Professor Jeremy E. Taylor (Project Lead), University of Nottingham

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Jeremy E. Taylor is a professor of modern history at the University of Nottingham and is a cultural historian of East and Southeast Asia. He is a graduate of the University of Sydney and the Australian National University. He has written two monographs, edited four volumes and authored over thirty journal articles and chapters on various aspects of cultural, social and visual history in the Chinese-speaking world. His work has been supported by the European Research Council, the British Academy and the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation, amongst other funders. 

Dr Jenifer Chao (Project Co-Lead), De Montfort University

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Dr Jenifer Chao is Associate Professor Research/Reader at Leicester Media School, De Montfort University. Chao is an interdisciplinary scholar specialising in global visual cultures, with an emphasis on photography. Her recent research encapsulates three overarching aspects of visuality: its logic, techniques and power. Specifically, her projects span from the catastrophe aesthetic of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in America to Chinese contemporary art that is mobilized for nation branding, and from the eco-cosmopolitanism of an art biennial on climate change to the photographic visualisation of marginalised groups. Because these issues are deeply embedded within international politics, her research has a strong global profile and encompasses the popular geopolitics of China and Southeast Asia.

Dr Ling Tek Soon (Project Co-Lead), University of Malaya

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Dr Ling Tek Soon is a senior lecturer at the Institute of China Studies, Universiti Malaya. He earned his PhD from Tsinghua University in Beijing in 2011. Dr Ling’s research interests include Malaysia-China relations, the Belt and Road Initiative in Malaysia and the Malaysian Hokkien community. His publications include: “China Knowledge in the Malay-language Intellectual World”,“China-Malaysia Two Countries Twin Parks under the Belt and Road Initiative”,“Developments of Malaysia’s Foreign Relations in 2019,"and"The Early Stage of the Briggs Plan: Kampung Bukit Changgang and Tiram Buruk New Village as Case Studies”. Dr Ling is currently conducting research on Pandamaran New Village in Selangor, with a publication entitled The Local Gazetteer of Pandamaran New Village (1900-2020) expected in 2025.

Dr Rio Creech-Nowagiel (Postdoctoral Research Fellow), University of Nottingham

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Dr Rio Creech-Nowagiel completed their PhD in 2024 at Cardiff University’s School of Journalism, Media and Culture in partnership with Imperial War Museums. Their PhD focused imperial images and imaginaries in Britain and the US during the Malayan ‘Emergency’ campaign. Rio is passionate about applications of anti-racist, anti-capitalist, queer and feminist approaches to historical work in the archive and beyond. Rio holds an MA in Museum Studies and has experience working within the cultural heritage sector, working closely with object collections and producing exhibitions.