Academic Profile : Faculty

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Asst Prof Zhang Jiajie
Assistant Professor, National Institute of Education - Humanities & Social Studies Education
J.J. Zhang is Assistant Professor in Human Geography at NIE, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He obtained his PhD in the field of cultural geography from the University of Durham, UK. Prior to his move to Durham, he completed his M.Soc.Sci in Geography at the National University of Singapore. He also holds a B.Soc.Sci. (First Class Honours) in Geography from the same university. He was Assistant Professor of Tourism and Leisure Studies in the Department of Geography at the University of Hong Kong before eventually returning to Singapore. J.J.’s central research question focuses on the meaning of travel and tourism to the society and how it affects individuals’ lives at the everyday level. He has two main research thrusts: one that deals with cross-border tourism, heritage and geopolitics, and another that explores leisure travel and well-being among older adults. His writings have been published in high impact journals including Annals of Tourism Research, Asia Pacific Viewpoint, Cultural Geographies, Current Issues in Tourism, Geoforum, Tourism Management and Tourism Geographies. He is passionate about teaching and enjoys taking students on field trips to inquire and learn about different landscapes.
Critical tourism studies, Cultural-geopolitics of cross-border tourism, Material culture and heritage politics of post-conflict societies, Leisure travel and well-being among older adults
 
  • Understanding informal networks of care through past leisure travel experiences of older adults: a life course approach
Awards
• 2023 NIE Excellence in Teaching Award
• 2021 Koh Boon Hwee Scholars Award – Honoured Faculty (For inspirational mentorship of student Koh Yi Fan, Koh Boon Hwee Scholar, Class of 2021)
• 2021 International Best Paper Award East Asian Journal of Popular Culture (EAJPC) Interdisciplinary Achievement Award (2021 Research Article Competition, sponsored by the European Association of Taiwan Studies)
• 2012 International Best Paper Award Terry G. Jordan-Bychkov Student Paper Award (Best paper in the PhD category), Association of American Geographers (AAG) Annual Meeting, Cultural Geography Specialty Group
• 2011 International Research Grant: Research Grant for Foreign Scholars in Chinese Studies Centre for Chinese Studies, Taiwan
• 2009 International Best Paper Award: 1st Prize, Graduate Student Paper Competition Association of American Geographers (AAG) Annual Meeting, Recreation, Tourism; Sport Specialty Group
• 2007-2009 NUS Research (M.Soc.Sci) Scholarship NUS
• 2007 Bachelor of Social Sciences (First Class Honours in Geography) NUS
• 2006 Ooi Jin Bee Scholarship Award Department of Geography, NUS
• 2005-2006 Dean's List (Top 5% of cohort) Faculty of Arts; Social Sciences, NUS
• 2005 Special Book Prize (Top Year 2 Student in Geography) NUS
• 2004-2005 Dean's List (Top 5% of cohort) Faculty of Arts; Social Sciences, NUS
• 2003-2004 Dean's List (Top 5% of cohort) Faculty of Arts; Social Sciences, NUS
 
Fellowships & Other Recognition
• 2022 Nominated for NIE Excellence in Research Award
• 2009-2012 Durham Doctoral Fellowship Durham University, UK (Full scholarship awarded under the University's fast-track initiative)
 
Courses Taught
Undergraduate Modules:
AAG10B - Elements of Human Geography
AAG10C - Techniques in Geography
AAG10E - Singapore in the Globalized World
AAG23N - Political Geography
AAG23Q/28C - Understanding Tourism
AAG23V - Cultural Geographies
AAG33E - Feeding the World
AAG33N - Independent Study on Geography Topics
AAG40B - Geographies of Sustainability
AAG40C - Academic Exercise: Geography
AAG40D - Geographical Methods and Fieldwork

Postgraduate Modules:
MAS945 - Geographies of Travel and Tourism in Asia
QED50E - Singapore Kaleidoscope
QED52P - Group Endeavours in Service Learning
QUG512 - Human Geography
 
Supervision of PhD Students
Lee Hiu Yan, Alice, ‘Rethinking Volunteer Tourism: A Community Approach’, September 2015 – February 2020 (HKU)