PhD in Art Studies, Tenured Professor

Doctoral Supervisor and Master’s Supervisor

Co-Editor-in-Chief, Phoenix Library · Design Theory Research Series & Design and the Times · Translation Series

Co-Editor, The Design Journal

Direct of Academic Strategy Development

Brief Introduction

Li Zhang is a design theorist whose work conceptualizes design as a normative, world-making practice under contemporary techno-social conditions. Her research integrates design philosophy, AI ethics, and the production of design knowledge, advancing a theoretical agenda rooted in Chinese social realities while actively engaging with global scholarly debates. Her work is structured around two interrelated fields: design-driven AI ethics, which examines how design mediates ethical questions in technologically mediated societies, and contemporary Chinese design theory, which investigates how design theory is generated and acquires interpretive force within specific social and cultural contexts.

She currently serves as Co-Editor of The Design Journal and as Co-Editor-in-Chief of two major design theory book series, playing an active role in shaping international discussions on design ethics and speculative design. Her scholarship has appeared in leading Chinese- and English-language journals, and she has authored and translated influential books on speculative, critical, adversarial, and discursive design. She earned her PhD through a joint doctoral program between Tsinghua University and the University of California, Berkeley, and remains actively engaged in international design research networks through editorial, curatorial, and academic leadership roles.

Research

Design History and Theory

Design Ethics

Design Philosophy

Teaching

Undergraduate：Professional Design V；Graduation Design (Capstone Project)

Graduate：Academic Writing；AI and Humanities–Arts Practice

Academic and social Post

Co-Chief-Editor, Phoenix Library · Design Theory Research and Design and the Times (Jiangsu Phoenix Fine Arts Publishing House)

Co-Editor, The Design Journal

Editorial Board Member, She Ji: The Journal of Design, Economics, and Innovation; Design for Augmented Humanity

Expert Member, Design Studies Subcommittee, Art Studies Panel, Chinese Humanities and Social Sciences Journal Evaluation Expert Committee

Committee Member, Cultural Heritage Protection Committee, China Association for the Promotion of Cultural Industry

Council Member, Living Styles Design Committee, Society for Visual Anthropology

Expert Committee Member, Industrial · Engineering · Design

Education Background

2010.09-2011.06  University of California, Berkeley，Joint Ph.D. Program and Visiting Graduate Student

2010.01-2010.06  Hong Kong Baptist University，Full-time Scholarship Visiting Graduate Student

2008.09-2012.07  Tsinghua University Academy of Arts & Design，Doctor of Arts Theory

2005.09-2008.06  Wuhan University of Technology School of Art and Design，Master of Arts

2001.09-2005.07  Jianghan Univeristy School of Mechanical and electrical Engineering，Bachelor of Engineering

Work Experience

2024.11-present  Tenured Professor，PhD Supervisor，College of Design and Innovation，Tongji University

2020.03-2024.11  Associate Professor，Professor，PhD Supervisor，Deputy Dean，School of Art and Design，Guangdong University of Technology

2012.07-2020.03  Lecturer，Associate Professor，Master’s Supervisor，School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering，Beijing Information Science and Technology University

2017.09-2017.12  Visiting Scholar，University College Cork, Ireland

Research Projects

[1] 2025-2030  National Social Science Fund of China Artistic Major Program:
Research on an Autonomous Knowledge System of Chinese Art and Design Studies

Sub-project 3: The Chinese Turn in Design Theory (Project Leader)

[2] 2023-2026  National Social Science Fund of China Artistic General Program: Research on Contemporary Design Ethics Practices and Methods (Project Leader)

[3] 2022-2023  China National Arts Fund Youth Art Creation Talent Program (Literary Review): Criticism of Design Ethics in the Era of Artificial Intelligence (Project Leader)

[4] 2018-2021  National Social Science Fund of China Artistic General Program: Research on the New Trend of Design from the Perspective of Philosophy of Technology (Project Leader)

Publications

Books:

[1] Monographs： Alternative Imagination: Speculative Design. Shanghai Sanlian Publishing House. , 2025. ISBN: 9787542688880

[2] Monographs：Everyday Life and Nationalism: A Brief Cultural History of Design in Republican China. Jiangsu Phoenix Fine Arts Publishing House., 2016. ISBN: 9787534494222

[3] Monographs：Gendered Design Criticism: Space, Objects, and Fashion. Jiangsu Phoenix Fine Arts Publishing House., 2016. ISBN: 9787558002885

[4] Sole Translation：Discursive Design: Critique, Speculation, and Alternative Objects. Jiangsu Phoenix Fine Arts Publishing House, 2024.ISBN: 9787574117785

[5] Sole Translation：Critical Design and Its Contexts: History, Theory, and Methods. Jiangsu Phoenix Fine Arts Publishing House, 2019.ISBN: 9787558063046

[6] Sole Translation： The Idea of Design: A Design Issues Reader. Jiangsu Phoenix Fine Arts Publishing House.2018.ISBN: 9787558032486

