Early Career Researcher in China Studies Workshops
MCI Early Career Researcher (ECR) in China Studies workshops are an informal, multidisciplinary forum for ECRs studying Greater China to present their research and receive constructive feedback from more experienced faculty and their peers. Each event comprises a thirty-minute presentation from the speaker and a subsequent Q&A session, with a bespoke audience.
Overview of MCI's Spring 2024 ECR Workshops.
Induction - Presentation Skills for China Studies ECRs.
William Hu on China's Social Credit System.
Thomas Flavel on Cosmopolitan Culture among Chinese Urban Youth.
Melody Zhang on Left-Behind Children's Life Trajectories in China.
Elisa Gambino on Chinese Investment in West Africa.
Mark Czeller on Class Enemies in Maoist China.
Xiaomeng Li on Guofeng Framings of Boys’ Love TV Series in China.
Spring 2024 ECR Talks
(Open to affiliated faculty, postdocs, PhD & postgrad students only)
Induction: Presentation Skills for China Studies ECR
Dr Xiaobing Wang, Dr Rian Thum, Dr William Zhengdong Hu; 8 February 2024
The Fate of Entrepreneurs under China’s Social Credit System
Dr William Zhengdong Hu, Keele University; 15 February 2024
Cosmopolitan Culture & Subculture among Urban Chinese Youth
Dr Thomas Flavel, University of Manchester; 22 February 2024
How the Hukou, Gender, and Digital Divides Shape Left-Behind Children’s Life Trajectories in China
Melody Zhang, University of Manchester; 29 February 2024
Transnational Networks & the Internationalisation of Chinese Private Capital in West Africa
Dr Elisa Gambino, University of Manchester; 7 March 2024
Growth without Development: Climate Discourses in the Business Sector in China
Dr Yuting Yao, University of Sheffield; 14 March 2024
‘Non-People’ in the People’s Republic: Class Enemies in Maoist China
Dr Mark Czellér, University of London; 11 April 2024
’Guofeng’ (National Style) Framings of Boys' Love Television Series in China
Dr Xiaomeng Li, Shanghai International Studies University; 18 April 2024
Explore our photo gallery from recent ECR Workshops.
ECR Induction – Exploring Chinese Studies.
Dr Aoife Cantrill on textiles in Zhang Ailing’s Wartime Writing.
Dr Bruce Bao on Western Views of China in Natural Language.
Ke Ma on Whiteness in China's Fashion Modelling Industry.
Pengfei Xu on the Evolution of China's Social Credit System.
Dr Federica Mirra on rethinking Xi Jinping’s China Dream through visual arts.
Feiyang Xu on Alibaba's Expansion in Southeast Asia.
Ruoning Chen on Digital Nationalism in China.
Dr Edwin Jiang on Chinese identity in the People’s Republic.
MCI postdoctoral researcher Dr Tao Wang created the ECR workshop series in 2019. Politics PhD students Qiaochu Zhang, Chengzhi Zhang, and Feiyang Xu have run it since 2022.
ECR workshops are held in-person at the Manchester China Institute (The Lee Building, 178 Waterloo Place). We invite research postdocs, PhD students, and other early-career scholars to submit proposals for presentations of any topic related to China Studies/the Chinese-speaking world. We are interested in a wide range of topics, ranging from social sciences to linguistics, science, technology, arts, and many more.
If you are interested in presenting at our ECR workshops, please submit the following details to mci@manchester.ac.uk
- Applicant’s full name;
- Bio, brief (include academic title, institution, profile picture);
- Talk title (75 characters max.; capturing the topic/research question on China);
- Abstract (200 words max.);
- Availability throughout the current academic year.
Our ECR convenors will review your application and aim to reply to you within a week from submission. Please also consult our guidelines for successful applicants before your presentation is due.
