School of Cultures, Languages and Area Studies

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Joanne Lim

Professor, Faculty of Arts

Contact

  • workRoom EA16 Block E
    Malaysia Campus
    Jalan Broga
    43500 Semenyih
    Selangor Darul Ehsan
    Malaysia
  • work+6 (03) 8924 8197
  • fax+6 (03) 8924 8020

Expertise Summary

Dr Joanne Lim is Professor in Communications, Media and Cultural Studies at the University of Nottingham in Malaysia. She is also Associate Dean of the Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences. Dr Lim holds a PhD in Media and Cultural Studies and an MA in Global Media from the University of East London, UK. She had been appointed Visiting Research Fellow with the National University of Singapore in 2013, and Visiting Senior Research Fellow with the London School of Economics (Saw Swee Hock Southeast Asia Centre) in 2021. Dr Lim teaches on all levels of the UG and PGT/R programmes in the areas of (Digital) Media and Society, Cultural Policy and the Creative Industries. Her research focuses on participatory governance, participatory media (including social media and mobile media), New Communication Technologies, interculturality, youth identities; and civic/political engagement within the Malaysian-Southeast Asian context. She is currently involved in a number of (multi-disciplinary) research projects, both as primary and co-investigator in the areas of mHealth app for Cancer (pertaining to plant-based diet); Jiwa Ibu (mHealth app for women in rural communities); Mental Health and Suicide Reporting; the Weaponising of Pop Culture on WhatsApp in Singapore & Malaysia; and Sentiment Analysis of Online Perception on Human Rights in the Palm Oil Industry. She is Associate Editor of Media Asia (Routledge) and Editorial Board Member of the Southeast Asian Social Science Review (IKMAS). Dr Lim is a former journalist with one of Malaysia's leading newspaper. She also worked as a Broadcast Journalist in Alberta, Canada and a Co-producer of a radio talk show (710KIRO) in Seattle, USA. At present, Dr Lim is currently working on a research monograph which explores new media and public participation in a democracy.

Teaching Summary

Dr Joanne Lim is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA), UK. She was awarded the University of Nottingham's Lord Dearing Award in 2022 and 2014 for excellence in Teaching & Learning, and… read more

Research Summary

Dr Joanne Lim is currently leading a 3-year multidisciplinary research project entitled mHealth App: Prevention and Management of Cancer via an AI-Integrated Mobile Application to Recommend… read more

Selected Publications

  • LIM, JBY, 2017. Engendering civil resistance: Social media and mob tactics in Malaysia International Journal of Cultural Studies. 20(3),
  • AINSLIE, M. J., LIPURA, S. D., & LIM, J., 2017. Understanding the Potential for a Hallyu “Backlash” in Southeast Asia: A Case Study of Consumers in Thailand, Malaysia and Philippines Kritika Kultura, (28), 63-91. 63-91
  • LIM, JBY, 2016. Accessing Spaces, Negotiating Boundaries: The struggle between cultural policies and creative practices in Malaysia. In: TIM OAKES and JUN WANG, eds., Making Cultural Cities in Asia: Policy, Mobility, Assemblage and Resistance Routledge. 149-162
  • LIM, JBY, 2015. Book Review: New Media and the Nation in Malaysia written by Susan Leong Asian Journal of Social Science. 43(1-2), 212-215

1. University Committee responsibilities:

a. Associate Dean of Admissions, Recruitment and Marketing (Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences)

b. Faculty Global Engagement Lead (UNM Global Engagement Committee)

c. UNM Performing Arts Council

d. International Committee Member (tri-campus)

d. Faculty Management Board member

2. Other services to the University:

Current:

a. Vice-Chancellor Award panel

b. Jan Atkins Prize Fund panel

c. Internal Quality Audit Review Committee

d. PSS/Academic Interview Panel

e. School Research Ethics Officer

f. Internal Review Committee (government research grant)

Previously served:

a. Faculty WLP lead (2019-2020) - Workload Planning Working Group

b. Head of School (2016-2020) - developed School's strategy in teaching, research, resource

allocation, community outreach, external engagement.

