Cuihua Shen is Assistant Professor at the Emerging Media & Communication Program, School of Arts & Humanities, University of Texas at Dallas. My research and teaching interests revolve around the social and psychological impacts of various social media and virtual worlds. These sites include social networking websites (such as Facebook), Massively Multiplayer Online Games (such as EverQuest II and EVE Online), and other online communities designed for collaborative peer production, social support and entertainment.

She has published her work in journals such as Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking, Communication Research, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, New Media & Society, and Management Communication Quarterly. 

Her recent research on massively multiplayer online game has been featured in major media outlets, including US News and World Report (link to news article).

She has won several Top Paper awards from the International Communication Association. My dissertation, "The Patterns, Effects and Evolution of Player Networks in Online Gaming Communities" received the 2nd place of Herbert S. Dordick Dissertation Award from ICA. 

She received her Ph.D. in 2010 from the Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism, University of Southern California. Before coming to Annenberg, she earned her BA in English at Zhejiang University and her MA in Communication and New Media at National University of Singapore. Originally she comes from Suzhou, a beautiful city in southeast China.