Outstanding Faculty Award, Assistant Professor, 2023
College of Liberal Arts
Professor Lin Zhang is an academic rising star in the fields of digital capitalism and transnational technological innovations, a passionate teacher of global media cultures and an asset to UNH, particularly through her contributions to international studies, social justice and cross-cultural inclusion.
Zhang’s groundbreaking scholarship intervenes into timely cultural and political discourse, such as current controversies over the rise of digital capitalism and transnational relations. Her impressive record of consistently high-quality scholarly work has been, without a doubt, outstanding.
Zhang’s research expertise and academic reputation is exemplified by her many invited contributions to podcasts and news stories covering the international and cultural implications of evolving media platforms (such as TikTok), the state of the Chinese economy, digital labor and the work culture at tech companies and the history of China’s Alibaba, which demonstrates her research expertise and growing scholarly reputation. Zhang also has notably enhanced the department of communication’s curriculum by adding a global focus while also supporting students’ desires to better understand their world — a world that has been so shaped and influenced by rapidly evolving digital technologies, transformed work cultures and transnational politics.
Her courses address insightful questions about the cultural, economic and political impacts of East Asia, the evolution of global capitalism intersected with the rise of digitization and resulting reconceptualization of work and workers around the world.
About this Award
The ideal university faculty member is someone whose accomplishments in the areas of teaching, research, and service are prodigious and of the highest quality. He or she is an inspiring, challenging, and effective teacher, whose concern and respect for students is evident both in and out of the classroom. Such a faculty member makes important and extensive contributions to his or her chosen field, and shares those contributions with peers through publication or other appropriate means. Finally, the ideal faculty member willingly and effectively devotes time and energy in useful service to the university, the profession, and the state. The recipients of these awards are those members of the university faculty who, in recent years, have demonstrated these qualities. Each year, two Outstanding Faculty Awards will be given, one each for an assistant and an associate professor. All UNH tenure track faculty members at those ranks are eligible.
