Todd Lyle Sandel

Professor

Administrative Roles

  • Chair of the Sub-Panel on Human Subjects Research, University of Macau Ethics Panel
  • Programme Coordinator of Bachelor of Social Sciences in Communication
  • Programme Coordinator of Doctor of Communication

Academic Qualifications

  • Ph.D. (Department of Speech Communication, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, USA)
  • M.A. (Department of Speech Communication, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, USA)
  • B.A. (Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts, USA)

Current Research Topics

  1. Linguistic and multimodal analysis of social media: China, Bhutan, Macao
  2. Perceptions of gender, marriage and dating: China, Indonesia
  3. Discourses of language and power in Russian language media

Editorship

  • Associate Editor (Elect), Communication Monographs (2025 – Present)
  • Editor-in-Chief, Journal of International & Intercultural Communication (2017-2020)

Editorial Board Member

  • Chinese Journal of Communication
  • Discourse, Context & Media
  • Emerging Media
  • Journal of Communication
  • Journal of Intercultural Communication Research
  • Journal of International and Intercultural Communication
  • Women & Language

Professional Affiliations

International Communication Association
Language and Social Interaction Division

Secretary of Language and Social Interaction Division, 2009-2012
Vice Chair of Language and Social Interaction Division, 2021-2023
Chair of the Language and Social Interaction Division, 2023-2025

National Communication Association (USA)

Publications Council Member, 2022-2025
Language and Social Interaction Division

Chair of the Language and Social Interaction Division, 2011-2012

Representative Publications

Books

  • Sandel, T. L. (2015). Brides on Sale: Taiwanese Cross Border Marriages in a Globalizing Asia. New York: Peter Lang.
  • K. Tracy, T. L. Sandel, C. Ilie (Eds.) (2015). The International Encyclopedia of Language and Social Interaction. Wiley-Blackwell: Malden, MA.