c. Deputy Head of School (2013-2015) - module mapping exercise; school audit processes

d. Deputy Director (Centre for the Study of Communications and Culture) 2013-2015 -

supported colleagues bid for grants; organised public seminar series

e. UNM Director, International Summer Schools (2013-2015) - designed and delivered a

much enhanced and extended programme which remains the current model

f. School Director of Internationalisation (2012-2015) - Discussions with UK and Ningbo on tri-campus staff mobility, shared modules, and assessment marking

g. UNM representative at the tri-campus Creative Industries Mission to China (2013)

h. Head of External Relations, Career Development and Alumni Relations, SMLC (2012-2015)

i. Chair, Faculty Internship Working Party (2012-2015) - develop and maintain FASS, internship webpage; SoPs; liaise with UK's Creative Student Network

j. Head of Undergraduate Programmes (2010-2011)

k. Head of Admissions and Recruitment (2010-2011)

l. Faculty/School Internship Coordinator (2013-2015)

m. Faculty Committee Member in T&L; Library Liaison and Web Champion (2010-2011)

Dr Joanne Lim is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA), UK. She was awarded the University of Nottingham's Lord Dearing Award in 2022 and 2014 for excellence in Teaching & Learning, and the Vice-Chancellor's Award in 2012. She teaches on all levels of the International Communications Studies programmes and the MA in Cultural Studies, specialising in the areas of Media and Cultural Studies, Postcolonialism, and the Creative Industries. She is a follower of Stuart Hall and finds areas of postmodernism and post-structuralism to be particularly significant in raising questions about the dialectical struggle between East and West, and the discourses of power and identity within and between nations and nation-states. She also engages with psychoanalytic theory and the work of such thinkers as Jacques Lacan, Homi Bhabha, Edward Said and Gayathri Spivak in examining issues concerning multiculturalism, national identity, religious fragmentation, racial tension, gender (in)equality, and the suppression of human rights. She is particularly interested in the study of Youth Cultures and Identities, and their use of alternative media forms to articulate and legitimate competing ideological agendas, especially within highly censored societies. Dr Lim also often employs the work of Henri Jenkins, Manual Castells, Deleuze and Guattari, and Raymond Williams in discussing topics pertaining to online culture and participation.

Among the modules she has taught include the following:

Foundation:

  • Media and Texts: Culture
  • Media and Texts: Society
  • Foundations in Politics, Media and Culture

Undergraduate:

  • Culture & Society
  • Political Communication, PR and Propaganda
  • Writing for the Media
  • Culture, Film and Media Dissertation
  • Researching Culture, Film and Media
  • Youth & Mobile Media
  • Translating Cultures

Postgraduate:

  • Digital Storytelling and Production (with CNN Academy)
  • Cultural Policy
  • Research Methods in Cultural Studies
  • Working in the Culture Industry

Dr Lim also supervises PhD students in the following areas:

  • Digital Media Interventions and Strategies for Participatory Governmental Reforms in Malaysia
  • Traditions in Modernity: Understanding Chinese Orchestra in Malaysia as a Cultural Ecosystem
  • Cultural Identity and the Practice of Cultural Norms via Social Media Platforms Amongst Chinese Students in Malaysia
  • Social Media Engagement/Government Policy
  • Sustaining Media Reforms: A Comparative Study of Burma and Indonesia in the Context of Democratisation
  • Impact of Mass Communication on Participatory Development in Rural Sarawak

Current Research

Dr Joanne Lim is currently leading a 3-year multidisciplinary research project entitled mHealth App: Prevention and Management of Cancer via an AI-Integrated Mobile Application to Recommend Plant-Based Diets (funded by the Ministry of Higher Education, under its (FRGS) Fundamental Research Grant Scheme). This project brings together researchers from diverse backgrounds including Social Sciences, Computer Science, Pharmacy and Biosciences.

In 2022, she was awarded the Digital Society Research Grant by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) for a study entitled, An Analysis of TV News Consumption Amongst Malaysians in Peninsular Malaysia.

She is collaborating with St Georges University of London, Universiti Malaya, Universiti Malaysia Sabah and Hanai Jiwa Ibu Sdn Bhd on a project called Jiwa Ibu: mHealth App Development for Women in Rural Communities to provide localised and tailored information on mental, women's, maternal and children's health.

