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WITTEBORN, Saskia

WITTEBORN, Saskia

Professor

M.A.
University of Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany

Ph.D.
University of Washington, Seattle, USA (2005)

Honors and Awards

Exemplary Teaching Award
Faculty of Social Sciences
The Chinese University of Hong Kong (2009)

Outstanding Dissertation Award
National Communication Association
International and Intercultural Communication Division (2006)

(852) 3943-7668 (852) 2603-5007 sawit@cuhk.edu.hk

Research Interests

  • Migration into Digital Space (Web3, VR/AR)
  • Technology and Migration (technology practices of displaced populations; transnational knowledge migrants and technology; next-generation technology and visions of the future)
  • Datafication of Migration (Biometrics)

 

Competitive Research Grants

  • Direct Grant, 2020-2022, CUHK: Migration and Start-up Cultures in Hong Kong (Project ID: 4052235)
  • GRF (General Research Fund Hong Kong, 2016/2018) Transit Communication and Forced Migration: A View from Hong Kong (PI) (RGC Ref. No.: CUHK 14610915)
  • Robert Ho Foundation: African Cultures in HK (Research Advisor, PI: Sealing Cheng, Department of Anthropology, Summer 2016-Fall 2017)
  • Direct Grant (2014/2015), CUHK: Forced migrants and ICT in Hong Kong (HKD 46,500)
  • GRF (General Research Fund Hong Kong, 2010/2012) Space and Place-Making: The Role of Media and Information and Communication Technologies in Forced Migrants’ Lives
  • GRF (General Research Fund Hong Kong, 2008/2010) Mobilizing diasporic identities: The case of Uyghurs in the United States and in Germany (Project ID: CUHK 2120316)
  • Direct Grant 2008/2010, The Chinese University of Hong Kong Mobilizing refugee identities: The case of Uyghurs in Germany (Project ID: 2020931)
  • Direct Grant 2006/2007, The Chinese University of Hong Kong Muslim communities in China: The discourse on terrorism and the construction of Muslim collective identity (Project ID: 2020851)
  • Thematic Grant 2006, Collaboration with Political Science faculty, CUHK, Ways of communicating key messages: An analysis of face-to-face communication and media strategies used by transnational NGO’s operating in Xinjiang/China (Project ID: 2020883)
  • Lee Hysan Foundation Research Grant 2005/2006, United College, CUHK Muslim communities in Hong Kong: The communicative construction of local and global Muslim identity

Current Research

My research stands at the intersection between critical technology studies, migration, and mobilities. I work on migration and the geopolitics of identity, migration into immersive environments (VR), and the datafication and automation of international migration. I was a visiting scholar at Free University of Berlin, at the Berlin Institute for Migration and Integration Research at Humboldt University, Télécom Paris, and the London School of Economics and Political Science. My research has appeared in leading journals and in edited collections, including the Journal of Communication, Cultural Studies, Telematics and Informatics, and the Journal of Refugee Studies. I am author of Unruly Speech: Displacement and the Politics of the Transgression (Stanford University Press, 2023), co-editor of The SAGE Handbook of Media and Migration (SAGE, 2020), and co-author of Together (Oxford University Press, 2005).

I am always looking for PhDs who research migration processes in physical, computational, and digitally immersive environments.

Teaching Interests

  • Communication Theory
  • Culture and Technology
  • Globalization and Communication
  • Qualitative Methodologies

 

Advice to students

Have a good laugh several times a day.

Publication List:

Books

Witteborn, S. (2023). Unruly speech: Displacement and the politics of transgression. Stanford University Press. https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=32713
Smets, K., Leurs, K., Georgiou, M., Witteborn, S., & Gajjala, R. (Eds.) (2019). The SAGE handbook of media and migration. London: SAGE Publications Ltd
Stewart, J., Zediker. K., & Witteborn, S. (2016). Together: Communicating interpersonally. A social construction approach (6th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press (Korean Language Translation).
Stewart, J., Zediker. K., & Witteborn, S. (2005). Together: Communicating interpersonally. A social construction approach (6th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.View>

