Staff Profile

• I'm currently Lecturer (equiv. Assistant Professor) in Media, Communication and Public Relations at the School of Arts and Culture, Newcastle University. Prior to this appointment, I earned my PhD with two full scholarships (tuitions & stipends) and worked as an Academic Tutor, Teaching Fellow and Guest/Lecturer at University of Warwick (UK), Seattle University (US), Yangzhou University (PRC) and University of Winchester (UK).
• I have served as Panel Member/Reviewer for Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), Reviewer for monograph publication at Routledge (the largest global academic publisher within humanities and social sciences) and Fellow of HEA since 2022. I was the Chair of MeCCSA PGN (2020-22) and a member of ICA, MeCCSA, and IAMCR. I am currently serving as an editor/reviewer for Misinformation Review, Information, Communication& Society, Feminist Media studies, Continuum: Journal of Media & Cultural Studies, Journal of Consumer Culture, Celebrity Studies, etc. 
• I'm also as an External Examiner for a number of universities in the UK, e.g. Kingston University, University of Central Lancashire.
• I had acted as a Chief Editor/Journalist in the leading national news agencies/media corporations in Mainland China (SUMG/SMG), HK (WWP) and UK (BBC) before joining in the academia. 

• PhD, MA, PGA, BA (Hons)
• External Examiner
• AHRC Panel Member/Reviewer
• Reviewer for books/monographs Routledge
• Fellow of Advance Higher Education (HEA)
• Former Chair of MeCCSA PGN
• Member of MeCCSA, ICA, IAMCR
• Editorial Member of Misinformation Review (Harvard)

Research

• My research areas cross over popular culture (e.g. audience/ fan/ consumer/ celebrity culture), gender studies (e.g. feminism and motherhood), British/Chinese TV and media ecosystem/landscape. I also show interest in media and cultural policy, social and digital media studies.
• I focus on qualitative studies in particular with attention to research methodology studies. 
• I have helped secure funding for two projects about Localising and Globalising Cultural Influence and Comparative Studies of Cultural Legislation from National Social Science Fund in China (equi. £80,000 and £40,000) as Co-I and worked for two major projects about Cultural Rights and Cultural Memory funded by British Council and AHRC.
• I am a Panel Member for AHRC and former Chair of MeCCSA PGN.
• I'm serving as the reviewer/examiner for monograph publication at Routledge.
• As Principal Investigator (PI), I'm leading a practice-led project about Media Innovation Lab funded by Humanity Research Institute.
• I have published academic articles in leading SSCI journals including Qualitative Inquiry, Information, Communication & Society, Feminist Media Studies, Cultural Trends, Journal of Consumer Culture, Media, Culture & Society, European Journal of Cultural Studies, etc. 
• My papers have been accepted/presented/invited every year at leading (A* level) academic conferences in the fields of media, culture and communications such as MeCCSA, ICA, IAMCR.

PGR/ PhD supervision

I welcome potential research/doctoral applicants with the below research interests：

• Audience studies
• Fandom/ fan culture studies
• Celebrity studies
• Mobile and domestic digital media in China
• British (BBC) /Chinese TV
• Media policy and landscape

As a Lecturer at Newcastle University, I support students at undergraduate and postgraduate level in terms of teaching. I cover a wide range of modules related to media, culture and communication studies. I also engage with PR and global communication studies that helps our student to update their skills and advance their understanding by pairing real life examples to academic pedagogy. I have taught/am teaching the below modules at Newcastle University. 

Undergraduate Modules 

• MCH1028: Introduction to Professional Communication
• MCH2034: Introduction to Public Relations
• MCH3013: Global Public Relations 
• MCH3072/MCH3073: Media Research Dissertation

Postgraduate Modules

• MCH8008: Media and Promotional Culture
• MCH8012: Freelancing in Media and Communications
• MCH8013: Global Public Relations 
• MCH8058: Methodologies - Researching Media Culture & Society
• MCH8060: Strategies and Management in Public Relations
• MCH8065: Theoretical Approaches to Public Relations
• MCH8199: Dissertation for MA Media & Public Relations

• Articles

  • Zheng S. Gendered Fandom in Transcultural Context- Female-dominated paratexts and compromised fan culture. Journal of Consumer Culture 2023.
  • Zheng S, Xu M. From leftover women to cuihun – audience reception of TV representation on marriageable single women in China. Feminist Media Studies 2022, 22(5), 1282-1286.
  • Zheng S. Fashion China: precarious creativity and women designer in Shanzhai culture. Journal of Consumer Culture 2022, (ePub ahead of Print).
  • Xu M, Zheng S. Against Masculinised Hypercorrection? – Renegotiating the everydayness and ordinariness of postfeminism on Chinese TV. Media Culture & Society 2022, Epub ahead of print.
  • Zheng S. Quarantined Life is Stillness and Dialogue: A Reflective Autoethnography During a Global Pandemic. Qualitative Inquiry 2021, 27(7), 829-834.
  • Zheng S. Melissa A. Click, Anti-Fandom: Dislike and Hate in the Digital Age [review]. European Journal of Cultural Studies 2021, 24(4), 1047-1049.
  • Zheng S. From Cyber-nationalism to Fandom Nationalism: The case of Diba expedition in China. Information, Communication & Society 2021, 24(13), 1984-1986.
  • Zheng S. Current Issues and Multi-Perspectives of Understanding Chinese TV Landscape. Critical Studies in Televison (Online) 2021.
  • Zheng S. Chinese TV in Changing Contexts – an instrumentalised perspective to deconstruct Chinese TV for “national governance”. Cultural Trends 2021, 30(3), 292-295.
  • Zheng S. The Wedding Spectacle Across Contemporary Media and Culture: Something Old, Something New. Feminist Media Studies 2020, 20(7), 1059-1060.
  • Zheng S. Chinese fans’ patriotism creating quandary in the digital media era. Galactic Media: Journal of Media Studies 2020, 2(4), 87-111.
  • Du C, Zheng S. The practical analysis to help Chinese overseas students in the UK. Journal of Chinese Education 2019.
  • Zheng S. Study abroad – how to succeed in a special field of study. Chinese Education Daily 2019.
  • Du C, Zheng S. A transnational analysis and research of Chinese students in British higher education institutions. Journal of British Education Research 2019.
  • Zheng S. A Multi-methods Approach in Communication Studies: autoethnography meets qualitative interviews and netnography. Comunicación y Métodos (Communication & Methods) 2019, 1(2), 43.
  • Zheng S. The overall review of fandom studies. The Journal of News Research 2015, 20(4), 236-238.

• Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstracts)

  • Yin Q, Zheng S, Wu S. Hidden in Plain Sight- public engagement in data journalism on digital platforms in China. In: IAMCR (International Association for Media and Communication Research) Conference. 2023. In Press.
  • Zheng S. Gendered Fandom in Transcultural Context. In: 73rd Annual International Communication Association Conference (ICA 2023). 2023, Toronto, Canada. In Press.
  • Gao Z, Zheng S. Chinese parents’ understanding of infant vaccine risk reports on WeChat. In: IAMCR (International Association for Media and Communication Research) Conference. 2023. In Press.
  • Zheng S, Xu M. From grassroots to entrepreneurs – reconstruction of Chinese entrepreneurism in the pandemic era. In: EMMA (European Media Management Association) Conference. 2022, Macromedia University, Germany.
  • Zheng S, Xu M. From grassroots to celebrities – professionality as a new persona in China’s celebrity culture. In: MeCCSA (Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association) Conference. 2022, Robert Gordon University UK.
  • Zheng S, Zhang Y, Zhang S, Udenze S, Obia V. Ethics of PGR research in and after the context of global pandemic. In: MeCCSA (Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association) Conference. 2022, Robert Gordon University UK.
  • Xu M, Zheng S. A warning to single females? An audience perspective on Chinese TV representation of “leftover women”. In: IAMCR (International Association for Media and Communication Research) Annual Convention. 2022, Tsinghua University, China.
  • Jin X, Zhang Y, Yang D, Zheng S, Xu T. Why do people engage in news? - A perspective of news value from the audience. In: Future of Journalism Conference. 2021, University of Cardiff, UK.
  • Zheng S. Emergence of knowledge-sharing economy in China – a nexus of professionality, grassroots and internet celebrity in COVID-19. In: Inter-Asia Cultural Studies Society Conference : Culture in the pandemic age. 2021, Singapore: National University of Singapore.
  • Zheng S. Chinese fans’ patriotism under China’s patriotic education policies. In: 11th International Conference on Cultural Policy Research (ICCPR 2020) “Resilience of Cultural Policy”. 2021, Doshisha University, Japan / Virtual.
  • Xu M, Zheng S. Against Pressure to Hurry-up Marriage: an audience perspective on the China’s media representation of “leftover women”. In: IAMCR 2021 (International Association for Media and Communication Research) Conference. 2021, Online (Due to Covid-19).
  • Zheng S. Fans not to be a fan: Chinese fans’ transcultural engagement of BBC’s Sherlock. In: IMACR (International Association for Media and Communication Research) Conference. 2020, Online (Due to Covid-19).
  • Zheng S. An exploration of Chinese fandom studies towards patriotism movement in the context of contemporary Chinese cyber culture. In: Chinese TV and Audio-Visual Research Conference. 2020, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China.
  • Zheng S. The transcultural analysis of Chinese fans’ engagement of contemporary British TV drama. In: Fan Studies Networking. 2019, University of Portsmouth UK.
  • Zheng S. The new media methods for netizens-oriented research. In: Conference of New Methods for New Media. 2019, Queen’s University of Belfast, UK. In Preparation.
  • Li K, Zheng S, Lin Y. The Analysis of Competitive Advantage for China’s Creative Economy Exports. In: International Conference on Arts and Cultural Management. 2019, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, Italy.
  • Zheng S. Exploring Chinese audience’s engagement in transnational TV context. In: Understanding the Social. 2019, University of East Angelia, UK.
  • Zheng S. A transnational embrace of TV industry: Chinese fans’ online practice on BBC Sherlock. In: MeCCSA (Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association) Conference. 2019, University of Stirling UK.
  • Zheng S. A Multi-methods Approach in Communication Studies: autoethnography meets qualitative interviews and netnography. In: International Congress of Methodologies in Communication Research. 2019, Complutense University of Madrid.
  • Zheng S. Transnational analysis between Chinese and British TV industries. In: Global Media Studies Networking. 2018, University of Loughborough London, UK.

• Digital or Visual Media

  • Carlson R, Markham A, Stirling F, Zheng S. The Threshold of Sound. International Fall Festival: Mark DeGarmo Dance, USA, 2020.