Yu Li
Associate Professor of Modern Languages and Literatures - Chinese Loyola Marymount University
Media
Biography
Email: yu.li@lmu.edu
Phone: 310.338.5359
Office: University Hall 3945
Dr. Li's research interests include linguistic landscape studies, Chinese linguistics, Chinese language pedagogy, and East Asian calligraphy. Her recent work has focused on the cultural and social semiotics of the Chinese writing system. She is the author of The Chinese Writing System in Asia: An Interdisciplinary Perspective published by Routledge in 2020. Her current project examines the use of typeface as representation of group identity. Dr. Li coordinates the Chinese Program at LMU. Before joining LMU, she was a Senior Lecturer in Chinese, Linguistics, and East Asian Studies at Emory University. She served two terms as the Review Editor for Chinese as a Second Language (http://clta-us.org/publications/) from 2015 to 2020 and has served on the journal's editorial board since 2009.
Education
Peking University
BA
English Language and Literature
Peking University
BA
Economics
Peking University
MA
Linguistics
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
PhD
Linguistics
Research Focus
Linguistics
The Chinese writing system, linguistic landscape, social semiotics
Asian and Asian-American studies
East Asian calligraphy, Chinatown, Chinese food cultures
Chinese pedagogy
Translanguaging, teaching Chinese cultures, curriculum development
Research Grants
John Brockway Huntington Foundation Fellowship
The Huntington Library (San Marino, CA)
2023-03-07
https://huntington.org/available-fellowships#short
Hagley Exploratory Research Grant
Hagley Museum & Library (Wilmington, DE)
2022-05-04
https://www.hagley.org/exploratory-research-grants
Courses
Reading Multilingual Cities
This course is a critical introduction to the interdisciplinary field of linguistic landscape (LL) studies. It explores the concept of the LL as the visual representation of languages in public spaces and examines the interplay of language, power, and identity within social, political, and historical contexts. The course emphasizes how linguistic landscapes both maintain and challenge systems of power, privilege, or oppression. Through critical analysis of class, race, migration, colonialism, religion, and gender and sexuality as through the lens of the LL, students develop a nuanced understanding of how language operates within these systems. With the multilingual city of Los Angeles as their homebase, students engage in both theoretical learning and empirical research. The course aims to foster their ability for analytical and critical thinking, capacity for empathy, and growth as "persons for others" and agents of change in a diverse and interconnected world. This course fulfills the Interdisciplinary Connections Core requirement.
Chinese in Linguistic Landscapes
This introductory course explores the interdisciplinary field of linguistic landscape studies with a focus on the presence and role of Chinese text in global public spaces. Students will examine how written Chinese, in both monolingual and multilingual contexts, shapes and reflects social, cultural, and political dynamics in diverse regions, including Greater China and Chinese diasporic communities. Through analyzing signage, advertisements, posters, banners, and other public texts, the course investigates issues such as multilingualism, globalization, migration, identities, minority cultures, tourism, and commodification. Students will also engage in fieldwork to critically assess how Chinese text in public spaces interacts with linguistic diversity and social, historical, or political contexts. This course fulfills the Interdisciplinary Connections Core requirement.
Linguistics
This course is a systematic introduction to modern linguistics, the scientific study of human language and its structure. Students will first study the foundational and formal aspects of linguistics, including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics. They will then delve into its major branches such as psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, applied linguistics, writing systems, and sign languages. Throughout the course, students will analyze and compare data from a wide array of languages to develop cross-linguistic insights and metalinguistic awareness. Although knowledge or experience in a language other than English is not required, it will be beneficial for grasping some of the concepts and ideas and for contributing to class discussion. This course is required for the Modern Languages major, and it satisfies the Understanding Human Behavior Core requirement.
Global China
This course engages students in inquiries into the ever-evolving concept of "Chineseness" in historical and global-local contexts. Rooted in the linguistic and cultural diversity of China and is thus in itself complex, the idea of "what is Chinese" has been shaped and reshaped by global influences since China and the West came into sustained contact in the 13th century. In this interdisciplinary course, students will study a broad range of topics with the main objective to develop their intercultural curiosity and competence, critical thinking skills, and global-local perspectives about China and the world. The course consists of four units: Chinese languages, cultures, and philosophy, China and Europe (13th-20th centuries), China and the Americas (19th-21st centuries), and Chinese diaspora cultures in the globalized world (20th-21st centuries). This course fulfills the Historical Analysis and Perspectives Core requirement.