Journal Articles and Book Chapters, 2020-2025

  • Dinerstein, A., & Sandel, T. L. (Accepted). “Power” as an identity category in the Russian-language political discourse: The case of Belarus. Ethnologia Polona.
  • Sandel, T. L., Wu, X., & Fitzgerald, R. (Accepted). Language, Technology, and Social Media in China. In Shouhui Zhao (Ed.) Handbook of Language Policies in East Asia: Chinese Section. Brill.
  • Sandel, T. L., & Lie, S. (2025). ‘Marriage is like gambling’: Interpreting and narrating stories of Chinese Indonesians’ marriage migration. Asian Studies Review, 49(2), 272-291. https://doi.org/10.1080/10357823.2024.2393210
  • Wangchuk, Dorji, & Sandel, T. L. (Forthcoming, 2025). “Listen to the Lama”: Analysing Bhutan’s digital media and online religious practices. In Caroline Tagg & Korina Giaxoglou (Eds.) The Routledge Handbook of Language and Social Media. Routledge.
  • Yu, Yating, Sandel, T. L., Chan, Tayden Fung. (2025). Media representations of the “little fresh meat” phenomenon in China: A feminist critical discourse analysis of the masculine nonconformity discourse. Journal of Gender Studies, 34(1), 59-71. https://doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2024.2354714
  • Dinerstein, A., & Sandel, T. L. (2024). Transforming culture through “communication” (rituals): The “banality” of public creativity in Belarus. Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, 17(3), 269-292. https://doi.org/10.1080/17513057.2024.2363249
  • Ju, Bei, Sandel, T. L., Chen, Haiting. (2024). Overt conviviality and covert distress: Navigating the online emotions of left-behind women via Douyin in China. Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies. 1-19, 1246082 https://doi.org/10.1177/13548565241246082
  • Ou, C., Sandel, T. L., & Lin, Z. (2024). Dis(playing) mediated filial norms: Filial child practices on WeChat among Chinese cross-border students. Information, Communication & Society, 27(3), 432-448. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2023.2214607
  • Sandel, T. L., & Lie, S. (2024, Online). ‘Marriage is like gambling’: Interpreting and narrating stories of Chinese Indonesians’ marriage migration. Asian Studies Review. 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1080/10357823.2024.2393210
  • Sandel, T. L., Wang, Y., & Ming, X. (2024, Online). How vernacular languages create humour on China’s social media: A linguistic and multimodal analysis. International Journal of Multilingualism 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1080/14790718.2024.2379550
  • Xiao, Luyao, Fitzgerald, Richard, Sandel, Todd, Kim, Younhee, Abi-Samara, Raquel, Moutinho, Ricardo (2024). On algorithmic time and daily contingencies in the gig economy: The lived work of food delivery service. Computer Supported Cooperative Work: The Journal of Collaborative Computing and Work Practices.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10606-024-09500-2
  • Yu, Yating, Sandel, T. L., Chan, Tayden Fung. (2024, Online). Media representations of the “little fresh meat” phenomenon in China: A feminist critical discourse analysis of the masculine nonconformity discourse. Journal of Gender Studies, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2024.2354714
  • Ou, C., Sandel, T. L., & Lin, Z. (2023). Mediated (un)doing family: Cross-border parenting in Chinese families. Social Media + Society, 9(4), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051231211941
  • Ju, B., Yang, X., Pu, X. H., Sandel, T. (2023, Online) (Re)making live-in or live-out choice: The lived experience of Filipina migrant domestic workers in Macao. Gender, Place & Culture, 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1080/0966369X.2023.2265581
  • Ju, B., Dai, R., & Sandel, T. L. (2023). Resilience and (dis)empowerment: Use of social media among female mainland migrant workers in Macao during COVID-19. Sage Open 13(1), 1-12.https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440231160480
  • Dinerstein, A., & Sandel, T. L. (2023). “We have a point on the map”: Discursive constructions of Belarusian identity during CreativeMornings Minsk. Journal of Intercultural Communication Research (52), 4, 440-460. https://doi.org/10.1080/17475759.2023.2223568
  • Fitzgerald, R., Sandel, T. L., & Wu, X. (2022). Chinese social media: Technology, culture and creativity. Discourse, Context & Media, 48, 1-5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2022.100610
  • Sandel, T. L., & Wang, Y. (2022). Selling intimacy online: The multi-modal discursive techniques of China’s wanghong. Discourse, Context & Media, 47, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2022.100606
  • Ju, B., Dai, R., & Sandel, T. L. (2022). Struggling in im/mobility: Lived experiences of Macao’s mainland Chinese migrant Labourers’ Moments via WeChat Moments during Covid-19. Communication, Culture and Critique, 15(4), 489-498. https://doi.org/10.1093/ccc/tcac022
  • Duque, M., & Sandel, T. L. (2022). Poker in virtual reality. International Journal of Creative Interfaces and Computer Graphics 13(1), 1-18. https://doi.org/4018/IJCICG.308810
  • Ou, C., & Sandel, T. L. (2021). Unified or Divided “We-hood”: Discursive Constructions of Heterogeneous National Identities under the one country, two systems model. Chinese Journal of Communication, 14(3), 329-345. https://doi.org/10.1080/17544750.2021.1929361
  • Luampauw, A., Farady Marta, R., Widyanto Y. N., Sandel, T. L., & Lie, S. (2021). The art of honing the conscience through bukalapak ads: Barongsai Indonesia, juara hati membangun bangsa. International Journal of Visual and Performing Arts, 3(1), 9-21. https://doi.org/10.31763/viperarts.v3i1.342
  • Sandel, T. L., & Wangchuk, D. (2020). ‘Thank you for your blessing’: Constructed mobile chronotopes in a Buddhist online community in Bhutan. Language & Communication, 75, 36-50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.langcom.2020.08.001
  • Sandel, T. L., & Qiu, P. M. (2020). Code switching and language games in contemporary China; or Convergence and identity construction on WeChat. In Patrick Dodge (Ed.) Communication Convergence in Contemporary China: International Perspectives on Politics, Platforms, and Participation (pp. 175-205). East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press.
  • Ju, B., & Sandel, T. L. (2020). Perceived understandings of home and self-identity among mainland Chinese dual migrants in Macao. Journal of Intercultural Studies, 41(2), 99-115. https://doi.org/1080/07256868.2020.1724909
  • Lie, S., & Sandel, T. L. (2020). Unwelcomed guests: Cultural discourse analysis of comments on ethnic Chinese in Indonesian social media. Journal of Chinese Overseas, 16(1) 31-57. https://doi.org/10.1163/17932548-12341412

PhD Supervisions

Current Supervisees

  • CAO Xiyu. Dating and seeking love in China
  • MING Xiaoyu. Sports communication in China
  • CHAI Yuan (Catherine). Multimodal analysis of plastic surgeons in China
  • ZHENG Yuehui. Dating apps in China
  • CHEN Xingtong (Cassie). Chinese digital media

