From September 13th to 14th, 2023, College of Media and International Culture at Zhejiang University(CMIC, ZJU) and Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information at Nanyang Technological University(WKWSCI, NTU) jointly held the fourth bilateral doctoral seminar on the theme of "Digital Media&Society". Under the guidance of Chen Hongliang, a researcher of ZJU100 Young Professor, 10 doctoral students from CMIC attended the conference at WKWSCI in Singapore. This seminar was held both online and offline, and teachers and students from both universities had a heated discussion on popular topics related to digital media.
The Opening Ceremony
On the first day of the seminar, Professor May. O. Lwin, Dean of WKWSCI and Professor Wei Lu, Dean of CMIC, delivered opening speeches. Associate Professor Chen Lou from NTU, Researcher Chen Hongliang and Li Siyue, both researchers of ZJU100 Young Professor jointly attended the seminar.
Professor May. O. Lwin systematically introduced the history and curriculum of WKWSCI, and warmly welcomed the ZJU team. She stated that there is a deep and lasting cooperative relationship between CMIC and WKWSCI, with the bilateral academic seminar serving as an important platform for communication between the two sides since 2019. In the mean time, she wished this year’s seminar a success.
Professor Wei Lu reviewed the themes and achievements of previous bilateral academic seminars, expressed sincere gratitude to the keynote speakers, and looked forward to further deepening cooperation between the two sides in academic exchanges, talent cultivation, and other aspects. He pointed out that the seminars focus on cutting-edge topics in the field of media and communication, providing golden opportunities to enhance academic abilities, broaden academic horizons, and cultivate academic awareness. He hopes that the doctoral students from both universities can have a deeper understanding and exploration of relevant research through the seminar.
Serial Lectures
Subsequently, the keynote speakers from WKWSCI presented a series of lectures. Assistant Professor Andrew Prahl, delivered a speech titled "Rise of the Machines: Professor, Passion, Panic" based on his latest research, discussing the cognitive changes of labor towards emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence after ChatGPT caused a sensation in the globe.
Professor Edson C. Tandoc Jr. focuses on research topics such as digital news, fake news, and media sociology, and his paper has been cited over ten thousand times. Under the title "Edson's Reflections on Academic Publications", he shared his experience in writing, revising, and submitting journal papers with the students.
Assistant Professor Edmund Lee Wei Jian, delivered a lecture of "Digital Health Technologies for Population Health: Boon or Bane?", starting from the perspective of health communication and citing a series of studies. She shared how to use smartphone applications to strengthen tobacco control and how to promote healthy behavior with the use of wearable devices, thus discussing the possible role of digital technology in people's health.
In the Q&A section, the three keynote speakers combined the lecture content with their answers to questions such as the impact of artificial intelligence on human-computer interaction, how to understand the academic contributions of the paper, and how to find a suitable theoretical framework. After the lecture, the students also visited the studio, laboratory, and student club of WKWSCI to get a glimpse of the campus life and professional practice there.
Student Presentation
On the morning of September 14th, under the host of Researcher Chen Hongliang, doctoral students from ZJU and NTU, including Lei Sihan, Zhang Duo, Liu Qian, Bao Huanyu, Zhang Heng, Tao Rouke, Li Rubing, Tian Yinzi, Li Changyan, Chen Binyu, Pan Guohui, Adina Mohammad Saber, Taha Hussein Ahmed Muaydh, and Zhou Xuan, respectively presented papers focused on topics such as social media usage, film and television creation and social culture, advertising and brand marketing.
During the Q&A session, comments on the above research were put by Researcher Chen Hongliang and Associate Researcher Yan Yuqian from Zhejiang University, as well as Assistant Professor Saifuddin Ahmed, Associate Professor Hyekyung Kay Kim and Chen Lou, and Assistant Professor Lew Zijian from Nanyang Technological University. They proposed suggestions such as "considering the complexity of the digital media environment", "refining the conceptual and operational definitions in the paper", "strengthening the logical chain of research hypotheses", and "emphasizing the application of research methods", providing valuable reference for the subsequent modification and refinement of these studies.
At the closing speech, Researcher Chen Hongliang briefly reviewed the content of this seminar and conveyed gratitude to the attending students, faculty and staff. He encouraged students to further improve their research papers, and particularly welcomed the teachers and students of WKWSCI to visit the campus of Zhejiang University and organize more academic exchange activities. Associate Professor Lou Chen expressed recognition and appreciation for the students’ thesis presentations. She believed that all students had gained from the seminar, and also anticipated the establishment of communication mechanisms and platforms between the two universities in the future based on their long-standing cooperative relationship.
At this point, the fourth bilateral seminar for doctoral students came to a successful conclusion.
