Maggie is a tenured Associate Professor in Media and Communication at the University of Western Australia (UWA), where she has been since 2018. With a PhD from Australia and prior studies at Birmingham University’s leading European Studies Centre in the UK, she has dedicated herself to higher education since 2006. Maggie received tenure at the University of Adelaide in 2011 and has consistently demonstrated excellence in teaching, research, industry and community engagement. Maggie is a leader in promoting inclusivity and equity, she is also the founder of the My Australia Story public talk series.

As a member of the UWA DEI CLAD Working Group, Maggie is committed to fostering Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity in all practices. She believes in creating an inclusive environment that supports people from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds, and she has provided career planning advice to over 1,000 students in the last decade.

Maggie has initiated numerous industry collaborations in teaching and research and has led multiple international projects with prestigious institutions, including Harvard, West Point, and Cambridge. Her teaching evaluations reflect her dedication, consistently earning outstanding feedback from students.

Her research interests encompass cross-cultural communication, social media, and public relations, with publications featured in high-profile media outlets such as the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and ABC. One of her notable articles, “‘Reversed agenda-setting effects’: Case studies of Weibo trending topics,” published in the Journal of International Communications, has become one of the most-read articles on Taylor & Francis online.

Beyond academia, Maggie provides strategic communication training for various organizations, including S. Kidman & Co, AFL, and the American Chamber of Commerce, where she offers cross-cultural communication support.

In 2018, she was honored as one of the ten most outstanding young Australian-Chinese in Australia's Golden Wattle Awards. Maggie is also a research member of the Soft Power Advocacy & Research Centre at Macquarie University, focusing on social media's role in public diplomacy. Additionally, she serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Asian Communication and is a member of the UNESCO Inclusive Policy Lab.

In addition to her academic work, Maggie conducts strategic communication training for a wide range of organizations. She provided cross-cultural communication support for several major projects, including Kidman acquisition, AFL China strategy.

Maggie is also a board member and Director of Virtue Australia Foundation, a philanthropic organisation fosters research commercalization. 

Maggie's research interests include: Cyber-nationalism; Consumer nationalism; Social media and public relations; Cross-cultural communication.

Books

2024, (co-editor with Lisa Cluett) Spiral of Silence in the Social Media Era. Springer Nature. (forthcoming)

2023, Consumer Nationalism in China: Examining its Critical Impact on Multinational Businesses. Anthem, UK. 

2017 , (sole author) Social Media and e-Diplomacy in China: Scrutinizing the Power of Weibo. Palgrave Macmillan US.

2012 , (sole author) Cyber-nationalism in China: Challenging Western Media Portrayal of Chinese Censorship. University of Adelaide Press, Adelaide.

Journal articles and book chapters

2021, 'Implications of the new wave of nationalism in the people's republic of China for Australian companies', ACRI Perspectives. https://www.australiachinarelations.org/content/perspectives-implications-new-wave-nationalism-people’s-republic-china-australian-companies.

 2021, Jiang, Y., Zheng, J.L., Suhono, Gilang B. F., Li, Y. H., Chen, Y.L., Siddique, K.H.M., 'Salt-Tolerance in Castor Bean (Ricinus communis L.) Is Associated with Thicker Roots and Better Tissue K+/Na+ Distribution', Agriculture 2021, 11(9), 821; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture11090821.

2018, ‘National renaissance, International assertion, new global image: China’s involvement in the modern Olympic games: media projection’, in Media, Sport, Nationalism: the Political and Geopolitical Rise of East Asia: Soft Power Projection via the Modern Olympic Games, pp.223-258, Palgrave MacMillan.

2017, 'Social media and E-diplomacy: scanning Embassies on Weibo", in The Routledge Handbook of Soft Power. 

2015, (co-author with Bei Guo) 'Analyzing the coexistence of emerging transparency and tight political control on Weibo: case study of Weibo broadcast of Bo Xilai trial', Journal of International Communication, vol 21, issue 1, pp.78-108, 2015.

2014, 'Reversed agenda-setting effects' in China: case studies of Weibo trending topics and the effects on state-owned media in China, Journal of International Communication, online version published on 22 May https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/BZAD8nq2qf3kq8jiB6Q8/full , printed version Issue 2, 2014.

2013,  'The use of Weibo to connect Chinese communities in Australia by Australian politicians', Asia Pacific Public Relations Journal, vol14, no1-2, pp.69-84. https://www.deakin.edu.au/arts-ed/apprj/vol14.php 

2013, (co-author with Griffiths, M. & Griffiths, M.), 'China, change and collaborative research', Communication, Politics & Culture, Vol 45.2, https://www.rmit.edu.au/browse/Our%20Organisation/Design%20and%20Social%20Context/Schools%20and%20groups/Media%20and%20Communication/Research/Publications/Communication,%20Politics%20%26%20Culture/Volumes/Volume%2045%202/.

2013, 'Pursuing soft power options through the medium of Chinese international students in Australia in a digital age', in Soft Power of International Communication, edited by Chitty&Qing, MLeague International Publication Series.

2013, 'China's netizens rail against western Media "bias"', Asian Currents, ISSN-1449-4418, Vol 88, 2013 Issue, pg 30-32. https://asaa.asn.au/publications/ac/2013/asian-currents-13-02.pdf  .

Interviews, Invited Talks and Other Academic Engagements

Jan 2023, Invited interview by CNN on "Chinese New Year and Lunar New Year", 28 Jan, https://edition.cnn.com/2023/01/28/asia/chinese-lunar-new-year-controversy-intl-hnk/index.html

Aug 2020, Invited panel on ABC TV program on “Australian Education and Chinese International Students”, 20 Aug, https://www.abc.net.au/chinese/2020-08-20/chinese-international-students-and-australian-values/12579942.

Jun 2020, Invited key panel speaker on  "Asia Literacy : Is it really THAT important for business?" Australia China Business Council investment committee June webinar.

October 2019, Invited panel presentation at Asia Business Series: Increasing China Trade and Investment Roundtable with Hon. Minister Tinley - Education Panel, Australia China Business Council WA Branch.

October 2019, Invited panel presentation on "International Education and the Challenge of Nationalism" at the 31^stAustralian International Education Conference.

October 2019, Invited presentation on “Consumer Nationalism” by American Chamber of Commerce in China.

May 2018, Invited keynote speech on “The use of Wechat in Australia”, China Lab, Curtin University.

December 2017, Invited interview by ABC on “SA tourism and Huang Xiao Ming”, 4 Dec, https://www.abc.net.au/radio/adelaide/programs/mornings/ying-jiang/9228108. 

September 2017, Invited interview by SBS on “Will the Chinese-language media market competition pattern change after the Australian launched Chinese edition Web?”, 22 Sep, https://www.sbs.com.au/yourlanguage/taxonomy/term/505385. 

November 2014, Invited presentation on "Social Media and Public Diplomacy: Scanning E-Diplomacy by Embassies on Chinese Social Media", The Australia-China Transcultural Studies Symposium, Adelaide.

April 2014, Invited interview by VOA on "China's Censors Block Details on Environmental Protest", 04 April, https://www.voanews.com/content/chinas-censors-block-details-on-environmental-protest-/1886319.html .

January 2014, Invited interview by Wall Street Journal on "Chen Guangbiao, Western Media and Chinese Nationalism", 07 January, https://m.us.wsj.com/articles/BL-CJB-20259 .