Heritage and Communication
Preservation, Production and Reproduction: Urban Heritage Transformation around the World
Visiting Fellows 2024-25
Professor Timothy Clifton Winter
Timothy Clifton Winter is Professor and Research Leader of the Inter-Asian Engagements Research Cluster at the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore. He was previously a Professorial Australian Research Council Future Fellow in Australia. Tim has led the development of heritage diplomacy as a cross-disciplinary concept and introduced geocultural power to the analysis of international affairs. Recent articles on these topics appear in International Affairs, Int Jnl of Cultural Policy, Int Jnl of Heritage Studies and Environment and Planning D. He has consulted for the World Monuments Fund, Getty Conservation Institute, UNESCO and others. Recent UNESCO projects include ‘maritimeconnects.asia’ and the podcast series War Heritage, both of which focus on Asia. His most recent books are Geocultural Power: China’s Quest to Revive the Silk Roads for the Twenty First Century (University of Chicago Press 2019) and The Silk Road: Connecting Histories and Futures (Oxford University Press, 2022).
Doctor Yu Tao
Dr Yu Tao is an Associate Professor in Asian Studies at the University of Western Australia, where he coordinates both the Chinese Studies programme and the Social Sciences Honours programme. Trained in political science and sociology at Peking, Cambridge, and Oxford, his research focuses on the evolving dynamics of Global China, with particular attention to governance, religion, and heritage. A recipient of the Australian Award for University Teaching (Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning), Dr Tao also serves as Publication Officer of the Asian Studies Association of Australia and China regional editor of the Asian Studies Review. He is a fellow of the Higher Education Academy and the Royal Asiatic Society.
The Heritage and Communication Research Group explores the preservation, representation, and utilisation of cultural heritage, including the built environment (e.g., conservation, regeneration and revitalisation, economic growth and sustainability), creative industries (e.g., film and TV industries, new media technologies/social media) and identity-building through cultural representation (e.g., cultural diplomacy and nation-branding). This intersects with questions of identity, agency, and ownership in intellectual, political or economic terms.
Members’ recent and current research includes revitalising rural communities, the heritage sites in Suzhou Historical City, and the role of China’s creative industries in the nation’s attempt to refresh its image and to build international soft power.
The group builds on existing expertise in cultural heritage, including a strong track record in external funding both locally and internationally. This includes projects funded by the British Academy, the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, the Arts and Humanities Research Council, Chiang-ching Kuo Foundation, the British Council, National Social Science Fund of China, and funding through municipal and provincial governments in Ningbo, Suzhou, Wuxi, and Fujian.”
Members