The Chinese Writing System
This course integrates critical inquiries of the Chinese writing system from a range of disciplinary perspectives: linguistics, information processing, history, sociology, anthropology, gender studies, literature, and visual arts. It starts by introducing students to the Chinese script as a linguistic subject, debunking popular myths with a focus on how and why the script has been used to write four unrelated languages: Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and Vietnamese. With linguistic knowledge as a foundation, students then delve into a range of linked but disciplinarily distinct topics, including script reform and technology, personhood in the Chinese writing system, Women's Script (Nǚshū 女书), Chinese characters as a medium for modern American poetry, and the Chinese writing system in avant-garde art. These inquiries cohere as they offer insight into how the Chinese writing system has represented and shaped cultural identities at the personal and the social level in and beyond Asia. This course fulfills the Interdisciplinary Connections Core requirement.
Chinese Calligraphy
This course offers an interdisciplinary study and practicum of Chinese calligraphy in its artistic, historical, and sociocultural contexts. Students will start by learning about Chinese calligraphy as a traditional art form and then go beyond the classically defined discipline to examine the aesthetic values, intellectual metaphors, and moral criteria that calligraphy embodies in China or East Asia. They will examine calligraphy's role in Confucian education and the Civil Service Examination, in Buddhist practices, as well as in modern political transactions. As well, they will learn about the development of Modernist Calligraphy and contemporary Chinese artists' use of character writing in avant-garde works. Throughout the semester, students will engage in systematic hands-on practice of brush writing in the Standard (kǎishū 楷书) style. Sustained practice will prepare them for the completion of a final art project at the end of the semester. This course fulfills the Creative Experience Core requirement.
Chinese Food Cultures
This course is a broad and interdisciplinary introduction to Chinese culinary cultures. Through critical reading and discussion, students study the foodways of the Chinese people, both traditional and modern, and their impact on the globalized world. They also learn about the crises related to food, especially in China's recent history and contemporary times, and the measures taken to forestall such crises. Throughout the course, students learn to recognize narrow stereotypes associated with Chinese food and people, understand Chinese food cultures as integrated and dynamic practices, and appreciate the complexity in the symbolic meaning food holds in Chinese cultures. The course incorporates perspectives from anthropology, sociology, history, environmental studies, linguistics as well as food studies. Readings and discussions make up the majority of the class time, but several class periods will be devoted to making and serving food. Throughout the semester, students will contribute to LMU’s Feed the Hungry program by making lunches and learn about food insecurity in Los Angeles. This course fulfills the Interdisciplinary Connections Core requirement and carries the Engaged-Learning flag.
Articles
Designing Chineseness: an interview with Mingxuan Shen on the New Wonton typeface
Visual StudiesLi, Y. & Mo, R. (2025).
2025-10-13
https://doi.org/10.1080/1472586X.2025.2567369
The chop suey letterform and cultural hegemony in global representation of visual Chineseness
Visual CommunicationLi, Y. (2025).
2025-06-16
https://doi.org/10.1177/14703572251328349
The chop suey letterform in historical Los Angeles Chinatowns
Social SemioticsLi, Y. (2023).
2023-12-13
https://doi.org/10.1080/10350330.2023.2286443
Cultural authenticity in the linguistic landscape: Developing additional language learners’ critical intercultural understanding
In Krompak, E., Fernandez-Mallat, V., & Meyer, S. (Eds.) Linguistic landscape and educational spaces. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. 258-276.Li, Y. (2022).
2022-07-05
https://doi.org/10.21832/9781788923873-014
Translanguaging as a pedagogical practice in Chinese language and (inter)culture learning
Chinese as a Second Language, 56(2). 89-117.Li, Y. & Liu, J. (2022).
2022-01-21
http://doi.org/10.1075/csl.20006.li
海外书法教学的第三空间 [A third space in overseas calligraphy education]
大学书法. [University Calligraphy], 5. 55-59.Li, Y. & Watt, M. (2021).
2021-09-06
https://m.fx361.com/news/2021/1104/10284156.html
Developing beginning language learners’ (meta-)cultural understanding via student-led linguistic landscape research
Linguistic Landscape (8)1. 56-84.Li, Y., Lee, H., & Choi, B. (2021).
2021-07-30
https://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/10.1075/ll.20022.li
Calligraphy education in Teaching Chinese as a Second Language
In Ye, Z. (Ed.) The Palgrave handbook of Chinese language studies. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan. 1-29.Li, Y. (2021).
2021-04-23
https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-981-13-6844-8_8-1
