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Li Zhang graduated from the University of Glasgow with a Master of Science in Educational Studies(2023). She started her PhD at Loughborough University in October 2025, supervised by Dr. Jessica Robles (Communication and Media) and Dr. Sophie Cranston (Geography and Environment).
Her PhD is jointly funded by Loughborough University and the China Scholarship Council.
Mediated Lives, Mobile Selves: Media Practices, Identity, and Community among Chinese Digital Nomads in Chiang Mai
Supervisors: Dr Jessica Robles (Communication and Media) Dr Sophie Cranston (Geography and Environment)
Li Zhang's doctoral research provides an ethnographic study of the digital nomads. The research posits that for this community, digital media platforms are not merely communication tools but constitute the very 'habitat' in which they live, work, and build social connections.
It investigates how identities are performed online, how digital networks replace the need for traditional local ties, and how the city of Chiang Mai is experienced through a mediated digital layer. Theoretically, it seeks to advance a new, media-centric paradigm of mobility, providing crucial insights into how identity, community, and belonging are being reshaped in a globally connected, digital age.