AI, Connection & Human Flourishing
Shan Xu is an Associate Professor at Texas Tech University's College of Media & Communication. She studies human–AI collaboration and the psychological and social effects of technology — with methods built to watch those effects unfold over time.
- 2025
- Integrated Scholar Award, Texas Tech
- 2024
- President's Excellence in Teaching Award
- 2023
- President's Excellence in Research Award
- 2019
- Ph.D., The Ohio State University
The work
- 01
Research focus
Human–AI collaboration, the social and psychological impacts of technology, social support, and health and well-being.
- 02
Theoretical approach
A longitudinal, dynamic perspective: how media use and media effects cause each other, stabilize, and unfold over time — not snapshots.
- 03
Methods
Longitudinal studies, ecological momentary assessment, time series and dynamic panel analysis, and machine learning.
In print
First-authored, peer-reviewed, field-defining journals.
Including Journal of Communication, Communication Research, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Human Communication Research, Health Communication, New Media & Society, and Current Opinion in Psychology.
Supported by the National Science Foundation, the National Humanities Center & Google, and the Waterhouse Family Institute.