{"id":6657,"date":"2026-06-23T10:32:38","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T09:32:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/mandarinchinese\/?p=6657"},"modified":"2026-06-23T11:15:04","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T10:15:04","slug":"china-research-forum-ni-programme-released","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/mandarinchinese\/2026\/06\/23\/china-research-forum-ni-programme-released\/","title":{"rendered":"China Research Forum NI Programme Released"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tuesday 23 June 2026<br>1:00 \u2013 4:30 pm<br>The Auditorium, McClay Library, Queen\u2019s University Belfast<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/mandarinchinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/06\/2996196c787678db75707af5847e091-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6661\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Programme<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>1:00-1:10 Registration (Tea\/Coffee)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1:10-1:30 Welcome and Introduction<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1:30-1:50 <strong>Session 1<\/strong> Heritage literacy in the lives of Chinese Muslims (Heng WANG)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1:50-2:10 <strong>Session 2<\/strong> From Theatre Boxes to Cinemas: Chinese Women&#8217;s Entertainment Choices in the Cultural Contexts of East and West in the Early 20th Century (Wanyu LI)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2:10-2:30 <strong>Session 3<\/strong> E-cigarette Exposure, CFTR Dysfunction and Airway Inflammation: A China-Focused Airway Epithelial Study (Caoyang SHI)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2:30-2:50 <strong>Session 4<\/strong> Translation of Chinese Anti-Japanese War Literature and Reconstruction of China\u2019s Wartime Image: A Case Study of Stories of China at War (Jin YAN)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2:50-3:00 Break and Poster <em>Harmony Beyond Borders \u2013 A Cross-cultural Fusion of Guzheng and Irish Traditional Music<\/em> <em>(Wei DENG)<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>3:00-3:20 <strong>Session 5<\/strong> Barriers and motivations in language learning for Second Language Speakers in UK higher education: Impacts of AI (Zhuofei BIAN)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>3:20-3:40 <strong>Session 6<\/strong> The Dignity of Migrant Mothering: Doing Morality within Class, Ethnicity, and Gender among Chinese Migrant Mothers in the UK (Junyue LI)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>3:40-3:50 <strong>Session 7<\/strong> Eutopia Arthouse Film Festival (Dr Tianpeng YAO)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>3:50-4:00 <strong>Session 8<\/strong> Journal of Eutopia Art and Culture (Xiaoxiang MA)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>4:00-4:20 <strong>Panel discussion<\/strong> &#8211; The Future of China Research Forum NI (Liang WANG, Xiaoyi ZHANG, Lijun XUE, Zhuofei BIAN, Tianpeng YAO, Xiaoxiang MA)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>4:20-4:30 Closing ceremony and group photo (Dr Liang WANG)<strong><em><br><\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Speakers and Presentations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>Speaker 1: Heng WANG<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Title<\/strong>: Heritage literacy in the lives of Chinese Muslims<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Abstract<\/strong>: With an ethnographic approach, the researchers observed key heritage literacy event, daily illustration, art demonstration and religious practices among Chinese Muslims. Rich research findings and output were carried out by several publications.<br><strong>Keywords<\/strong>: Chinese Muslim, religious practice, heritage literacy, ethnography<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Bio<\/strong>: Heng Wang served as a research assistant of several research projects on heritage literacy of Chinese Muslims. She also is a language and Chinese classical dance teacher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>Speaker 2: Wanyu LI<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Title<\/strong>: From Theatre Boxes to Cinemas: Chinese Women&#8217;s Entertainment Choices in the Cultural Contexts of East and West in the Early 20th Century<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Abstract<\/strong>: In modern Chinese society, the influence of Western cultural imports extended beyond mere ideas or institutions. It quietly reshaped the daily lives of ordinary Chinese people through everyday practices\u2014clothing, food, housing, transportation, entertainment, and consumption. Although cinema briefly aligned with traditional Chinese theatre upon its introduction, the medium&#8217;s inherent characteristics and the Western values of equality, openness, and freedom ultimately diverged its path from that of Chinese theatre. This divergence helped Chinese women more keenly discern differences between local theatre and Western cinema in spatial experience, textual interpretation, and modernity. The darkness of cinema screening environments facilitated female audiences in expressing emotions, satisfying curiosity, and even engaging with the opposite sex. The direct realism of film production enabled women to comprehend and utilize cinematic content. The &#8220;Western&#8221; attribute of cinema as an imported art form empowered women to achieve economic independence, embrace modern fashion, and foster social interaction. In this convergence of Chinese and Western cultures, cinema&#8217;s inclusivity toward female audiences stemmed both from Western society&#8217;s more relaxed gender norms and from film&#8217;s relatively recent introduction to China, where it had yet to be heavily shaped by local ideologies. Moreover, the prevailing reformist currents of the era provided significant public support for this cultural shift. By examining shifts in early 20th-century Chinese women&#8217;s entertainment choices, we gain a more nuanced, everyday perspective on modern China&#8217;s feminist movement. When women&#8217;s entry into public spaces became viewed as &#8220;anti-traditional,&#8221; their cultural consumption choices took on greater subjective meaning.