Biography
I am a sociologist interested in studying and researching digital media, transnational mobility, family, young people, as well as their various intersections. I hold degrees in English Language and Literature (Renmin University of China, 2015) and Sociology (Deakin University, 2020). My doctoral project was an ethnographic study of how Chinese young migrants in Australia understand and use social media in and across the spheres of everyday life. Foregrounding the young migrants’ plural and changing identities in a foreign context, the thesis unpacked their situated practices of crossing, negotiating, and reconstructing boundaries across spatial settings and social relations.
Since PhD, I have actively expanded my research by developing and being involved in a number of interdisciplinary and collaborative projects that cover a variety of social contexts. I was Associate Research Fellow and Project Officer on the ARC Discovery Project “Youth Mobilities, Aspirations and Pathways”, based in the Alfred Deakin Institute at Deakin University. I was also involved in a Curtin University-based research project, which examined young people’s COVID-19 messaging on TikTok. I have a strongly emerging publication track record in Chinese digital diaspora, youth, migration, and digital parenting studies. My work has been featured in major Australian news outlets, including the ABC News, Nine News, and Herald Sun.
As a Research Fellow of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child at Deakin University, I am particularly keen to expand our knowledge of cultural and platform diversity in Australian families and digital childhoods. Through my work in the Centre, I hope to support migrant families and children to better engage with digital technologies in a safe, ethical, and inclusive environment.
Read more on Andy's profileResearch interests
Digital China
Digital Diaspora
Digital Literacies
Digital Parenting
Informal Learning
Internet Cultures
Online Sociality
Migrant Families and Children
Multiculturalism
Young Migrants
Teaching interests
Digital Media
Digital Sociology
Youth
Migration and Cultural Diversity
Media Education
Units taught
ALM215 Global Media
ACX701 Communication Concepts
ACX702 Applied Research Methods for Communication
ASC233 International Migration and Multicultural Societies
Knowledge areas
Chinese Diaspora
Transnational Family
Digital Migration Studies
Young Migrants
Internet Cultures
Professional activities
Executive Board Member, Media International Australia
Convenor, 'Digital Child x ACMI Seminar: Australian EdTech for Better Digital Childhoods', Deakin University, 2022
Convenor, ‘Asian Digital Diasporas in the Pandemic’ Webinar, Asian Media and Cultural Studies Network, Deakin University, 2021
Co-convenor, ‘TikTok and Youth Cultures in the Age of COVID-19’, Curtin University (with Crystal Abidin and D Bondy Valdovinos Kaye), 2021
Co-convenor, ‘Youth Futures: Connection and Mobility in the Asia Pacific’ conference, Deakin University (with Anita Harris, Amelia Johns, Jessica Walton and Rose Butler), 2018
Co-convenor, ‘Youth, Digital Participation and Citizenship in the Asia Pacific’ workshop, Deakin University (with Anita Harris, Amelia Johns and Julian Sefton-Green), 2017
Media appearances
Awards
Post-PhD Publication Award (Faculty of Arts and Education, Deakin University, 2019)
Publications
J Xu, X Zhao
(2022), Vol. 36, pp. 260-273, Continuum, London, Eng., C1
X Zhao
(2021), Vol. 23, pp. 2554-2574, New media and society, London, Eng., C1
A Seet, X Zhao
(2021), Vol. 21, pp. 852-874, Ethnicities, C1
Changing platformativity of China's female Wanghong: from Anni Baobei to Zhang Dayi
Jian Xu, Jian Xu, Xinyu Zhao, Xinyu Zhao
(2019), pp. 127-158, Female celebrities in contemporary Chinese society, Singapore, B1
X Zhao
(2019), Vol. 173, pp. 36-52, Media international Australia, London, Eng., C1
Synergistic modification effect of polyvinylidene fluoride and polydopamine on mechanical and damping properties of three-dimensional braided carbon fibers reinforced composites
D Yan, H Zhang, S Lu, L Yang, X Zhao, F He
(2019), Vol. 54, pp. 5457-5471, Journal of Materials Science, C1-1
International students and social exclusion in the age of social media
Xinyu Zhao
(2017), Vol. 1, pp. 163-175, Transitions: Journal of Transient Migration, Bristol, Eng., C1
Funded Projects at Deakin
No Funded Projects at Deakin found
Supervisions
No completed student supervisions to report