Completed PHD Dissertations

  1. Wang, Yusa, Defended November 2024
    Title of Thesis: New “Buy National” bandwagon in China: Discourse, Space and Social Actors
    Current Position: Lecturer, Schol of Languages, Shanghai University of International Business and Economics
  2. Duque, Miguel, Defended April 2023
    Title of Thesis: “Playing in-person and virtual poker: Presence, immersion and skills”

    Current Position: Assistant Professor, University of Saint Joseph, Macao
  3. Wangchuk, Dorji, Defended July 2022
    Title of Thesis: “Of Identity, Spirituality, Community, and the Sacred Chronotope: Technological Affordances in Bhutan
    Current Position: Director of the Chokshey Academy, Bhutan; Adjunct Professor, Royal University of Bhutan
  4. Ou, Chuyue, Defended January 2021
    Title of Thesis: “Life across the border in Macao: Peers, Family, and Identities of Mainland Chinese Postgraduates”
    Current Position: Post-graduate fellow, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
  5. Ju, Bei, Defended June 2018
    Title of Thesis: “Cross-border Life of Mainland Chinese Dual Migrants in Macau”
    Current Position: Lecturer in Intercultural Communication, University of Manchester, UK
  6. Satoko Izumi, 2010
    Title of Thesis: “Intercultural Communication of Identity: A Study of Japanese International Students in the United States”
  7. David Duty, 2009
    Title of Thesis: “Emerging Adulthood, Cross-cultural Adaptation, and the Environment: Young Hispanics in Oklahoma and New Mexico
  8. Anna Wong Lowe, 2009
    Title of Thesis: “Like White on Rice: Asianness, Whiteness, and Identity”
  9. Amy Post-McCorkle, 2009
    Title of Thesis: “Communication and Community in a City of Survivors: (Re)figuring the Oklahoma City Bombing”
  10. Stephen Croucher, 2006
    Title of Thesis: “Looking Beyond the Hijab: An Analysis of Muslim Adaptation to French Culture”

