Tracy Ying Zhang has joined York University’s Institute for Research on Digital Literacies (IRDL) as a visiting faculty member from November 2020 to September 2021.
Zhang has been conducting research on issues of gender, race, inclusion and social justice in the global creative industries for the past 15 years. Her research topics include cultural labor, media and performance, migrant workers, minority politics and Cold War cultural diplomacy.
Zhang received her doctoral degree from Simon Fraser University’s School of Communication. Before coming to York, she has held a Mitacs Elevate Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema at Concordia University, a Bader Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Department of Film and Media at Queen’s University, a CÉRIUM Postdoctoral Fellowship at Centre d’études et recherches internationals at the University of Montreal, and a FQRSC postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Geography at Concordia University.
Besides academic works, she has directed and produced several independent media projects, including the award-winning documentary, The Flip Side: A Global Circus Story. Recently, her Mitacs-funded research project explores gendered and racial barriers in film production education by using qualitative and participatory methods. Some results appeared in a virtual exhibition, called “Women in Film Education: Participatory Photography at the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema.” This research directly contributes to equity, diversity and inclusion in higher education.
At IRDL, Zhang will contribute to event organizing and on March 24 will give a talk on participatory digital methods in relation to critical media education.