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Staff Profile

Dr Andrew Law

Director of the Confucius Institute; Senior Lecturer in Town Planning.

  • Email: andrew.law@ncl.ac.uk
  • Telephone: +44 (0) 191 208 5408
  • Personal Website: https://andrewlaw7.wixsite.com/mysite
  • Address: School of Architecture Planning and Landscape
    Room 8.24
    8th Floor Henry Daysh Building (formerly known as the Claremont Tower)
    Newcastle University
    Newcastle
    NE1 7RU
Background
Roles and responsibilities
September, 2022: Director of the Confucius Institute at Newcastle University.
December, 2020: Chair of the School's library committee
Past roles and responsibilities
April, 2022-January, 2023: Deputy then Acting Director of Internationalisation and Reputation in APL.
September 2021-March, 2022: Acting Director of the Confucius Institute at Newcastle University
September 2013-August, 2018: Degree Program Director of the BA (Hons) Architecture and Urban Planning in APL.

Academic Biography 

My research examines the way in which societies and individuals understand, process, interpret and/or narrate their pasts; I have conducted research on the history of ideas, historical imaginaries, collective memory, national myths and narratives, nostalgia, the politics of history and the uses and abuses of history and/or the past more broadly. In my career, I have often examined these themes in relation to architecture, townscapes, urban conservation, built heritage, intangible heritage and urban place branding. While my early research explored British/English cases, since 2010 I have investigated Chinese case studies. In this respect, I have become an enthusiastic student of Chinese studies (Sinology).

Broadly speaking my research interests relate to:

Social theory

Sociological theory

the history of ideas

historical imaginaries

Collective memory

nostalgia

the politics of history

the politics of the past

the uses of the past

the use and abuse of history/the past

heritage

Historical place branding

Nostalgic place branding

Faux history

Historical simulacra

nationalism

national myths

national narratives

race and ethnicity

Chinese studies


Subject areas

Very specifically, my work might be placed within the following subject areas: the sociology or anthropology of the past; the politics of the past; public history and/or heritage studies. But beyond these specific areas, hopefully my research speaks to the disciplines of sociology, history, human geography, architecture, planning and Chinese studies more broadly.

Visiting academic positions

I have been a visiting scholar, visiting researcher and/or a visiting lecturer at the following institutions:

Xi'an Jiaotong University (March-April, 2019); Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (July, 2017); Xiamen University (July, 2017); Xi'an University of Architectural Technology (May-July, 2013); Wuhan University (March-May, 2013); Peking University (February, 2013; August, 2013).

Recent Work: Chinese cultural history and urban studies

In recent years, I have become a very enthusiastic student of Chinese studies (Sinology). I say student because my Mandarin needs to improve and because I am still finding my feet, I often work in teams with other Chinese researchers. Specifically, my research has mainly been concerned with Chinese culture, nostalgia, politics, heritage and urban development.

On my travels to China I have visited the following very interesting places: Beijing, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Hong Kong, Jining, Macau, Qingdao, Qufu, Shanghai, Suzhou, Tai'an, Wuhan, Xiamen and Xi'an. In the near future, I hope to visit more places in the PRC.

Applications for Doctoral Work

I welcome applications for doctoral study; I welcome students, who want to develop projects on urban development, time, memory, nostalgia, identity and heritage; And of course, reflecting my recent work, I am very interested in project students that are keen to study issues in and around Chinese culture, nostalgia, politics, heritage and urban development. 

Languages: Mandarin

Above tourist level Mandarin (but a long way to go yet): On the 6th of January, 2016 I learnt that I passed the Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi (HSK) level 2 Mandarin Chinese Proficiency test. In the future I shall study for the HSK Level 3 Mandarin Chinese Proficiency test.

Outside of Work

Outside of work I am a keen walker and Chess player. I also spend my time reading and sometimes trying to write fiction. I love listening to music, reading novels and watching movies. When I was younger I enjoyed Skateboarding. Whilst I have retired this hobby, I still take an interest in Skateboarding culture broadly.

Research

Research websites: 

My ORCID ID number is: 0000-0002-8403-3971 

my research can be accessed at the following websites:

https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=Gu9A6DYAAAAJ&hl=en

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Andrew-Law-5

https://newcastle.academia.edu/AndrewLaw

https://orcid.org/my-orcid?orcid=0000-0002-8403-3971

Law, Andrew - Author details - Scopus

Andrew Law Journals | Exaly

Editorial Boards

I am currently on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Architectural/Planning Research and Studies (JARS) (as a consultant).