Refereed Journal Publications

Witteborn, S. (2024). Knowledge migration and the politics of innovation. International Journal of Communication, 18, 509-527.
https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/21565/4447		View>
Witteborn, S. (2022). Digitalization, digitization and datafication: The “three D” transformation of forced migration management. Communication, Culture & Critique, 15(2), 157-175.
Gruenewald, T., & Witteborn, S. (2022). Feeling good. Humanitarian virtual reality film, emotional style and global citizenship. Cultural Studies, 36(1), 141-161. https://doi.org/10.1080/09502386.2020.1761415
Witteborn, S. (2021). Digital placemaking and the datafication of forced migrants. Convergence. The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, 27(3), 637-648. https://doi.org/10.1177/13548565211003876View>
Witteborn, S. (2021). Data privacy and displacement: A cultural approach. Journal of Refugee Studies, 34(2), 2291-2307. https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/feaa004View>
Monachesi, P., & Witteborn, S. (2021). Building the sustainable city through Twitter: Creative skilled migrants and innovative technology use. Telematics and Informatics, 58, 1-29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2020.101531View>
Witteborn, S. (2020). Privacy in collapsed contexts of displacement. Feminist Media Studies, 22(4), 883-897. https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2020.1841814
Witteborn, S. (2019). The digital gift and aspirational mobility. International Journal of Cultural Studies, 22(6), 754-769. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367877919831020View>
Daly, A., Hagendorff, T., Li, H., Mann, M., Marda, V., Wagner, B., Wang, W., & Witteborn, S. (July 4, 2019). Artificial intelligence, governance and ethics: Global perspectives. The Chinese University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law Research Paper, No. 2019-15. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3414805
Witteborn, S. (2018). The digital force in forced migration: Imagined affordances and gendered practices. Popular Communication: The International Journal of Media and Culture,16(1), 21-31. https://doi.org/10.1080/15405702.2017.1412442
Witteborn, S. (2015). Becoming (im)perceptible: Forced migrants and virtual practice. Journal of Refugee Studies, 28(3), 350-367. https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/feu036View>
Witteborn, S. (2014). Intercultural competence. In Tracy, K. (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Language and Social Interaction. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & SonsView>
Witteborn, S. (2014). Forced migrants, emotive practice and digital heterotopia. Crossings: Journal of Migration & Culture, 5(1), 73-85. https://doi.org/10.1386/cjmc.5.1.73_1View>
Witteborn, S., Milburn, T., & Ho, E. (2013). The Ethnography of Communication as applied methodology: Insights from three case studies. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 41(2), 188-194. https://doi.org/10.1080/00909882.2013.782421View>
Li, L., & Witteborn, S. (2012). Confucianism in the Chinese media: An analysis of the revolutionary history television drama In Those Passionate Days. Chinese Journal of Communication, 5(2),160-177. https://doi.org/10.1080/17544750.2012.664439View>
Witteborn, S. (2012). Testimonio and spaces of risk: A forced migrant perspective. Cultural Studies, 26(4), 421-441. https://doi.org/10.1080/09502386.2011.587881 (lead article)View>
Witteborn, S. (December, 2011). Living in the risk society: Reports from asylum seekers and refugees. RTHK Media Digest. http://gbcode.rthk.org.hk/b5/rthk.hk/mediadigest/20111214_76_122816.htmlView>
Witteborn, S. (2011). Constructing the forced migrant and the politics of space and place-making. Journal of Communication, 61(6), 1142–1160. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2011.01578.xView>
Brock, D.M., Mauksch, L.B., Witteborn, S., Hummel, J., Nagasawa, P., & Robins, L.S. (2011). Effectiveness of intensive physician training in upfront agenda setting. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 26(11), 1317-1323. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-011-1773-yView>
Witteborn, S. (2011). Discursive grouping in a virtual forum: Dialogue, difference, and the “intercultural.” Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, 4(2), 109-126. https://doi.org/10.1080/17513057.2011.556827View>
Robins, L., Witteborn, S., Miner, L., Mauksch, L., Edwards, K., & Brock, D. (2011). Identifying transparency in physician communication. Patient Education and Counseling, 83(1), 73-79. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2010.05.004View>
Witteborn, S. (2010). The role of transnational NGOs in promoting global citizenship and globalizing communication practices. Language and Intercultural Communication, 10(4), 358-372. https://doi.org/10.1080/14708477.2010.497556View>
Witteborn, S., & Sprain, L. (2009). Grouping processes in a public meeting from an Ethnography of Communication and Cultural Discourse Analysis perspective. Journal of Public Deliberation 5(2). https://doi.org/10.16997/jdd.85 (lead article of special issue)View>
Witteborn, S. (2008). Identity mobilization practices of refugees: The case of Iraqis in the United States and the War in Iraq. Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, 1(3), 202-220. https://doi.org/10.1080/17513050802101781View>
Qiu, J. L., & Witteborn, S. (2008). Interview with D. Ray Heisey. Chinese Journal of Communication, 1, 131-137. https://doi.org/10.1080/17544750802287778View>
Witteborn, S. (June 2008). Caught in-between: Iraqi refugees in the U.S. tell their stories. Communication Currents, 3(3). https://www.natcom.org/communication-currents/caught-between-iraqi-refugees-us-tell-their-storiesView>
Witteborn, S. (2007). The situated expression of Arab collective identities in the United States. Journal of Communication, 57(3), 556-575. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2007.00357.xView>
Witteborn, S. (2007). The expression of Palestinian identity in narratives about personal experiences: Implications for the study of narrative, identity, and social interaction. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 40(2&3), 145-170. https://doi.org/10.1080/08351810701354581 (lead article)View>
Robins, L., Witteborn, S., Miner L., McElligott, S., Brock D., & Mauksch, L. (2004). Transparency in physician-patient interaction. Medical Encounter. A Publication of the American Academy on Physician and Patient, 18(4), 21.
Witteborn, S. (2004). Of being an Arab woman before and after September 11. The enactment of communal identities in talk. Howard Journal of Communications, 15(2), 83-98. https://doi.org/10.1080/10646170490448312View>
Witteborn, S. (2003). Communicative competence revisited: An emic approach to studying intercultural communicative competence. Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, 32, 187-203.