<br><strong>Keywords<\/strong>: Modern China; Cinema; Theatre; Female Audience; Sino-Western Exchange<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Bio<\/strong>: Wanyu LI is a PhD candidate in History at Zhejiang University, China, currently a visiting student at Queen\u2019s University Belfast. Her research focuses on modern Chinese history, with a particular interest in the history of women in the Republican period. She has published several articles in Chinese academic journals, on topics including women\u2019s film-going and social interactions, and the Nationalist government\u2019s policies towards military families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>Speaker 3: Caoyang SHI<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Title<\/strong>: E-cigarette Exposure, CFTR Dysfunction and Airway Inflammation: A China-Focused Airway Epithelial Study<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Abstract<\/strong>: Electronic cigarette use has become an important respiratory health concern in China, where regulation has tightened but mechanistic evidence on airway epithelial toxicity remains limited. Cystic fibrosis (CF) is rare and often atypically diagnosed in Chinese populations; however, CFTR dysfunction is also relevant to broader airway diseases, including mucus dehydration, impaired epithelial defence and chronic inflammation. This project will investigate how key e-cigarette toxicants, particularly nicotine and acrolein, affect CFTR expression and inflammatory responses in airway epithelial cells. Human bronchial epithelial models, including 16HBE cells and, where available, CF-relevant cell models, will be exposed to defined concentrations of nicotine, acrolein or e-cigarette aerosol extract. Cell viability, CFTR mRNA\/protein expression, epithelial barrier integrity, and inflammatory mediators such as IL-6 and IL-8 will be assessed. Protease-related responses, including MMPs and serine protease\/SERPIN imbalance, may also be explored to link epithelial injury with airway remodelling. The study aims to clarify whether e-cigarette exposure can reduce CFTR abundance or function and thereby promote a CF-like airway inflammatory phenotype. By connecting molecular toxicology with China-relevant tobacco-control and rare-disease contexts, this proposal may provide evidence to support respiratory risk assessment, youth vaping prevention, and future research on CFTR-related airway disease in Chinese populations.<br><strong>Key words<\/strong>: E-cigarettes; CFTR; airway epithelium; acrolein; China<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Bio<\/strong>: Caoyang SHI is a PhD candidate from School of Pharmacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>Speaker 4: Jin YAN<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Title<\/strong>: Translation of Chinese Anti-Japanese War Literature and Reconstruction of China\u2019s Wartime Image: A Case Study of <em>Stories of China at War<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Abstract<\/strong>: Chinese Anti-Japanese War Literature is an important part of the world\u2019s anti-fascist literature. Stories of China at War is the first collection of short stories about the Chinese Anti-Japanese War published simultaneously in the US and the UK. It includes sixteen English translations of stories set against the background of the Chinese Anti-Japanese War, which present a multidimensional picture of wartime China. Stories of China at War not only inherits the mainstream tradition of Chinese Anti-Japanese War literature but also echoes the core demands of external propaganda. It reflects how the Chinese Anti-Japanese War literature going global rediscovers and reshapes the national image. This paper explores how Stories of China at War reconstructs the image of wartime China in the process of translation and dissemination, summarizes the paths and characteristics of Chinese Anti-Japanese War literature\u2019s translation and dissemination in the English world, and reveals the significance of the translation and dissemination of Chinese Anti-Japanese War literature for the reconstruction of China\u2019s image in the world.<br><strong>Keywords<\/strong>: Stories of China at War; translation and dissemination; China\u2019s wartime image<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Bio<\/strong>: Jin YAN is an Associate Professor in Foreign Languages School at Changsha University of Science and Technology, China. Her research interests include translation sociology and national image construction. Currently she is a visiting scholar in Centre of Translation and Interpretation, Queen\u2019s University Belfast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>Speaker 5: Zhuofei BIAN<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Title<\/strong>: Barriers and motivations in language learning for Second Language Speakers in UK higher education: Impacts of AI<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Abstract<\/strong>: International students from non-English-speaking backgrounds (including Chinese students) often face emotional and behavioural challenges in English-medium university classrooms, particularly in managing language anxiety and participating in oral discussions. Despite demonstrating adequate academic competence, many hesitate to speak in class due to fear of negative evaluation, unfamiliarity with classroom discourse norms, or concerns about accent bias. This study investigates how international students use AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Grammarly, ELSA Speak) to manage classroom-related language anxiety and support oral participation in UK higher education.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Preliminary analyses show three key themes: (1) AI tools &#8211; particularly ChatGPT &#8211; help reduce anxiety by offering private, low-stakes rehearsal spaces, especially for students with lower speaking confidence; (2) students who use AI to prepare for discussions report increased willingness to speak in class; and (3) excessive reliance on AI may inhibit spontaneous participation and self-initiated contributions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Keywords<\/strong>: international student, language learning, SLA, language anxiety, motivation, classroom participation<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Bio<\/strong>: Zhuofei BIAN is a PhD student in the School of Psychology at Queen\u2019s University Belfast. Her research examines the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in international students\u2019 second language acquisition and psychological experiences, including language anxiety, confidence, self-efficacy, and sense of belonging. I hold an MSc in TESOL from the University of Glasgow and have a strong interest in educational psychology, language learning, and AI-supported education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>Speaker 6: Junyue LI<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Title<\/strong>: The Dignity of Migrant Mothering: Doing Morality within Class, Ethnicity, and