Zoe Zhao, Ph.D. Candidate in Sociology, Receives Young Scholar Award

Zoe Zhao, Ph.D. Candidate in Sociology

Mengyang (Zoe) Zhao, a Ph.D. candidate in sociology and a doctoral fellow at the Annenberg School for Communication’s Center on Digital Culture and Society (CDCS), is one of 10 recipients of the China Times Cultural Foundation Young Scholars Award, in recognition of her dissertation research on platform game work in China.

Established in 1986, the China Times Cultural Foundation is committed to supporting and promoting academic research that centers Chinese culture and related studies. The Young Scholar Award is granted annually to doctoral candidates in North America whose dissertation research focuses on the study of Chinese cultures in the humanities and the social sciences. This year’s award committee was comprised of seven prominent China scholars, including David Der-wei Wang of Harvard University and Wen-hsin Yeh of the University of California Berkeley.

Zhao’s research interests include social movements, urban sociology, public opinion, and social network analysis. She has been published in Critical Sociology and Social Science Quarterly. She is a frequent commentator on contemporary social issues for media outlets such as the U.S.-based Protocol and the Singapore-based Initium Media. As a CDCS doctoral fellow, she helps to lead a CDCS working group on platform studies and digital labor.

As a recipient of the Young Scholar Award, Zhao will receive a scholarship of $10,000 to support her dissertation research.

 

Arts & Sciences News

Fourteen from Penn Arts & Sciences Receive Fulbrights for 2025-26 Academic Year

They will conduct research, pursue graduate degrees, or teach English in places including Thailand, Austria, Indonesia, Moldova, and many other places.

View Article >
Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw Named James and Nan Wagner Farquhar Professor of History of Art

Shaw’s main areas of research include portraiture and issues of representation in the art of the United States, Latin America, and the Caribbean, from the 1500s to the present day.

View Article >
Hanming Fang Named Inaugural Norman C. Grosman Professor of Economics

An applied microeconomist who integrates rigorous modeling with data analysis, Fang’s research within the field of public economics focuses on health insurance and healthcare markets.

View Article >
Xi Song Named Inaugural Schiffman Family Presidential Associate Professor of Sociology

Song’s research interests include social mobility, occupations, Asian Americans, population studies, and quantitative methodology.

View Article >
Julie Nelson Davis Named Paul F. Miller, Jr. and E. Warren Shafer Miller Professor of History of Art

Davis specializes in the arts and material cultures of 18th- and 19th-century Japan, with a focus on prints, paintings, and illustrated books.

View Article >
Justin Khoury Named Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Term Professor of Physics and Astronomy

Khoury’s research interests lie at the intersection of particle physics and cosmology.

View Article >