Project Title

The Resilience of Local Herbal Knowledge in a Mediated Society

Research Topic

Positioned at the intersection of media and communication studies and ethnobotany, Anran examines the resilience of local herbal knowledge in a mediated rural society. Through fieldwork in a minority ethnic tropical rainforest village on China’s southwestern border, he explores how the rapid integration of ICTs into rural communities influences residents’ perceptions, utilisation, protection, and management of herbs and their environment, as well as how plants affect local economies and social order.

In rural China, social relationships, power structures, and knowledge are deeply intertwined, with ICTs playing a pivotal role in shaping these dynamics. Government-led initiatives have accelerated digital adoption in rural areas over the last decade, embedding technology into daily life and production activities. Anran’s research traces how this integration alters power dynamics and social networks, determining what is considered knowledge, who participates in its circulation, and who has access to it.

Employing a three-pronged methodological approach—participant observation, interviews, and social network analysis—he examines the transformations in the concepts and content of indigenous herbal knowledge from a resilience perspective. His work contributes to a deeper understanding of how ICTs impact local knowledge systems and cultural resilience, bridging the fields of media and communication studies and ethnobotany.

Supervisors: Professor Ellen Helsper & Dr Eleanor Power

Biography

Anran is currently a PhD researcher in Media and Communications at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). He holds a master’s degree in Computer and Information Technology from the University of Pennsylvania, an MSc in Media and Communications (Research) from LSE, and a BA in Public Relations from the Communication University of China.

His research interests include digital policy, health communication, interpersonal communication, resilience theory, computational social science, and ethnobotany. Anran’s current work involves theorising digital inclusion policymaking, analysing the social impact of technological metaphors, examining the role of counter-hegemonic journalism in health communication, and studying the resilience of local knowledge in mediated societies. Methodologically, he explores the integration of social network analysis (SNA) and natural language processing (NLP) with classical research methods in media and communication studies.

Anran’s research has been published in SSCI- and CSSCI-indexed journals such as Global Media Journal, Journal of Pacific Rim Psychology, and Advances in Psychological Science. He has presented at several international conferences, including the International Communication Association (ICA) and the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR).

With extensive teaching experience, Anran currently serves as the Head Tutor for LSE Online courses ‘Sustainable Communication Strategies’ and ‘Strategic Communication in Society’. Previously, he was a Class Teacher for the undergraduate course ‘Innovation and Technology Management’ in the Department of Management at LSE, where he achieved an overall student satisfaction rating of 4.9 out of 5.0 in the 2023–2024 academic year. He has also served as a teaching assistant for a range of postgraduate courses such as ‘Digital Media Futures’ and ‘Representation in the Age of Globalisation’ at LSE, and ‘Data Structures & Software Design’ at the University of Pennsylvania.