Research staff

Dr Shiyu Gao

Leverhulme Early Career Fellow

Dr Shiyu Gao, awarded the Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship, is working on their post-doctoral research project about surveillance and art in digital China. Before joining BCU in January 2024, Shiyu taught Art History and Theory at the University of Edinburgh, where they obtained their PhD in History of Art in 2023 and Master...

Dr Xi Guo

Associate Professor

Dr Xi Guo is an Associate Professor of Computer Game Technology. She worked as Course Leader for the BSc Computer Games Technology programme from January 2023 to February 2025 and currently leads the Web Game Development and 3D Game Programming modules. Since joining the College of Computing in 2020, Dr Guo has...

Professor Jiehong Jiang

Head of Research

Professor Jiang Jiehong is Head of Research (Art), Director of the Centre for Chinese Visual Arts, Birmingham City University, and he is also Principal Editor of the Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art (Intellect). Jiang has extensive research and curatorial experiences in contemporary art and visual culture. Jiang...

Dr Federica Mirra

Leverhulme Early Career Fellow

Funded by the Leverhulme Trust, Dr Mirra is conducting her post-doctoral research, The City as Art: Living Aesthetics in Twenty-First-Century China, at Birmingham School of Art (SoA). Her project focuses on what is often excluded from aesthetic experience: the everyday and collective practices in Chinese cities.

Dr Licheng Qian

Lecturer in Sociology

Licheng Qian earned his Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Virginia in 2017 and is currently a Lecturer in Sociology at Birmingham City University. Before moving to Birmingham, he served as a tenure-track Assistant Professor at the University of Macau (2021–2023) and Zhejiang University (2017–2021). Licheng's...

Dr Xiping Shinnie

Lecturer in Management and Business (Entrepreneurship & Strategy)

Prior to joining Birmingham City University, Xiping worked at the University of Birmingham, providing teaching and supervision for undergraduate and postgraduate students. Xiping has also worked as a university lecturer at two major universities in China, where she has maintained the academic links, holding current posts as...

Dr Charlotte Stevens

Lecturer in Media and Communication

Charlotte works mainly in television and fandom studies, with a strong interest in archival and historical aspects of audiences. She also co-leads the Game Cultures research cluster. Charlotte has published on fanvids, video game fan histories, screen vampires, and poetic television documentaries on the BBC. She is currently...

Dr Lauren Walden

Research Fellow in Contemporary Chinese Art

Dr. Lauren Walden is a Research Fellow (former Leverhulme Early Career Fellow) in Contemporary Chinese Art at Birmingham City University, UK. Her PhD argued for Surrealist photography as a pivotal vector in the dissemination of non-European iconographies as diverse as Africa, Oceania, Latin America and China, utilising primary...

Dr. Jieling Xiao

Reader in Architecture and Sensory Environments | Research Degree Coordinator

Jieling teaches Environmental Design across different architecture courses. Trained as an architect and urban designer, Jieling believes that designers need to consider more than just how the hardware of architecture functions for its users. Interested in creative spatial practice related to people’s sensory experiences, she...