Tan, Ching Ching
Senior Lecturer of Communication Studies
Preferred: chingching.tan@sjsu.edu
Education
Master of Fine Arts, Creative Writing Nonfiction, San Jose State University
Master of Arts, Communication Studies, San Jose State University
Bachelor of Arts, International Studies - Linguistics, University of California, San
Diego
Bio
Ching Ching Tan is a Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at San Jose State University. She earned her M.F.A. in Creative Nonfiction in 2024 and M.A. in Communication Studies in 2015 from San Jose State University, following a B.A. in International Studies - Linguistics from the University of California, San Diego in 2011.
A proud immigrant from China, Professor Tan began her U.S. education journey in community college ESL programs before transferring to UCSD. She draws on her linguistic identity to teach public speaking for English learners and create literary work exploring language and identity. Her teaching portfolio also includes interpersonal communication and other communication subjects.
Professor Tan's academic and literary pursuits have earned her several grants and awards. Most recently, she received the 23/24 RSCA SEED Grant for her memoir-in-progress, which delves into themes of cultural identity, language, and the immigrant experience in America. Her personal essays and OpEds have been published in respected outlets such as New England Review, CNN, HuffPost, SFWP, Visible Magazine, and Canyon Voices Magazine, among others. Notably, her essay "How Do I Explain Myself," published in New England Review, was nominated for the Pushcart Prize in 2023.
With a strong commitment to international education, Professor Tan has led study abroad programs in Guangzhou, China (2019, 2020) and Jyväskylä, Finland (2017). She has also served as a speech consultant for student leaders at Silicon Valley Women In Engineering Conferences for the past three years, further demonstrating her dedication to empowering diverse voices in academia and industry.