Associate Professor
Jenny Hou
Faculty of Creative Industries, Education & Social Justice,
School of Communication
Biography
As a Study Area Coordinator for Professional Communication, I was awarded a PhD in Strategic Public Relations by the University of Queensland. My research interests include strategic communication in the digital age, transmedia storytelling in disaster risk communication, social media and community engagement, and the interrelationship between public relations and journalism. My work has appeared in top-tiered journals such as Public Relations Review, Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, Public Relations Inquiry, Journal of Business & Technical Communication, Social Semiotics, Communication Research and Practice, Asia Pacific Public Relations Journal, and PRism. I am also the co-editor of the forthcoming Routledge book "The Global Foundations of Public Relations: Humanism, China and the West". Prior to joining QUT, I have taught in universities in New Zealand, Ireland, Hong Kong and China. In 2017, I was awarded Public Relations Educator Fellowship by the prestigious Plank Centre for Leadership in Public Relations. In 2019 and 2021, I was awarded the Arthur W. Page Centre Legacy Scholar Grants. I have also won grants from European Commission, Australia Government CRC Fight Food Waste Program, and NSW Department of Industry.Personal details
Positions
- Associate Professor
Faculty of Creative Industries, Education & Social Justice,
School of Communication
Keywords
Strategic Communication, Social Media, Community Engagement, Disaster Risk Communication, Public Relations, Interdisciplinary Research
Research field
Communication and Media Studies, Cultural Studies
Field of Research code, Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC), 2008
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy (University of Queensland)
Professional memberships and associations
International Communication Association (ICA) International Association of Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Public Relations Institute of Australia (PRIA)
Teaching
My teaching experience spans all levels ranging from undergraduate, postgraduate and executive MBA levels. Currently, I'm the Study Area Coordinator for Professional Communication and teaching the following units at QUT: CWB102 Influence and Persuasion (undergraduate) CWB103 Interpersonal and Intercultural Negotiation (undergraduate) CCN102 Social Media Storytelling (postgraduate)
Experience
Research grant projects (Real-world engagement):
- 2021-2022: The road less travelled: Toward building an agent-based approach to ethics of care for public communication (Chief Investigator) — funded by The Arthur W. Page Center Legacy Scholar Grant, USA.
- 2020 - 2021: Beyond the swipe or click: Evaluating the multi-layered influence of social media campaigns on food waste reduction in Australia (Principal Chief Investigator) — Funded by Australian Government CRC Fight Food Waste Program and NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA), Australia.
- 2019 - 2021: The re-enchantment of strategic narratives and authentic storytelling in disaster risk communication: A case study of “Resilient Queensland Stories” (Principal Chief Investigator) — Funded by The Arthur W. Page Center Legacy Scholar Grant, USA.
- 2018 - 2019: Information for impact: Enabling education providers to address exploitation of international students in accommodation and at work (Chief Investigator) — Funded by NSW Government StudyNSW Partner & Department of Industry, Australia.
- 2018 - 2020: Examining the intersection of public relations and journalism professions in the digital age (Chief Investigator) — Funded by NSW Department of Industry (Techvouchers Scheme) and Public Address Ltd, Australia.
- 2017: The real implications of fake news (Chief Principal Investigator) — funded by The Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations in partnership with Burson Marsteller New York, USA.
- 2016 - 2017: An interdisciplinary approach to risk communication and crisis management: Key issues, strategies, and evaluation of messaging effectiveness (Principal Chief Investigator) — Funded by European Commission Erasmus+ Scholarship in partnership with University of Limerick Kemmy Business School, Ireland.
Publications
- Hou, J., (2023). 'Sharing Is Caring': Participatory Storytelling and Community Building on Social Media Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic. American Behavioral Scientist. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/239004/
- Hou, J., (2023). The re-enchantment of narratives in disaster risk communication: Developing a storytelling framework with '5C' principles. In F. Shen & HH. Edwards (Eds.), Narratives in Public Communication (pp. 178–197). Routledge. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/239005/
- Brown, R., St. John III, B. & Hou, J. (2022). The Global Foundations of Public Relations: Humanism, China and the West. Routledge. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/130933
- Brown, R., St. John III, B. & Hou, J. (2022). The Humanistic Turn. The Global Foundations of Public Relations: Humanism, China and the West, 1–6. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/209827
- Peng, A., Kuang, X. & Hou, J. (2022). Love NBA, Hate BLM: Racism in China's Sports Fandom. International Journal of Communication, 16. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/232611
- Wang, Y., Hearn, G., Mathews, S. & Hou, J. (2024). Networks, collaboration and knowledge exchange in creative industries: A comparative analysis of Brisbane and Shenzhen. Creative Industries Journal, 17(1), 88–112. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/230808
- Hou, J. & Wang, Y. (2022). Creativity is key: Using creative pedagogy to incorporate activism in the public relations classroom and beyond. Journal of Public Relations Education, 8(2), 78–110. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/234609
- Hou, J., Lotz, A., Hearn, G. & Lewis, K. (2022). Social Media: The Real Impact on Food Waste Reduction Beyond the Swipe or the Click (Project Summary Report). https://eprints.qut.edu.au/228653
- Hou, J., (2021). The articulation of 'agency': How can public relations scholarship and institutional theory enrich each other? Public Relations Inquiry, 10(1), 97–117. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/202201
- Hou, J. & Zhu, Y. (2020). Social capital, guanxi and political influence in Chinese government relations. Public Relations Review, 46(1). https://eprints.qut.edu.au/199807
QUT ePrints
For more publications by Jenny, explore their research in QUT ePrints (our digital repository).
Awards
- Type
- Funding Award
- Reference year
- 2023
- Details
- Queensland Resilience and Risk Reduction Funding (QRRRF)
- Type
- Visiting Professorships/Fellowships
- Reference year
- 2023
- Details
- Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CRASSH) at University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2022
- Details
- Public Relations Institute of Australia Golden Target Awards 'Educator of the Year'
- Type
- Funding Award
- Reference year
- 2021
- Details
- Arthur W. Page Centre Legacy Scholar Grant (USA)
- Type
- Funding Award
- Reference year
- 2021
- Details
- Australia Government CRC Fight Food Waste Funding
- Type
- Fellowships
- Reference year
- 2020
- Details
- Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA)
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2017
- Details
- Public Relations Educator Fellowship of The Plank Centre for Leadership in Public Relations (USA)
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2016
- Details
- European Commission Erasmus+ Scholarship
Supervision
Current supervisions
- Unpacking the role of TikTok in food waste reduction: Insights from a qualitative study
PhD, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Greg Hearn - Fostering connectedness: Designing engaging support messages for international students in Australia in the wake of COVID-19
PhD, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Associate Professor Lesley Hawkes, Dr Jeremy Kerr - PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Associate Professor Angela Romano