Dr John Wei, Our people, Sociology, Gender Studies and Criminology

BA (Lanzhou), PG(Dip) (BFSU), MA (Auckland), PhD (Auckland and Melbourne)

Senior Lecturer

Contact details

Room 5C14, Richardson Building
Tel +64 3 479 8939
Email john.wei@otago.ac.nz

Research interests

Dr John Wei joins Sociology, Gender Studies and Criminology with a background in Culture and Communication as well as Media, Film and Television. He has previously held multiple teaching and research roles at the University of Melbourne, the University of Auckland, and the University of Canterbury.

His research focuses on transnational gender, sexuality, and queer studies through an intersectional approach combining urban sociology, ethnography, migration and mobilities, and media and film studies to interrogate wider and ongoing social changes in global and regional flows and movements of talents, cultures, and capital.

John is the author of Queer Chinese Cultures and Mobilities: Kinship, Migration, and Middle Classes (Hong Kong University Press, 2020). His current work explores social practices and cultural productions of gender and sexuality through a comparative lens across global Anglophone (English-speaking) and Sinophone (Chinese-speaking) societies to consider geographical, social, generational, cultural, and gender/sexual mobilities in the 21st century.

Teaching

I co-ordinate and teach:
GEND 101 Gender in Everyday Life
GEND 205 / 305 Gender and the Media

I teach sections of:
GEND 206 / GEND 306 Gender, Work and Consumer Culture
GEND 401 Debates in Gender and Sexuality

Postgraduate Research Supervision

Aaron Hu (PhD) Mental Health Disparities among Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Individuals
Jemima Meegan (MPCS) Transgender and Queer Refugees/Asylum Seekers
Hannah Goh (MSc) Sexual Violence Prevention in East/Southeast Asian Communities in New Zealand
Rowan Simmons (Hons) Intersections between Transgender Identity and Masculinity
Annaliese Boyd (Hons) Mobility, Kinship, and Identity of Queer Female University Students

Publications

Gibbs, A., Wei, J., Gilmour, F., Dougherty, J., Bond, P., Bohn, S., Biggs, L., & Rakuita, T. (Eds.). (2023). Proceedings of the Sociology, Gender Studies & Criminology and Social & Community Work Postgraduate Symposium VII. Dunedin, New Zealand: Sociology, Gender Studies and Criminology Programme, University of Otago. 44p. Conference Contribution - Edited volume of conference proceedings

Wei, J. (2023). Taiwan’s same-sex marriage legislation: Social movement strategies and relational dynamics. Journal of East Asian Studies. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1017/jea.2023.8 Journal - Research Article

Wei, J. (2023). Grand strategies and everyday struggles under the new Cold War and COVID-19: A sociological political economy. In K. P. Tan (Ed.), Asia in the old and new Cold Wars: Ideologies, narratives, and lived experiences. (pp. 103-125). Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan. doi: 10.1007/978-981-19-7681-0_5 Chapter in Book - Research

Wei, J. (2023). Rethinking Queer (Asian) Studies: Geopolitics, Covid-19, and post-covid queer theories and mobilities. Journal of Homosexuality. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1080/00918369.2023.2174471 Journal - Research Article

Boyd, A., & Wei, J. (2023). Stretched kinship: Queer female university students negotiating family and identity. Sexualities. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1177/13634607231152598 Journal - Research Article

2023

Chapter in Book - Research

Journal - Research Article

Wei, J. (2023). Taiwan’s same-sex marriage legislation: Social movement strategies and relational dynamics. Journal of East Asian Studies. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1017/jea.2023.8

Boyd, A., & Wei, J. (2023). Stretched kinship: Queer female university students negotiating family and identity. Sexualities. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1177/13634607231152598

Wei, J. (2023). Stretched kinship: Parental rejection and acceptance of queer youth in Chinese families. Journal of Homosexuality, 70(9), 1847-1866. doi: 10.1080/00918369.2022.2043130

Wei, J. (2023). Out on YouTube: Queer youths and coming out videos in Asia and America. Feminist Media Studies, 23(3), 1173-1188. doi: 10.1080/14680777.2021.1950797

Conference Contribution - Edited volume of conference proceedings

2022

Conference Contribution - Edited volume of conference proceedings

Stringer, R., Keddell, E., Wei, J., Gibbs, A., Bond, P., & Bohn, S. (Eds.). (2022). Proceedings of the Sociology, Gender Studies & Criminology and Social & Community Work Postgraduate Symposium VI. Dunedin, New Zealand: Sociology, Gender Studies and Criminology Programme, University of Otago. 42p. Retrieved from https://www.otago.ac.nz/sgc/study/sociology/postgraduate/

Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs

Wei, J. (2022, December). International queer political economy: Geopolitics, Covid-19, and migrant workers. Verbal presentation at the Decoloniality, Gender Equity and Diversity International Conference, [Hybrid].