She is co-investigator of another FRGS project on Stakeholder Perspectives on Safe Media Reporting for Suicide Prevention with researchers from the University of Nottingham Malaysia and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.

She was also involved as co-investigator in research projects namely: Decoding the Weaponising of Pop Culture on WhatsApp in Singapore & Malaysia (Integrity Foundational Research Awards by Facebook); and Predictive Analytics using Sentiment Analysis in Social Media: A Big Data Approach to Persuasive Communications in Social Media Intelligence of Palm Oil-based Products as part of an RM1.02mil project funded by the Ministry of Education on Improving Market Access of Palm Oil Exports.

Her current research also includes analysis of YouTube videos produced by Malaysians during the Covid-19 pandemic; exploring the culture/industry of eGaming in Malaysia (game design and manifestations in (re)building the ecosystem and (re)constructing a subculture); online dating platforms; discussing the Digital Rhizomorph: Understanding Online Youth Political Participation Post Malaysia's GE-14; and examining Intergenerational Differences of WhatsApp Usage Amongst Malaysians.

Dr Lim was also appointed Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Saw Swee Hock Southeast Asia Centre, London School of Economics & Political Science from May 2021, whereby she undertook research on participatory governance in developing smart and regenerative solutions (from a digital media perspective) for communities in Southeast Asia.

Past Research

Dr Lim successfully led three research projects funded by the Malaysian Department of Higher Education. The first project under the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme focused on 'Social Media and the Agency of Youth in Malaysia'. The study examined the politics of social media in Malaysia and the issues of youth as consumers, youth as representations and youth as creators, to offer an understanding of changing lives and frustrated desires, contradictions and dispersed sites of youth agency that are refracted into various degrees and forms. By comparing how young adults engage with social media based on their geographical location and social/political determinisms, it was possible to observe different forces contend to fix their own meanings and (alternative) definitions in the construction of national-and-self identity. The findings of this study was useful to consider social media as an essential tool in the project of social, cultural and political restructuring.

The second project, 'Youth Theatre: Fostering Interculturality through the Performing Arts in Malaysia' was conducted under Exploratory Research Grant Scheme. The project took the form of an "instrumental case study" that involved developing and implementing a carefully planned series of actions which will test the potential benefits of including intercultural theatre in the school programme as a way of supporting the personal development of young people and delivering on broader social and economic development goals. The project involved the development and introduction of a pilot programme of two years duration during which an intercultural drama project was conducted with a number of selected schools. The project turned one of the defining characteristics of Malaysian society - its diversity - into a competitive advantage for its young people, providing the ideal context in which to foster the development of high order thinking skills. (see https://www.thestar.com.my/News/Education/2015/03/01/Having-the-HOTS-for-theatre?style=biz)

The third research project she led was entitled Integrating New Communication Technology: A Study of Media Convergence in the Malaysian Democracy, whereby much of the findings were published widely in journal articles and book chapters.

Dr Lim was also the Country Lead Researcher on the International Development Research Centre (IDRC, Canada) PAN eGov Project involving six nations, entitled 'Youth, ICTs, and Political Engagements in Asia'. The project had set out to examine the role of ICT to mobilize and advocate (political) change among young Malaysians. The project culminated in a series of reports and a journal article on Videoblogging and Youth Activism in Malaysia, published in the International Communication Gazette.

She had also obtained a Korean Studies Grant to study The Politicization of Hallyu in Southeast Asia: Cultural Perceptions and Barriers to Consumption, which lead to the publication of an edited book: The Korean Wave in Southeast Asia: Consumption and Production (ISBN-13: 9789670630472) book chapters, journal articles and numerous media interviews on Hallyu and K-Pop culture in Malaysia.

Her past research also focused on the cultural politics of the reality TV phenomenon within a postcolonial context and published an article entitled 'Reinventing Nationalism' in Media, Consumption and Everyday Life in Asia.

Previous research also focused on the impact of ICT on Broadcast Journalism, comparing the adoption of ICT between news stations in Malaysia and the United States. This resulted in several published articles including a chapter in Research in Language, Literature and Communication.