Past ECR Talks
Autumn 2023 ECR Talks
Textile Things and Their Making in Zhang Ailing’s Wartime Writing
Dr Aoife Cantrill, Lecturer in Chinese Studies, University of Manchester; 12 October 2023
Western Views of China in Natural Language
Dr Bruce Bao, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Manchester China Institute;19 October 2023
Trading Beauty, Making Race: Whiteness in China's Fashion Modelling Industry
Ke Ma, PhD Student in Anthropology, University of Amsterdam; 8 Novemebr 2023
What Does Credit Mean? The Evolution of China's Social Credit System
Pengfei Xu, PhD Researcher in Politics, University of Manchester; 9 Novemeber 2023
Strong, Civilised, Harmonious, and Beautiful: Rethinking Xi Jinping’s China Dream through the visual arts
Dr Federica Mirra, Birmingham City University; 16 Novemeber 2023
Alibaba's Expansion in Southeast Asia: A Case Study of China's Outbound Capital
Feiyang Xu, University of Manchester; 21 November 2023
Inhabitants of a national “walled garden”: everyday nationhood in China’s digital ecosystem
Ruoning Chen, Loughborough University; 30 November 2023
Searching for Chinese identity in the People’s Republic
Dr Edwin Jiang, PhD in Social Anthropology, University of Cambridge; 7 December 2023
SPRING 2023 ECR Talks
How is e-commerce exploited and harnessed to foster rural revitalisation in China? Evidence from less developed rural West China
Yitian Ren, PhD Candidate in Planning, Property and Environmental Management, Manchester Urban Institute; 25 May 2023
From Beijing to Amur – A four-border sphere in literature of exiles in Qing Northeast China
Tianshu Liu, Doctoral Researcher in Human Geography, University of Manchester; 11 May 2023
Governance as Translation: A Case Study on the Governance of Dulongjiang Township
Dr Tong Wu, Lecturer, Southwest Forestry University & Ye Tian, PhD Candidate in Translation Studies, Queen’s University Belfast; MCI Visiting Scholar; 20 April 2023
Between Official and Vernacular Memory: Mediated Remembering of Han Migration to Xinjiang
Dr Jin Dai, PhD in Media & Memory Studies, Loughborough University; MCI Visiting Scholar; 8 February 2023
Autumn 2022 ECR Talks
Rising Powers and Norm Contestation: Understanding China’s Approaches to Civilian Protection in Conflict-Affected Regions
Qiaochu Zhang, PhD Researcher in Politics, University of Manchester; 8 December 2022
The Chinese Christian Community in Britain: Spirituality, Unity & Division
Yinxuan Huang, Research Fellow in Religion, London School of Theology; 1 December 2022
How do Chinese students apply for UK universities?
Ying Yang, PhD Candidate in Education, University of Manchester; 10 November 2022
Spring 2022 ECR Talks
'Easter in Faraway China': Orthodox Religious Celebrations and Chinese Orthodox Network Formation, 1900-1917
Anastasiia Akulich, PhD Candidate in History, University of Manchester; 7 June 2022
Shiminhua: The Urbanisation of China’s Rural-Urban Migrants
Joseph Hongsheng Zhao, PhD Candidate in Land Economy, University of Cambridge; 17 May 2022
'It looked so attractive, and I couldn’t resist': Porn-Watching Experiences Amongst Chinese Youth
Chong Liu, PhD Candidate in Sociology, University of Leeds; 28 April 2022
Do pay gaps between executives at different career stages shape firm performance? Evidence from China
Chang Yang, Post-Doctoral Fellow in Accounting, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China; 15 March 2022
China’s Nascent Crime Victims’ Movement: A Study on the Parents of Missing Children
Haiyun Zhao, PhD Candidate in Criminology, University of Oxford; 8 February 2022
Autumn 2021 ECR Talks
Spatial Order and Imagination in Hong Kong’s Umbrella and Anti-Extradition Bill Movements
Leon Nelson Kunz, PhD Candidate in Politics, SOAS University of London; 9 December 2021
UK-China Relations: The Role of British MPs in China Policy Making
Mark Logan, PhD Candidate in Politics, University of Manchester; 12 November 2021
Pyrodrama in Manchester's Belle Vue Zoological Gardens and Changing Depictions of China
Tracey May Boyce, PhD Candidate in History, Manchester Metropolitan University; 21 October 2021
Earlier ECR Talks
A Better Experience, or a Better Investment? A Case Study of Chinese Students at a British Branch Campus in China
Jingran Yu, Doctoral Researcher in Sociology, University of Manchester; 17 March 2021
The ‘Coolie’ and the ‘Comity of Nations’: Human Trafficking, Foreign Advisors and the Incorporation of Qing China Into an Unequal Liberal Order
Nicholas McGee, PhD Candidate in History, University of Toronto, Canada; 27 February 2020
The Baton Effect of Internationalisation in a Chinese University
Xi Xi, Doctoral Researcher in the Global Development Institute, University of Manchester; 21 November 2019
Emotional Mobilization in Hong Kong: Contesting Chinese Patriotism in the Anti-National Education Campaign, 2011-2012
Yun Tong Tang, PhD Candidate in Sociology, University of Manchester; 13 November 2019
Money Is Sweet When It Says Love
Cong Peng, Research Associate in Social Psychology, University of Manchester; 15 October 2019