Yunyi Liao holds a MSc in Media and Communication Studies from Lund University (Sweden), and a MA in Media and Journalism from Newcastle University (UK).
Yunyi is currently serving as the Vice-Chair for the Digital Culture and Communication section in the European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA); previously, she also served as the section’s Young Scholars Representative. Between 2021 and 2022, she was appointed as the Doctoral Leader for the Institute of Advanced Studies (IAS) at Loughborough University.
During 2023-2024, Yunyi was a part-time Lecturer for the module ‘Place Branding and International Diplomacy’ at Middlesex University (UK).
Yunyi’s research interests include nation branding, digital culture, social media, everyday life, visual culture, media audiences, and gender.
Supervised by Professor Sabina Mihelj and Dr Michael Skey, Yunyi’s doctoral project examines the communication of nations in social media users’ everyday lives. With a particular focus on bottom-up practices in China and Japan, this project aims to provide a new perspective on the field of nation branding which mainly emphasises the top-down activities and Western cases. Through investigating the promotion, dissemination, and reception of nations on digital platforms, this project hopes to understand how nation branding practices have been rewritten in the digital age.
· Liao, Y. (in press). ‘Nation Branding and Visual Identity’. In: Martin. H and Barry. S (eds.). The Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Visual Culture.
· Hill, A. and Liao, Y. (2025). ‘Slow Reality TV and Chinese Audiences’. In: Annette. H and Peter. L (eds.). The Routledge Companion to Media Audiences. Abingdon: Routledge.
· Liao, Y. (2021). The Myth of ACGN Nationalism in China: Animation, audiences and nationalism. In: Doona. J (ed.). Förtjänstfulla examensarbeten i MKV Excellent MSc Dissertations 2020. Lund: Media and Communications Studies, Lund University.