served on the association-wide Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Access (I.D.E.A.) Standing Committee at ICA. In recognition of his teaching, AEJMC’s Mass Communication and Society Division has selected him for the Promising Professor Award. Dr. Li has taught courses in the areas of advertising creative strategy, multicultural and prosocial strategic communication, visual communication, social media strategies and tactics, etc.

Research Interests:

Multicultural Advertising

Prosocial Strategic Communication

Identities, Disparities, and Social Justice

Media Inclusivity, LGBTQ, and Race

Emerging Technologies

Digital/Influencer Marketing Communication

Education:

Ph.D., Mass Communication and Public Affairs, Louisiana State University