Dr Lim was also appointed as Visiting Research Fellow with the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore (more specifically, the Cultural Studies Research Cluster led by Professor Chua Beng Huat). Her work in Singapore involved an extended research project on social media, comparing youth identities and cultural participation between young adults in Singapore and Malaysia (with further plans to explore youth cultures within the wider Asian region).

In 2019, she was invited to deliver a keynote speech at the Digital Transactions in Asia II Conference organised by Monash University Malaysia and the University of Queensland's Institute for the Advanced Study in the Humanities.

Future Research

Research concerned with discourses on digital media and society, which explores the politics and implications of the media within Asian transformations (identities, cultures and state politics) in this new era of technology and political/ social/ economic/ cultural reform. Future research areas include mobile media applications (and implications) alongside AI technology particularly in the area of Health and Lifestyle; Society 5.0; trans/interculturalism; social media and participatory culture.

  • LIM, JBY & TEOH, SF, 2022. The Digital Rhizomorph: Understanding Online Youth Political Participation Post Malaysia’s GE-14 SOJOURN: Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia. 37(2), 5
  • LIM, JBY, 2022. Choosing the Right Love: Online Dating Platforms and Gender Inequality in Southeast Asia. In: YOUNA KIM, ed., Media in Asia: Global, Digital, Gendered and Mobile Routledge. 378
  • NG, Y. P., PHEH, K. S., PANIRSELVAM, R. R., CHAN, W. L., LIM, J. B. Y., LIM, J. T. Y., LEONG, K. K., BARTLETT, S., TAY, K. W. and CHAN, L. F., 2021. Malaysian Stakeholder Perspectives on Suicide-Related Reporting: Findings From Focus Group Discussions Frontiers in Psychology. 12, 673287
  • LIM, JBY, 2017. Engendering civil resistance: Social media and mob tactics in Malaysia International Journal of Cultural Studies. 20(3),
  • AINSLIE, M. J., LIPURA, S. D., & LIM, J., 2017. Understanding the Potential for a Hallyu “Backlash” in Southeast Asia: A Case Study of Consumers in Thailand, Malaysia and Philippines Kritika Kultura, (28), 63-91. 63-91
  • LIM, JBY, 2016. Accessing Spaces, Negotiating Boundaries: The struggle between cultural policies and creative practices in Malaysia. In: TIM OAKES and JUN WANG, eds., Making Cultural Cities in Asia: Policy, Mobility, Assemblage and Resistance Routledge. 149-162
  • AINSLIE, MJ and LIM, JBY, eds., 2015. The Korean Wave in Southeast Asia: Consumption and Production KL: Strategic Information and Research Development.
  • LIM, JBY, 2015. Engaging Participation: Youth Culture and the Korean Wave in Malaysia. In: AINSLIE, MJ and LIM, JBY, eds., The Korean Wave in Southeast Asia: Consumption and Production KL: Strategic Information and Research Development. 115-176
  • LIM, JBY, 2015. Book Review: New Media and the Nation in Malaysia written by Susan Leong Asian Journal of Social Science. 43(1-2), 212-215
  • LIM, J.B.Y., 2014. Mobile Media and Youth Engagement in Malaysia. In: XIAOGE XU, ed., Interdisciplinary Mobile Media and Communications: Social, Political, and Economic Implications IGI Global.
  • LIM, J.B.Y., 2014. East Asian Trends: Negotiating youth identities, culture and citizenship in Malaysia Situations:: Cultural Studies in the East Asian Context. 7(No.1, Winter 2013/14), 21-42
  • LIM, J.B.Y., 2013. Rhizomatic behaviours in social media: V-logging and the independent film industry in Malaysia International Journal of Cultural Studies.
  • LIM, J.B.Y., 2013. Videoblogging and Youth Activism in Malaysia International Communication Gazette. 75(3), 300-321