I am currently on the Editorial Board of the journal Built Heritage (part of Tongji University Press). 

I am currently on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Chinese Architecture and Urbanism (JCAU)

Academic networks

April 2021: I am a member of the GU design (genealogy of urban design) network. https://gudesign.org/members/andrew-law/

September 2019: I am a member of the Hong Kong Studies Association (HKSA)

December 2017: China ports network – https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/research/groups/china-ports/china-ports-network-members.aspx

July 2014: I am a member of the British Association of Chinese Studies (BACS).

I am an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, UK.

Specific research areas:

In recent years, I have become a student of Chinese studies (Sinology); at present I am exploring 5 specific lines of research in China; these investigations include:

1) the history of ideas in China especially traditional ideas and the role of these concepts in the present.

2) research into the role of humiliation and rejuvenation discourses

3) research into historic place-branding and the use of historical themes and imaginaries in the marketing of Chinese cities such as Shanghai, Wuhan and Xi'an; Recently, I made a 3-minute video outlining this research for Newcastle University’s Cities NUCORE: https://flipgrid.com/6ac60c6d

4) research into nostalgic consumerism (particularly colonial consumerism);

5) research into a nostalgic social movement in China known as the Hanfu movement (a movement of young people who wear pre-Qing Dynasty clothing) (with Qianqian Qin). Specifically, on this topic, recently, we have been involved with a project regarding infrastructures of memory. https://www.cassis.uni-bonn.de/en/ueber-cassis/prof.-maximilian-mayer-en/infrastructures/infrastructures-of-memory

Funded Research projects:

In 2014, I was awarded a Sino-British Fellowship Trust and British Academy Award - (BA/Leverhulme Small Research Grants SRG 2014 Round) £9,863.75. https://www.ncl.ac.uk/heritage/research/reconstructing-han-identities/

In 2012 I was an active participant in a very large EU F7 grant known as PUMAH - Planning, urban management and heritage; this grant saw staff exchanges between European and Chinese institutions. Overall the project was a complete success and these exchanges have now served as key spaces in the formation of new joint research projects and teaching opportunities.

Invites to be a Panel Chair and discussant:

18th of February 2023 – invited by Dr Philipp Demgenski (of Zhejiang University) to chair a panel session and be a discussant at the Association of Asian Studies, 2023 Annual Conference. The panel was entitled “The Heritage Question in Contemporary Chinese Cities” (Session Title: 1744) and was organised by Zheng Guan (Princeton University).

7th of September 2018 – invited by Dr Yiwen Wang (of XJTLU) to chair a panel session entitled ‘Branding/sanitizing the past’ at Suzhou University of Science and Technology, (SUST) Suzhou, China. The 2nd International Conference on Heritage of China 2018, Suzhou, China.

Recent academic Presentations:

2023

17th of February 2023 - ‘The uses of the past in Chang’an: selective remembering and the discourse of rejuvenation’; invited by Dr Marichela Sepe, to speak to the GU Design Network. https://gudesign.org/seminars/#seminars –

2022

20th of July, 2022: ‘The uses of the past in Chang’an: selective remembering and the discourse of rejuvenation’; Conference title: InterAsian networks and the making(s) of the first cities; Department of Asian Studies, Institute of Sinology; Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (Munich); 20th to the 21st of July 2022

24th of June 2022 ‘Narratives of Han ethnic, moral, and behavioural decline: the contemporary Hanfu movement and discourses of authenticity’; Conference title: Understanding Authenticity in Cultural Heritage: China and Beyond, St Hugh's College; University of Oxford. 

2021

27th of of May 2021: ‘Cultural nationalism, ontological (in)security and reflective nostalgia? the Hanfu movement and young adults in China’, Infrastructures of Memory Heritages and Diversity in Modern China Workshop; Research Group Infrastructures of China’s Modernity and Their Global Constitutive Effects” at the Center for Advanced Security, Strategic and Integration Studies (CASSIS), University of Bonn.

16th of May 2021: ‘Reclaiming Han identities from the margins: the Hanfu movement and youth subculture in China’, CHINA FROM THE MARGINS: NEW NARRATIVES OF THE PAST AND PRESENT; Organized by the Department of China Studies Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University Suzhou, 16th-17th April 2021

Research led teaching

Stage 3: Chinese Cultural history and urban development: With Ms Qianqian Qin and Prof Rose Gilroy, I now run a stage 3 AUP course which explores the cultural history of Chinese city making and planning. As well as examining ancient city planning, we also investigate in detail the contemporary status of the Chinese city and the social, cultural, economic and political processes that shape it.

