Dr Haili Li

Haili Li is a lecturer in Media and Communications at the Department of Communications, Drama and Film, University of Exeter. Prior to joining Exeter in July 2023, she worked as a postdoctoral research fellow for the ERC Starting Grant project Digital Governance in China at Freie Universität Berlin (Dec 2021 - May 2023). Haili obtained her PhD degree from the Digital Media Research Centre, Queensland University of Technology in September 2021 (2018-2021). Her research has primarily focused on digital media and cultures, AI/digital technologies and public engagement, digital inequalities, migration, and the intersections between race, gender, and sexuality. Haili Li has been endorsed as a global talent by the British Academy starting from June 2023. 

Email: h.li5@exeter.ac.uk

Office Address: Office 16, Alexander Building, Thornlea, Exeter, EX4 4LA, UK

Research supervision:

Haili Li welcomes research proposals/projects from a diverse array of domains, encompassing but not limited to digital media and cultures, digital/AI technologies and public engagement, digital/AI inequalities and inclusion, digital diasporas, as well as race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality studies.

PhD supervision

Ziyi Song, Perception, Negotiation and Representation: Cultural Identities of Young British Chinese on Social Media, University of Exeter

Jing Lei, Reshaping Gender Dynamics in Chinese Pop Culture Fandoms, University of Exeter

Qiaosong Xi, Rebellious Daughters: Everyday feminist activism on Chinese social media, University of Exeter

Ao Xiang, Gender Performance and Identity Negotiation among Chinese LGBTQ+ Beauty Vloggers: A Comparative Study of TikTok and Douyin

Qianqian Li, An exploration of the digital menstrual activism in the Chinese public sphere: a relay of digital menstrual activisms on Weibo, Douyin, and Xiaohongshu

Visiting Scholar:

Served as the Academic Sponsor for the HASS visiting scholar Dr Qingqing Li (Associate Professor), 2024-25

Management and leadership:

Sep 2023 - Dec 2025, Departmental Academic Conduct Officer (ACO), Department of Communications, Drama and Film