School of Social and Political Science

Background

I am a PhD candidate in social anthropology at the University of Edinburgh. My research explores the growing gaming desire and practice among Chinese working adult gamers through the examination of the everyday gaming experience configured in its intertwined relation to their work-life. It asks how people employ playful technology to counterbalance overwhelming work experiences and what are the sociocultural circumstances out of which this tendency emerges.  

Teaching

Digital Technology and East Asia [guest lecture in Anthropology of East Asia] 6th March 2025

Social Anthropology 1B [tutor] 2024 – 2025 Spring

Dissertation Workshop (MA Social Anthropology)  [tutor] 2024 – 2025 Fall

Consumption, Exchange, Technology [tutor] 2023 – 2024 Spring

Anthropological Theories [tutor] 2023 – 2024 Fall

EUSA Teaching Award Nomination 2023-2024

Publication

Wang, Y. 2027 (forthcoming). “Post-Fieldwork Virtual Ethnography: Tools, Challenges, and Ethics of Ongoing Online Engagement”. In Winkler-Reid, S., Ricke, A., Degnen, C. (eds.) Virtually There: Teaching and Doing Ethnography Online, Routledge. 

Wang, Yaojing. (2024). "Ready player one: The world of online gamers who play multiplayer games alone" [Online]. The Sociological Review Magazine. https://doi.org/10.51428/tsr.jfkd8945

Conference Presentations 

Wang, Yaojing. "'There’s no Fun': Exploring the Duality of Fun among Chinese Working Adult Gamers". 24th July 2024, European Association of Social Anthropologist conference

Wang, Yaojing. "Tracing Iterative Concerns: A Method for Exploring Digital Experiences with Online Ethnography". 25th June 2024, The Royal Anthropological Institute conference

Other Research Outcomes

[Exhibition] "Gaming Anyplace Anytime: Space, Time and Mobile Life among Chinese Gamers”. (with remote contribution from Su, K. and Pan, C.) 5th - 6th April 2024, In ASA 2024: PeopleFest. At The University of Manchester.