MA Completed Theses

  1. CHEN, Yanya, April 2025
    Title: “From Symbolic Consumption to Ritual Reconstruction: Multimodal Discourse Analysis of the “Accumulating Cyber Meritˮ Practice on Chinese Social Media”
  2. SOU, Ngai Chon, April 2025
    Title: “No Cantonese examiner on Bilibili? A study of Cantonese language play on a video platform”
  3. LI, Qiner (Baeky), April 2025
    Title: “The Influence of KPOP Idol Culture on Body Image Perception: A Study of Chinese Female Youth”
  4. YOHANNA, Caleb Gaji, April 2025
    Title: “The Code of Marriage and Tradition: Exploring FALI (Nigerian) Speech code in practice in Mubi”
  5. FANG, Kun (Nicholas), April 2025
    Title: “Multilingualism in a “Contact Zoneˮ: An Observation of Macau”
  6. LIU, Yufei (Christin), April 2025
    Title: “Constructed Gender Relations in See You Again Series — Based on Critical Discourse Analysis Framework”
  7. GUO, Xiting (Rose), December 2024
    Title: “WeChat use of Chinese overseas students in Portugal”
  8. LI, Jianxin, May 2024
    Title: “Content moderation and language games: Discourse practices of special subtitles in Douyin short videos”
  9. ZHENG, Yuehui, May 2024
    Title: “Chinese Lesbians’ Online Self-presentation: A Walkthrough and Multimodal Discourse Analysis of the App, Rela”
  10. HAO, Jingyan, May 2024
    Title: “Overselling intimacy: Users’ comments attitude reflects on the wanghong e-commerce live streaming phenomenon”
  11. LEE, King Ying, May 2024
    Title: “Unravelling Toxic Game Culture in China: A Qualitative Exploration of Women’s Experiences in Honor of Kings”
  12. ZHEN, Yingtong (Carol), November 2023
    Title: “Parasocial relations in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic: A discourse analysis of the Weibo blogger and fan responses
  13. CHEN, Xingtong (Cassie), May 2023
    Title of Thesis: “A multimodal discourse analysis of Cantonese short videos – Take manner as a case”
  14. LAO, Nga Man, May 2023
    Title of Thesis: “Cross-cultural experiences in Macao: From the perspectives of new immigrants and locals”
  15. HUANG, Siqi (Vicky), April 2023
    Title of Thesis: “Laborer meme and multi-modal analysis: A study on the symbolic resistance of Dagongren Biaoqingbao on Weibo”
  16. CHOO, Yee Xuan, May 2023
    Title of Thesis: “Amid crisis: The discourse of Chinese news media during Malaysia’s 15th general election”
  17. XIA, Jiaxin (Summer), June 2022
    Title of Thesis: “Afdian, ‘China’s Patreon’: Analysing independent creators on a crowdfunding platform.”
  18. KOU, Ka min (Josephine), June 2021
    Title of Thesis: “‘Macao is really a paradise for online fraud!’: Thematic analysis of Facebook comments on Macao’s love scams.”
  19. WANG, Xueying. July 2020
    Title of Thesis: “Discourses of housework allocation in contemporary Chinese families: A media analysis of ‘Men who do housework.’”
  20. WANG, Hang. July 2020
    Title of Thesis: “Co-location, co-presence, and social viewing: Understanding the affordances of bullet-screen videos.”
  21. CHEN, Yiming. June 2020
    Title of Thesis: “Home is where the heart is: Some thoughts about the sense of belonging among mainland Chinese students in Macau”
  22. LI, Lilin (Lillian). December 2019
    Title: “The Presentation of Self on Chinese Social Media Platforms: WeChat and Weibo”
  23. KE, Taoyuan. June 2019
    Title: “Membership categorization analysis of the ‘female driver’: Analyzing Weibo posts in response to the 2018 Chongqing bus accident.”
  24. CHOI, Hoi Meng. December 2018
    Title: Narrative analysis of Taiwanese films, Cape No. 7
  25. Zeng, Jiacheng. June 2018
    Title: “WeChat Moments ‘like’: A study of WeChat liking behavior in a Chinese cultural context”
  26. Yan, Xingyu. June 2018
    Title: “Advertising avoidance on video website: Studying stimulus manipulation and gender effects”
  27. Chen, Yinxuan. June 2018
    Title: “Impacts of internet celebrities on female consumerism culture in contemporary China.”
  28. Li Shengmei, 2017
    Title: “The ‘Leftover Women’ Phenomenon in China: A thematic analysis of media and interpersonal understandings of a gendered concept”
  29. Vong Kuok U, 2016
    Title: “The Spanish Dream: Story of the Chinese Immigrants in Sevilla”
  30. Fong Cho Kei, 2016
    Title: “The Cultural Experiences of Mainland Chinese Working Macau”
  31. Qiu Peimin, 2015
    Title: “Code Mixing on WeChat: Communicating and Relating among Young Adults in Macao and Guangdong”
  32. Zhu Hao, 2015
    Title: “Research of Reality Dating Shows Viewers and their Perspectives on Marriage Concepts in Mainland China: A Discourse Analysis”
  33. Wu Yanhui, 2015
    Title: “A Critical Discourse Analysis on Chinese and American News Reports on the Event of Bo Xilai”
  34. Huo Qianting, 2014
    Title: “Which One is Your Mother Tongue?: A Study of Language Ideologies and Attitudes towards Cantonese and Putonghua (Mandarin) in Guangzhou, China”
  35. Wu Si, 2014
    Title: “I am Not Fighting Alone: The Impact of Social Media on the Cross-border Experience of Mainland Students in Macau”
  36. Guan Xin, 2014
    Title: “The Acculturation and Identity of New Immigrant Youth in Macao”
  37. Liu Chenxi, 2014
    Title: “What is Zhuangbi?: The Analysis if Chinese Communication in Weibo”
  38. Li Qiqi, 2012
    Title: “Is Love Colorblind?: A Communication Study of Romantic Relationships between Westerners and Chinese living in Macau”

Courses Taught

  • Interpersonal Communication
  • Intercultural Communication
  • Media and Society
  • Qualitative Research Methods
  • Organizational Communication
  • Special Topics on Communication and Research
  • Special Topics on Communication and Culture
  • International and Intercultural Communication
  • Academic Writing and Scholarship
  • Research Ethics

Contact Details

Faculty of Social Sciences (FSS)
Humanities & Social Sciences Building (E21B), 2047
Tel: (853) 8822 8984
E-mail : tlsandel@um.edu.mo