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Nan Hu

Assistant Professor

Personal profile

Personal profile

Emma Nan Hu is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Media and Communication and a filmmaker dedicated to visual storytelling as a method for cross-cultural understanding. Her current research adopts practice-based and visual ethnographic approaches to explore how people, particularly women in under-represented contexts, use cameras for self-expression.

Alongside her academic role, she maintains active professional practice as a self-shooting producer/director, applied ethnographer, and audiovisual translator. This multidisciplinary background and industry engagement not only inform her research but also directly shape her teaching. She brings an integrated and industry-tested approach into the classroom, inspiring students to become the next generation of media practitioners committed to the ethical pursuit of authentic, impactful, and aesthetically compelling stories.

Research interests

  • Video production
  • Indie filmmaking
  • Cross-cultural storytelling
  • International co-production
  • Global audience

Experience

Assistant Professor/Lecturer of Practice, XJTLU, 2023 - Present

Freelance Ethnographer, Ipsos MORI, 2019 - Present

Freelance Translator (English/Chinese), 2016 - Present

Self-Shooting Producer/Director + Editor, 2011 - Present

Freelance Video Journalist, Hunan TV, 2012 - 2013

Teaching

COM335 True Stories Told

COM154 Introduction to Video Production

Education/Academic qualification

BA in Society, Culture & Media, University of East Anglia, UK, 2007 – 2010

MA in Filmmaking, University of Essex, UK, 2010 – 2012

Diploma in Translation (Postgraduate-level), Chartered Institute of Linguists, UK, 2020

Advanced Self-Shooting, National Film and Television School, UK, 2022

Research areas

  • Non-fiction filmmaking
  • Visual ethnography
  • Cross-cultural storytelling
  • Practice-based research

Person Types

  • Staff