Gender among Chinese Migrant Mothers in the UK<br><br><strong>Abstract<\/strong>: As Chinese migrant women in the UK become increasingly diverse in class compositions and family ethnic compositions, existing literature often fails to capture the complex practices and implications of migrant mothering. This project focuses on mothering among Chinese migrant mothers in the UK, examining how these mothers construct \u201cgood mothering\u201d and draw moral boundaries against other mothers within and beyond their ethnic group to build identity and seek dignity for themselves and their children. Addressing these questions can further illuminate how their boundary work reproduces or transforms social inequalities of class, ethnicity, and gender. This project develops a multi-layered theoretical framework that combines symbolic interactionism, lay normativity, boundary-making, and intersectionality to understand mothers\u2019 moral meaning-making and moral justifications embedded in their social positions. It draws on semi-structured interviews, participant observations, and diary logs to collect data.<br><br>By highlighting the moral rationales of ideologies and practices, this project links external norms with internal reflections, and connects macro structures, meso social interactions, and micro moral emotions and justifications. It enriches motherhood studies by highlighting mothers\u2019 agency, taking migrant mothers not merely as an interest-maximiser or culture follower, but also as a morality negotiant and a dignity defender. It contributes to migration studies by exploring diversity and divisions within ethnic groups and fluidity of ethnic boundaries.<br><strong>Keywords<\/strong>: Chinese mothers, migrant motherhood, boundary work, dignity, identity<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Bio<\/strong>: Junyue LI is a first-year PhD student in Sociology at Queen&#8217;s University Belfast. Her research interests include family, motherhood, migration, morality, and intersectionality of ethnicity, class, and gender. Her PhD project, funded by a DfE scholarship, focuses on moral experiences of Chinese migrant mothers in the UK and the relationships between these experiences and the social hierarchies of ethnicity, class, and gender.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>Speaker 7: Dr Tianpeng YAO<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Information Session<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/filmfreeway.com\/EutopiaArthouseFilmFestival\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Eutopia Arthouse Film Festival<\/a> (<a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/eutopiafilmfest\/\">https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/eutopiafilmfest\/<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Bio<\/strong>: Dr Tianpeng YAO is a PhD graduate in Film Studies from School of Arts, English and Languages, Queen\u2019s University Belfast. Among many achievements he has made and awards he has won, he successfully founded the Eutopia Arthouse Film Festival in 2024, with the Queen\u2019s Annual Fund sponsorship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>Speaker 8: Xiaoxiang MA<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Information Session<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/eutopiajournal\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Journal of Eutopia Art and Culture<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Bio<\/strong>: Xiaoxiang Ma is a PhD researcher in Film Studies at Queen\u2019s University Belfast. His research focuses on Hong Kong horror cinema, with particular attention to genre, cultural identity, nostalgia, and the representation of anxiety in films from the 1980s to the 2000s. He is also a Eutopia Arthouse Film Festival committee member and editor of the Journal of Eutopia Art and Culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Acknowledgement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Forum is co-hosted by the Queen\u2019s Chinese Students and Scholars Association (QUB CSSA) and the Ulster University Chinese Students and Scholars Association (UU CSSA), with support from the Queen\u2019s Language Centre and the Association of British Chinese Professors Northern Ireland (ABCP-NI), and partial sponsorship from EKou Xian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tuesday 23 June 20261:00 \u2013 4:30 pmThe Auditorium, McClay Library, Queen\u2019s University Belfast Programme Speakers and Presentations Speaker 1: Heng WANG Title: Heritage literacy in the lives of Chinese Muslims Abstract: With an ethnographic approach, the researchers observed key heritage &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/mandarinchinese\/2026\/06\/23\/china-research-forum-ni-programme-released\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":63,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5,333,275,161,4,31,86,332,406,325,70,147],"tags":[285,27,409,418,411,342,410,408,376,407,413,412,83,344,417,211,354],"class_list":["post-6657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chinese-culture","category-chinese-islam","category-community","category-education","category-film-cinema","category-history","category-literature","category-religion","category-research","category-society","category-technology","category-translation","tag-academic","tag-chinese-culture","tag-community","tag-engagement","tag-forum","tag-global-citizen","tag-industry","tag-intercultural-dialogue","tag-intercultural-exchange","tag-interdiscipline","tag-networking","tag-partnership","tag-performance","tag-project","tag-publication","tag-research","tag-research-project"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa93ff-1Jn","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/mandarinchinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/mandarinchinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/mandarinchinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/mandarinchinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/63"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/mandarinchinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6657"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/mandarinchinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6657\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6662,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/mandarinchinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6657\/revisions\/6662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/mandarinchinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/mandarinchinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/mandarinchinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}