Yao-Tai Li

Dr. Yao-Tai Li is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology and Social Policy at UNSW's School of Social Sciences. He holds a PhD from UC San Diego, with prior roles including Assistant Professor at Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU, 2017–2021). His research focuses on race/ethnicity, migration, contentious politics, and social media analysis, with a particular emphasis on East Asian diasporas and Hong Kong's sociopolitical dynamics.

Education: PhD (UC San Diego), MA and BA (National Taiwan University). Awards include the Dean’s Award for Early Career Research (UNSW, 2024) and data journalism accolades for his Hong Kong Lennon Wall documentation. He advises PhD and master’s students on topics ranging from border regimes to queer activism.

Key projects include tracking rhetorical shifts in Chinese-Australian community responses to racism since 1973, and analyzing Hong Kong's protest movements through urban sociology and data activism lenses. Active in 45+ journals as a reviewer/editor, and holds leadership roles in migration studies (ISA RC31) and policy initiatives.

Grants include UNSW's ADA Seed Funding (2024), National Library of Australia grants (2023), and Hong Kong RGC Early Career support (2020–21). His forthcoming book *Protest Walls* (CUP, 2025) examines physical/digital protest spaces in transnational contexts.