Hi, I’m Yu. I study how people have listened, measured, and lived with sound throughout history. I’m endlessly curious about how we listen and how that connects to bigger questions about environment, society, and politics. I follow the stories of everyday objects – radios, loudspeakers, wires, microphones, headsets, earbuds, and sound measuring devices. These aren’t just technical gadgets; they’re part of a rich tapestry that includes the floors we walk on, the walls around us, the roads we travel, and even the forests we explore. Together, these elements create what I call a sonic infrastructure – a complex web of interactions between humans, machines, and our environment.

Research Interest

Currently, I’m based at Cornell. My research has appeared in various journals across North America, Hong Kong, mainland China, and Europe, including Twentieth-Century China and several others.

What really gets me excited? I’m writing a book on auditory governance in Mao’s China, exploring what this entailed when the auditory sense became a crucial site of governance. Indeed, auditory governance is not just about history. It also deeply concerns the present and the future. Think about it – sound devices such as headphones, loudspeakers, microphones, stethoscopes, and audiometers, to list just a few, changed we understand the environment we live in, how we understand bodies, and how we imagine a better future.

But that’s not all! I’m also super interested in data justice. I’m learning how to code from my chatbot. You can do that too!

I welcome Klarman Fellow application inquiries, but please contact me at least 6 months early (One year will be even better). That will allow me to sufficiently understand your research, and imagine possible support and feasible collaboration scenarios.