Hi! I’m Tianhao. I am currently a PhD candidate in Sociology at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

I study the intersection between macro social structures and micro social processes, with a focus on illuminating how the former underpins and is (re)produced through the latter. My current research illustrates how normative expectations and commonsense knowledge associated with the social structure of race/ethnicity are (re)produced, negotiated, and/or contested in social interaction in both mundane and institutional settings. 

Using methods such as conversation analysis, discursive psychology, and ethnomethodology, I offer in-depth qualitative analysis of interactional data of various formats, including interviews, focus groups, online forum posts, and media content such as podcasts and YouTube videos. I have published in Discourse & Society, Qualitative Research, and Social Psychology Quarterly.

Feel free to poke around the website and reach out to me at tiz410@live.unc.edu!