Stage 2: Study visit: With Ms Qianqian Qin, I now run an undergraduate fieldtrip to Beijing. The first trip ran this year (March, 2019) during which we visited scholars, practitioners and town planners at Peking University, (Professor Bin Lu and Professor Pengjun Zhao), the Tsinghua Institute and 798. We also visit the Forbidden City and the Yuanmingyuan Gardens amongst other things.



Teaching

Teaching awards, nominations and prizes

9th of March 2022 – I was nominated for a Teaching Education Award (TEA).The category for which I was nominated was ‘Outstanding Contribution to HASS faculty’.

12th of March 2020 – I was nominated for a Teaching Education Award (TEA). The category for which I was nominated was ‘Outstanding Contribution to Student Employability’.

14th of May 2013 – I was nominated for a Teaching Excellence Award (TEA). The category for which I was nominated was “Innovative Teaching Method of the year”.

15th of May 2012 – I was awarded a prize for ‘Innovation in postgraduate supervision/teaching’ by the School of Architecture, planning and landscape

Current PhD/MPhil Supervision

Paul Zhou - Chinese migrants in the EU. Documentary film practice.

Tiancheng Ren - Urban identities, migration and Shenzhen (with Professor Ali Madanipour).

Lu Bao - Spatial contest across Scales: a study of transportation nodes at Dalian and Taipei and multi-scalar spatial politics in Japan's colonial project in East Asia (1895-1945) (with Professor Jianfei Zhu).

Submissions:

Mohanad Alfelali - The history, sociology and heritage of Mecca (with Dr Josep-Maria Garcia Fuentes and Dr John Kamara)

Completed PhD's:

I have successfully supervised 8 candidates (in conjunction with other staff in APL, SELL and the University's Culture Lab) to completion.

Amelia Joicey - The history and sociology of the Northern Stage Theatre - DTC AHRC awards - AHRC Funded - (with Dr Rosalind Haslett and Dr Helen Freshwater).

Dr Asmarani (Rani) Februandari - Power and discrimination in a space: The role of cultural built heritage in identity construction of Chinese Indonesians - Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education - (with Prof. Pendlebury).

Dr Ang Gao - Reading Jiaoxing Village - PhD by Creative Film Practice - (with Dr Ian McDonald).

Dr Lu Wang - Facilities for ageing middle class subjects in China (with Prof. Rose Gilroy). 

Dr Rorie Parsons - Social Practice theory and networks of cycling - ESRC Funded - (With Prof Vigar).

Dr Xi Chen - Colonial heritage on an island in Wenzhou - PhD by creative practice - (with Prof Chiles and Dr Beattie).

Dr Zhang Su - Feng Shui, urban design and planning (Self-funded). (with Prof Madanipour).

Dr Tom Brigden - The Richmond View: transatlantic landscapes (AHRC Funded) - 2014. (With Prof. Sharr). 

Completed PhD's (where I made a short term contribution to their supervision. i.e. 6 months)

Dr Pattamon Selanon

Masters teaching: MSc in Town Planning

MSc - Masters dissertation - Contributor 

MSc - Conservation and the Historic City - Contributor (with Prof. J Pendlebury) - Lectures on Heritage theory and Claiming the historic city: whose heritage?

MSc - Reflexive practitioner - Contributor - I give lectures on epistemology and deontological ethics.

Undergraduate teaching/supervision

I am a module leader for 4 modules and a contributor on another 4 modules.

Level 3 Modules

TCP3099 - Dissertation module - Contributor to dissertation workshops and supervision

APL3007 - Creative practice dissertation - contributor

APL3004 - Chinese Cultural History and Urban Development - Module leader.

TCP3054 - Planning theory - Marxism, post-modernism, critical pragmatism etc - contributor.

Level 2 modules

TCP2035 - Study Visit - Within this course I run a fieldtrip to Beijing with Ms. Qianqian Qin; this field trip ran for the first time at the end of March, 2019. - Contributor

TCP2028 - Understanding cities - Lecture on the Cultural City - Contributor.

APL2001 - Theories of Alternative Practice module - Lectures on Marxism, anarchism, feminism, post-modernism, alternative professionalism(s) - Module leader

APL2007 - Creative practice and visual research skills module - Contributor.

Level 1 modules 

APL1002 - Histories of the City - Module Leader - 

Past modules

HSC8007 - MSc Global Health in the Anthropocene - Contributor

TCP1025 - Social Worlds - Lectures on identity, class, sexuality, gender, race and ethnicity - Contributor


 

Publications