Cecilia Uy-Tioco

Cecilia Uy-Tioco is an Associate Professor of Communication in the Department of Communication & Media Studies at California State University San Marcos (CSUSM). She teaches courses on global media, media theory, new media & everyday life, children's media, and mobile media cultures. Prior to joining CSUSM, she taught at George Mason University and Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines, and in Fall 2021 served as Visiting Faculty at both Ateneo de Manila University and University of the Philippines Diliman.

Dr. Uy-Tioco's educational background includes:

• Ph.D. in Cultural Studies from George Mason University (2013)
• M.A. in Media Studies from the New School University
• M.A. in Individualized Study/Publishing from New York University
• Certificate in Publishing from the Radcliffe Publishing Course at Harvard University
• A.B. in Interdisciplinary Studies with focus on Communication and Legal Management from Ateneo de Manila University

As an interdisciplinary scholar, Dr. Uy-Tioco's research interrogates relationships between media, culture, and globalization, with particular focus on the Philippine telecom industry and Philippine migrant communities in the United States. Her work analyzes unequal power relationships within globalization processes, especially regarding theoretical debates over modernity in developing nations. She employs a critical media and cultural studies approach that situates media texts within broader social, cultural, political, and economic contexts.

Dr. Uy-Tioco's scholarly trajectory shows consistent evolution from early work on text messaging among Overseas Filipino Workers to her current research on 'glocal intimacies' examining how mobile media reconfigure local ties while enabling global relationships. Her publications demonstrate deep engagement with digital inequality, transnational communities, and the Philippine context.

She co-edited the significant 2020 Springer volume 'Mobile Media & Social Intimacies in Asia: Reconfiguring Local Ties and Enacting Global Relationships,' which brings together emerging scholars from East/Southeast Asia to explore mobile media's role in transforming regional social intimacies. This work has been recognized for advancing efforts to decolonize media and communications research.

Before entering academia, Dr. Uy-Tioco worked in the book and magazine publishing industry in both the Philippines and New York, providing practical industry experience that informs her academic perspective on media production and consumption.