Dr Leah Wang
- Position: Lecturer in Intercultural Studies and Film
- Areas of expertise: Film and TV Representation; Chinese and Asian Popular Screen Media across Cultures; Cultural Values in in Screen Media; Education, Childhood and Youth on Screen; Cultural and Educational Policy
- Email: L.Y.Wang@leeds.ac.uk
- Location: Michael Sadler Building
Profile
My research addresses how contemporary film and television represent education, social mobility and everyday life. Through close analysis of popular screen media, I explore how cultural values and social relations are articulated across cultural contexts. Situated within Film and Television Studies, my work engages wider cultural and social questions through an interdisciplinary perspective, with particular attention to Chinese and Asian screen media across cultures.
My professional experience spans the United Kingdom and Switzerland. I joined the University of Leeds in 2020 after teaching at the University of Exeter (2014-2020), and previously at the University of Nottingham (2015-2016). I received my PhD in Film and Television Studies and am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. I also contribute to the discipline nationally as Treasurer and Executive Committee Member of the British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies.
Before entering academia, I worked between 2010 and 2014 in the creative and financial sectors in the UK and gained international professional experience in Switzerland, including experience at the United Nations and projects related to the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme.
Responsibilities
- Treasurer and Executive Committee member, British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies
- School FYP Coordinator (2021–2024) and EDI Lead (2023–2024)
- PhD Supervisor
Research interests
My research focuses on the representation of education and social mobility in film and television and on the cultural values shaping everyday social experience in popular screen media. I am particularly interested in:
- Education and social mobility in popular screen media
- Childhood, youth and family relationships in film and television
- Comedy and performance in popular screen culture
- Chinese and Asian screen media across cultures
Selected Publications and Conference Papers
Wang, Leah (2026), ‘Representing education in China in the early reform era: The impact of university matriculation on the family and the individual in Father and Son (1986)’, Asian Cinema, 37:1, pp. 97–119, https://doi. org/10.1386/ac_00106_1
Wang, Leah ‘Animating Change and Intercultural Shifts: A Critical Analysis of Chinese Educational Transformations in the 2000s through the Comic Lens of Oh My School (2023)’, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, 2024.
Wang, Leah ‘Dilraba Dilmurat, the Popular Chinese Celebrity of Uyghur Descent’, Alternative Narratives of Belonging, Resistance and Rebellion: Portrayals of Indigenous Muslim Minorities, University of Leeds, UK, 2024 (co-organiser).
Wang, Leah ‘Youth in 1990s Rural China: Educational Experiences in Going to School with Father on My Back (1998)’, Screening Spaces of Youth, 2024.
Qualifications
- PhD
- FHEA
- MA
- BA
Student education
My teaching contributes to undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in film, television, intercultural studies and research methods. It draws on my work on Chinese and Asian film and television, with a focus on cultural and intercultural values, representation and screen performance.
I supervise PhD and MA/MRes dissertations on related topics and welcome enquiries about PhD and MA/MRes supervision from students interested in researching Chinese and Asian film and television, particularly in relation to screen media across cultures and related areas. Between 2021 and 2025, I led the School undergraduate final-year project programme and led/taught on East Asian transnational cinema.
Research groups and institutes
- Cinema and Television
- Centre for World Cinemas and Digital Cultures
- Intercultural Studies