Shenshen Cai is a Lecturer of Chinese Studies at Monash University. She received her PhD in contemporary Chinese popular culture from Griffith University (Australia). 

Shenshen's academic and research interests are in contemporary Chinese literature, media, film, Television, theatre, folklore, gender and celebrity studies. Shenshen has a strong interest in interdisciplinary and innovative research. Her past work and current research interests are all interdisciplinary: culture, politics, society, media, gender, folklore, celebrity, and even at various times she has delved into history and philosophy. In fact she considers herself to be more a “transdisciplinarian” in that her work does not really recognize the usual boundaries of disciplines but works through and between them.

Shenshen is the author of State Propaganda in China's Entertainment Industry (Routledge, 2016), Television Drama in Contemporary China: Political, social and cultural phenomena (Routledge, 2016), Contemporary Chinese Films and Celebrity Directors (Palgrave Macmillian, 2017), Xiangsheng and the Emergence of Guo DEgang in Contemporary China (with Emily Dunn, Palgrave Macmillian, 2020), and Celebrity Activism and Governance in Contemporary China (forthcoming 2023 with Bloomsbury).  Shenshen has published articles in journals including Asian Studies Review, New Review of Film and Television Studies, Celebrity Studies and Social Semiotics. 

Research and supervision interests

Chinese popular culture, media, film, TV, folklore, gender and celebrity studies.