  • LIM, J., 2012. Social Media and Youth Activism in Malaysia. In: MALAYSIAN SOCIAL SCIENCES ASSOCIATION, ed., Proceedings: 8th Malaysian Studies Conference (MSC8): Transition and Transformation: State, Market and Culture in a Period of Rapid Change Malaysian Social Science Association, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi.
  • ZHANG, W. & LIM, J., 2012. Social media and general elections in authoritarian democracies: The cases of Malaysia and Singapore. In: 62nd Annual Conference of the International Communication Association, Phoenix, USA..
  • LIM, J.B.Y., 2012. Videoblogging and youth activism in Malaysia In: International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) Conference, South-North Conversations, University of KwaZulu Natal, Durban, South Africa.
  • LIM, J.B.Y., 2012. Censored Cultures: Social Media and Youth Identities in Malaysia In: Situations: Cultural Studies in the Asian Context International Conference, “Is ‘Trans-Asia’ Possible?: Re-Imagining Asia as a Cultural Crossroads”, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea.
  • LIM, J., 2010. Confronting Democracy: ICT and political youth activism in Malaysia In: Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC) conference, Singapore, 21-23 June 2010..
  • LIM, J., 2008. Reinventing Nationalism: The Politics of Malaysian Idol. In: KIM, Y., ed., Media Consumption and London and New York: Routledge.
  • LIM, J., 2007. Big Brother, Beyond Britain Darkmatter: In the Ruins of Imperial Culture.. Available at: <http://www.darkmatter101.org/site/2007/05/07/big-brother-beyond-britain/>
  • LIM, J., 2007. Reality-sing Fantasy: Cultural Implications of Malaysian Idol in Postcolonial Malaysia In: Inter-Asia Cultural Studies Conference: Conditions of Knowledge and Cultural Production, Inter-Asia Cultural Studies Society, Shanghai, China. 15-17 June 2007..
  • LIM, J., 2007. The Fantasized Real: Cultural Implications of Malaysian Idol in Postcolonial Malaysia In: Cultural Studies Now Conference, University of East London, UK. 19-22 July 2007..
  • LIM, J. AND HASAN, H., 2007. Adoption of Digital News Broadcasting: A Case of Malaysian TV Stations. In: ROSLI TALIF, CHAN SWEE HENG, AIN NADZIMAH ABDULLAH, WASHIMA CHE DAN, MOHD ZARIAT ABDUL RANI, NARIMAH ISMAIL & AHMAD YUSOFF BUYONG, ed., Research in Language, Literature and Communication 1. UPM Press: Serdang.
  • LIM, J. AND HASAN, H., 2006. Impact of ICT on Broadcast Journalism: A Comparative Study between US and Malaysia. In: AWANG SARIYAN ET AL., ed., Ujana Minda Jilid 2. Kumpulan Esei Bahasa Sastera dan Komunikasi Petaling Jaya: Sasbadi Sdn. Bhd.
  • LIM, J., 2006. Fantasizing the Real: A Study of the ‘Politics’ and Cultural Implications of Reality Television in Postcolonial Malaysia In: University of East London Postgraduate Seminar, University of East London, UK. 2006.
  • LIM, J., 2005. Adoption of Digital News Reporting: A study of two countries In: 4th Malaysian International Conference on Languages, Literatures, and Cultures (MICOLLAC 2005), English Department, Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, Putra University Malaysia. 23 – 25 April 2005..
  • LIM, J. AND HASAN, H., 2003. Adoption of Digital News Broadcasting: A Case of Malaysian TV Stations In: The third UKM-UC International Conference, Canberra, Australia. 14 – 15 April 2003..
  • LIM, J. AND HASAN, H., 2002. Impact of ICT on Broadcast Journalism --- The Digital News Revolution In: Seminar Kebangsaan Komunikasi, Pengurusan Komunikasi Wahana Pembangunan Negara Abad ke 21., anjuran Sekolah Pembangunan Sosial, Utara University Malaysia. 23–24 Jan 2002..
  • LIM, J. AND HASAN, H., 2002. Impact of ICT on Broadcast Journalism: A Comparative Study between U.S. and Malaysia In: Seminar ICT 2002 – ICT pemangkin pembangunan dan wawasan negara anjuran Bahagian Pendidikan Guru Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia dan Sekolah Teknologi Maklumat, UUM, 9 – 10 Okt. 2002..

School of Cultures, Languages and Area Studies

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