Experiences of studying in the UK — A case study on the RED virtual community of Chinese international students
留学英国的那点事儿 —— 来自“小红书”上的中国留学生的经历分析
Friday 14th 21st June 202414:00-15:00 13:00-14:00
Auditorium, The McClay Library
Speaker:
Alex WANG is currently a second-year PhD researcher in Education, from the School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work, Queen’s University Belfast. Being a proactive member of the SSESW Doctoral Advisory Group, she is also a Teaching Assistant in Research Methods for her School, and a Mandarin tutor for the Language Centre at Queen’s.
Her research focuses on Chinese international doctoral students’ discourse practices on social media in higher education. Her research interests are digital university, social media in higher education, digital scholars, inclusion in higher education.
Outline:
Despite the massive presence of Chinese international students in UK universities for decades, understanding them can still be challenging due to an invisible cultural wall. The majority choose to stay within their comfort zones, sharing their voices with peers, which are rarely being heard by others.
In this talk, I hope to explore one of the most widely used online platforms among Chinese international students, 小红书 (Xiaohongshu, also known as RED). Unlike other platforms such as campus-based sites or personal academic brands like Twitter, RED provides these students with a sense of belonging by creating a community where they share authentic experiences of studying abroad and negotiate their identities.
What do they think of their experiences, and how do they respond to them? By sharing examples and insights from interviews, I aim to demonstrate the complexity and diversity of their constructed life experiences and identities through the RED community.
This talk welcomes both Chinese students, who may resonate with these experiences, and anyone who wants to foster a deeper understanding of this community.
