Thomas Zheng

Thomas Zheng is a PhD candidate and researcher investigating best practice and policy for contested heritage and public monuments in postcoloniality. Case studies in this project span Bristol, Singapore, and Hong Kong. His research is funded by the University of Exeter HASS Faculty Global Studentship (2024-7). 

A significant chapter of his research analyses legal and constitutional implications of AG Reference No. 1 of 2022, in which the Court of Appeal clarified limitations of ECHR rights as defence for criminal damage in protest-related cases, following the acquittal in R v Graham and Others (the “Colston 4” trial).

Zheng is one of two recipients at the University of Exeter of the Company of Arts Research Scholar Award (2024-5). 

Zheng holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Warwick (UK), where he read Art History, with Honours. He then went on to graduate from UCL, University College London (UK), with a Master of Arts in Archaeology, in which he was awarded a Distinction. Zheng completed the University of Tübingen (Germany) Virtual Intercultural Programme in International and European Studies with a 1,0, ranked joint 1st in his graduating cohort. He has been invited to continue his studies with a full scholarship, making him the first awardee of such a scholarship from the university.

Before joining the University of Exeter, Zheng was one of ten members of the Bristol Culture and Creative Industries "Young Collective" advisory board, commissioned by the Bristol City Council local government authority to consult on policy and underrepresented visitor demographics in Bristol museums. He has worked with several major cultural institutions across the UK, including in London, Coventry, and Bristol.

Zheng is LTHE 1 & 2 certified for postgraduate teaching associate positions. He speaks fluent English and Cantonese, and intermediate Mandarin (HSK3).

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