Dr. Dacheng Zhang (Ph.D., Arizona State University) is an Assistant Professor of Communication. He engages in critical/qualitative approaches to studying and teaching the social constructions of difference that shape our cultural identities, relationship building and community-driven pursuits. More specifically, Dr. Zhang’s interdisciplinary scholarship draws on critical social theory (e.g., Black feminist thought) and emphasizes the role of self-reflexivity (e.g., the ability to question one’s thinking and actions) in fostering transformative social relations across/through cultural differences. He asks: how can each of us take ethical and careful action to seek community not based on “sameness” but through recognizing the differences that we uniquely present as humans? Currently, Dr. Zhang is revising his doctoral dissertation on community-based artmaking and its role in communicating resistance, dissent, and hope for historically marginalized groups.
Dr. Zhang is currently serving as the vice chair of the intercultural communication interest group at Western States Communication Association (WSCA), a regional scholarly society dedicated to communication pedagogy and research.
Dr. Zhang is an international teacher/scholar from China; He enjoys poetic writing when he feels stuck in his linguistic “travels”.