2021

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

Wei, J. (2021). The new Cold War: Geopolitics, Covid-19, and grand strategies in great power rivalry. Proceedings of the Narrating Cold Wars Conference. (pp. 16). Retrieved from https://www.hkbu.online/narratingcoldwars

Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs

Wei, J. (2021, September). Feminism at the top: Gendered leadership under Covid-19 in Taiwan and New Zealand. Verbal presentation at the Feminism(s) in the Age of COVID-19 and Beyond: An Interdisciplinary Conference, [Online].

Wei, J. (2021, September). Revisiting migration: Population mobility and economic restructuring in post-covid geopolitical shifts. Verbal presentation at the Breaking Boundaries: Reimagining Borders in Postcolonial and Migrant Studies, [Online].

Wei, J. (2021, August). Handling the pandemic: Female, male and transgender leaders during Covid-19. Verbal presentation at the 116th American Sociological Association (ASA) Virtual Annual Meeting: Emancipatory Sociology: Rising to the Du Boisian Challenge, [Online].

Other Research Output

Wei, J. (2021, February). Queer Chinese cultures and mobilities: Kinship, migration, and middle classes. Boston University Center for the Study of Asia: World Languages and Literatures’ New Books in East Asian Literature Lecture Series. [Research Presentation].

Wei, J. (2021, March). Your Name Engraved Herein: Queer cinema and social change in Taiwan. Asia New Zealand: Asia Media Centre. Retrieved from https://www.asiamediacentre.org.nz/features/your-name-engraved-herein-queer-cinema-and-social-change-in-taiwan/

Wei, J. (2021, April). Chloé Zhao's Oscar win: Can China claim victory? Asia New Zealand: Asia Media Centre. Retrieved from https://www.asiamediacentre.org.nz/opinion-and-analysis/chloe-zhaos-oscar-win-can-china-claim-victory/

2020

Authored Book - Research

Wei, J. (2020). Queer Chinese cultures and mobilities: Kinship, migration, and middle classes. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 216p. doi: 10.2307/j.ctv12fw76v

Other Research Output

Wei, J. (2020, December). Queer Chinese cultures and Mobilities: Kinship, migration, and middle classes: An interview with John Wei. New Books in Chinese Studies, New Books Network Podcast, hosted by Laurie Dickmeyer. Retrieved from https://newbooksnetwork.com/queer-chinese-cultures-and-mobilities

2019

Journal - Research Article

Wei, J., Carter, S., & Laurs, D. (2019). Handling the loss of innocence: First-time exchange of writing and feedback in doctoral supervision. Higher Education Research & Development, 38(1), 157-169. doi: 10.1080/07294360.2018.1541074

Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs

Wei, J. (2019, November). "Gated communities": Queer middle classes and social stratification in urban China. Verbal presentation at the National Women's Studies Association (NWSA) Annual Conference, San Francisco, USA.

2018

Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs

Wei, J. (2018, March). Stretched kinship: Queer Chinese cultures/mobilities in the twenty-first century. Verbal presentation at the Popular Cultural Association & American Cultural Association (PCA/ACA) Conference, Indianapolis, USA.

Wei, J. (2018, March). Stretched kinship and queer mobilities in Chinese societies. Verbal presentation at the Association for Asian Studies (ASA) Annual Conference, Washington, D.C., USA.

2017

Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs

Wei, J. (2017, October). Mobilised desire, decentred cinema: Queer film clubs/communities in urban China. Verbal presentation at the San Francisco State University’s School of Cinema 19th Annual Conference: Cinema De-Centered, San Francisco, USA.

Wei, J. (2017, May). Stretched kinship: Queer Chinese mobilities in the twenty-first century. Verbal presentation at the International Communication Association's 67th Annual Conference, San Diego, USA.

2016

Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs

Wei, J. (2016, March-April). Queer Confucian bodies on digital screens: Sexual capital, dis/embodiment, and locative mobile social media. Verbal presentation at the Doing the Body in the 21st Century Conference, Pittsburgh, USA.

2015

Journal - Research Article

Wei, J. (2015). Queer sinophonicities in (South) East Asia: The short films of Desmond Bing-Yen Ti. Intersections, 38. doi: 10.17613/M6W01K

2014

Journal - Research Article

Wei, J. (2014). Iron Man in Chinese boys' love fandom: A story untold. Transformative Works & Cultures, 17. doi: 10.3983/twc.2014.0561

Journal - Research Other

Wei, J. (2014). [Review of the book Queer Marxism in two Chinas]. China Review International, 21(2), 182-184. doi: 10.1353/cri.2014.0016

Wei, J. (2014). 'But there are no lions in the Scottish highlands': Reading the trunk in Matka. Short Film Studies, 4(1), 51-54. doi: 10.1386/sfs.4.1.51_1

Wei, J. (2014). [Review of the book Queer/Tongzhi China: New perspectives on research, activism, and media cultures]. China Review International, 21(2), 133-136. doi: 10.1353/cri.2014.0009

Wei, J. (2014). [Review of the book Tongzhi living: Men attracted to men in postsocialist China]. China Review International, 21(2), 195-198. doi: 10.1353/cri.2014.0020

Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs

Wei, J. (2014, October). Intimate space: Queer film clubs and mobile queer social media. Verbal presentation at the Media Ubiquity Symposium: Spaces, Places and Networks, Auckland, New Zealand.