Book Chapters

Witteborn, S. (2023). Datafication, Infrastructuring, and Securitization. In Leurs, K., & Ponzanesi, S. (Eds). Doing digital migration Studies (pp. 299-302). University of Amsterdam Press.
Leurs, K., & Witteborn, S. (2022). Digital migration. In M. McAuliffe/IOM and ANU (Ed.), Research handbook on international migration and digital technology (pp. 15-28). Elgar.
Witteborn, S. (2021). Migration and technologies in contexts of uncertainty. E-book 2nd Lisbon Winter School for the study of communication. Media and uncertainty. https://upenn.app.box.com/s/w3dfyklakoipna7q7q5x684psm9w5bn9View>
Xie Z., & Witteborn, S. (2020). The migration-mobility nexus: The politics of the interface, gender, and labor. (Chapter 42). In K. Smets, K. Leurs, M. Georgiou, S. Witteborn, & R. Gajjala (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of media and migration. https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/the-sage-handbook-of-media-and-migration/book260835
Witteborn, S. (2019). Digital diaspora: Social alliances beyond the ethno-national bond. In J. Retis, & R. Tsagarousianou (Eds.), The handbook of diasporas, media and culture (pp. 179-192). Wiley-Blackwell.
Rudnick, L., Witteborn, S., & Edmonds, R. (2019). Engaging change: Exploring the adaptive and generative potential of Cultural Discourse Analysis findings for policies and social programs. In M. Scollo, & T. Milburn (Eds.), Engaging and transforming global communication through Cultural Discourse Analysis. A tribute to Donal Carbaugh (pp. 253-272). Rowman & Littlefield. (NCA, LSI Outstanding Scholarly Publication Book Award, 2019)
Witteborn, S., & Huang, Q. (2017). Diaosi (underdog talk) as a way of relating in contemporary China. In D. Carbaugh (Ed.), The handbook of communication in cross-cultural perspective (pp. 142-154). Routledge.
Witteborn, S. (2015). Intercultural competence. In K. Tracy (Ed.), The international encyclopedia of language and social interaction (p. 856). John Wiley & Sons. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118611463.wbielsi008
Witteborn, S. (2012). Forced migrants, new media practices, and the creation of locality. In I. Volkmer (Ed.), The Handbook of global media research (pp. 312-330). Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118255278.ch18View>
Witteborn, S. (2011). Gendering cyberspace: Transnational mappings and Uyghur diasporic politics. In R. S. Hegde (Ed.), Circuits of visibility: Gender and transnational media cultures (pp. 268-283). NYU Press. https://doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9780814737309.003.0015View>
Stewart, J., Zediker, K., & Witteborn, S. (2005). Constructing identities. In J. Stewart (Ed.), Bridges not walls: A book about interpersonal communication (9th ed., pp. 64-74). McGraw-Hill College Publishers.View>
Stewart, J., Zediker, K., & Witteborn, S. (2005). Empathic and dialogic listening. In J. Stewart (Ed.), Bridges not walls: A book about interpersonal communication (9th ed., pp. 219-237). McGraw-Hill College Publishers.View>
Stewart, J., Zediker, K., & Witteborn, S. (2005). Deception, betrayal, and aggression. In J. Stewart (Ed.), Bridges not walls: A book about interpersonal communication (9th ed., pp. 405-416). McGraw-Hill College Publishers.View>

Awards and Honors

Best Book Award, LSI Division, NCA, USA (November 19-22, 2020)
M. Scollo & T. Milburn (Eds.), Engaging and transforming global communication through Cultural Discourse Analysis. A tribute to Donal Carbaugh, Chapter: Rudnick, L., Witteborn, S., & Edmonds, R. (2019). Engaging change: Exploring the adaptive and generative potential of Cultural Discourse Analysis findings for policies and social programs (pp. 253-272). Rowman & Littlefield.
Distinguished Visiting Scholar, Ben Gurion University/Israel (June 4, 2019)
International Partnership Development Program, CUHK, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Melbourne, April 27-May 5, 2015
Outstanding Dissertation Award, National Communication Association, International and Intercultural Communication Division (2006)
Postgraduate Fellowship from the prestigious German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) (08/1999-06/2000) to study in US
Fellowship from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) (08/94 – 05/95) to study in US
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