About
I am an Assistant Professor of Journalism at the Jack J. Valenti School of Communication, University of Houston, scholar-in-the-making, and coding aficionado. In the past, I worked as a broadcast and online journalist. I have taught undergraduate courses, online and offline, at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Universitat Pompeu Fabra and City University of Hong Kong. My most recent research project takes a multidisciplinary approach (international relations, media and area studies) to study Chinese media operations in Africa using qualitative (interviews, focus groups, observation) and quantitative methodologies (quantitative text analysis, online experiments).
Five (random) facts about me
- I can communicate in 7 languages. They are, in order of proficiency, Catalan, Spanish, English, French, Italian, Russian, Japanese and Chinese. If I ever add an eight one to the list, it is likely to be Indonesian.
- I am a certified indoor cycling (some might call it spinning) instructor by both Schwinm (Bronze Level) and ANEF, the Spanish Association of Physical Education (Level 2).
- At some point in a very distant past, I was a licensed (American) football umpire, although that career path was (fortunately for the players) very short-lived.
- I enjoy travelling, cooking and hiking. I am terrible at singing and even worse at playing sports, although I am an avid spectator.
- I worked as a movie extra in Japan. For example, in the movie バルトの楽園 (Ode to Joy) I played a dead soldier in the opening scene and a prisoner later on.
Personal goals
A recap on how I am progressing with some of my current professional and life goals. Not necessarily accurate, but I am trying hard.
Visiting 680 coutnries
Learning Python
Running 20k
Getting tenured
Dani Madrid-Morales, Ph.D.
BA Journalism, UAB
BA East Asian Studies, UPF
MA East Asian Studies, UAB
MA International Relations, FU Berlin
PhD Media and Communication, CityU Hong Kong
Media Inquiries
I am available for media commentary and interviews in English, Spanish and Catalan on a diverse array of topics including global media, the state of journalism in East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, China-Africa relations, contemporary politics in China, Japan, North Korea and South Korea... Samples of my media appearances are available on this website. If you are interested in contacting me for an interview, a quote, sound bite or op-ed, I can be reached by email at dmmorale(at)central.uh.edu and, during office hourse, by phone at +1 (713) 743 - 9751.