[7] Sole Translation：Speculative Everything: Design, Fiction, and Social Dreaming. Jiangsu Phoenix Fine Arts Publishing House, 2017.ISBN: 9787558032523

[8] Sole Translation：Adversarial Design. Jiangsu Phoenix Fine Arts Publishing House, 2016.ISBN: 9787558005619

[9] Sole Translation：Design History: Understanding Theory and Method. Jiangsu Phoenix Fine Arts Publishing House.2016.ISBN: 9787558003165

[10] Sole Translation：Design Classic: the Latest International Design. China Architecture & Building Press.2009.ISBN: 9787112101870

[11] Co-translation：Design and the Question of History.Jiangsu Phoenix Fine Arts Publishing House.2020.ISBN: 9787558064906

[12] Co-translation：Design and the Creation of Value. Jiangsu Phoenix Fine Arts Publishing House.2019.ISBN: 9787558053023

[13] Co-translation：Design by IKEA. A Cultural History. Jiangsu Phoenix Fine Arts Publishing House.2017.ISBN: 9787558032516

[14] Co-translation：Modern Interior Design. Chongqing University Press.2017.ISBN: 9787562497424

Textbook:

[1] Zhang, L. (2014). Preliminary Product Design. Tsinghua University Press. 

Journal Papers:

[1] Zhang, L.; Tian, H. (2025). From Natural Biomimicry to Ethical Symbiosis: A Typology of Third-Generation Biomaterials Design.Art Panorama, No. 5, 138–144. (in Chinese)

[2] Zhang, L.; Zhang, B. (2025). How Ambiguity Functions as an Ethical Strategy in Design Narratives. Journal of Nanjing University of the Arts (Fine Arts & Design Edition), Vol. 3, 51–59. (CSSCI; in Chinese)

[3] Zhang, L. (2024). Caring for Intelligent Artifacts: Otherness-Centered Design Ethics in the Nonhuman Turn. Forum for World Literature Studies (Special Issue), Vol. 16, No. 5, 834–848.

[4] Zhang, L. (2024). “I Am in the World, and Thus at Home”: A Design Reflection on “What It Means to Be at Home”. Art & Design, No. 300 (Dec.), 72–83. (in Chinese)

[5] Zhang, L. (2024). Celebrating Our Existence in an Age of Multiplicity. Art & Design, No. 299 (Nov.), 100–103. (in Chinese)

[6] Zhang, L., Liu, Y. and Wu, YT. (2024), What if Walter Gropius were a Woman: Alternative Design History Teaching Experiment. International Journal of Art & Design Education. https://doi.org/10.1111/jade.12496 （AHCI）

[7] Zhang, L. (2023). Contemporary Design Culture in the New Materialist Turn. Zhuangshi (Decoration), No. 10, 20–25. (CSSCI; in Chinese)

[8] Zhang, L, The Ethical Turn of Emerging Design Practices, She Ji: The Journal of Design, Economics, and Innovation, Volume 9, Issue 3, 2023: 311-329, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sheji.2023.09.002.(CAS Social Sciences, Q2)

[9] Zhang, L.; Liu, Y. (2023). How to Imagine the Past Otherwise: A Speculative Experiment in Probabilistic Design History Pedagogy. Journal of Nanjing University of the Arts (Fine Arts & Design Edition), No. 2, 17–21. (CSSCI; in Chinese) Reprinted in Renmin University Reprints: Plastic Arts, No. 1 (2024), 26–31.

[10] Wang, X.; Zhang, L.* (2022). Why Is Design Black? Narrative Media and Value Fiction.Art & Design Research, No. 5, 66–72. (CSSCI; in Chinese)*Corresponding Author.

[11] Zhang, L. (2022). Imaginary Ethics: The Morality of Fictional Aesthetics in Speculative Design. The Design Journal, 25, 317–333. https://doi.org/10.1080/14606925.2022.2058442（AHCI）

[12] Zhang, L.; Liu, Y. (2021). On the Fourth Turn of Emerging Design Practices: Speculation as Ethics. Tsinghua Journal of Art Studies (Taiwan), No. 3, 113–128. (in Chinese)

[13] Zhang, L.; Zheng, J. (2021). Paradigms and Methods of Feminist Design History. Industrial · Engineering · Design, No. 5, 15–22. (in Chinese)

[14] Zhang, L. (2021). How Discourse Designs: Alternative Objects and the Ethics of Communication. Art & Design Research, No. 5, 64–70. (CSSCI; in Chinese)

[15] Zhang, L. (2021). How Design Makes the World Historical: On the Disciplinary Significance of A World History of Design. Zhuangshi (Decoration), No. 4, 90–94. (CSSCI; in Chinese)

[16] Zhang, L. (2021). The Ethics of Imagination and Action: Design Speculation for Emerging Technologies. Journal of Nanjing University of the Arts (Fine Arts & Design Edition), No. 2, 84–89. (CSSCI; in Chinese)

[17]  Zhang, L. (2021). Design Ideals and Ethics in the Anthropocene: Nonhuman-Centered and Object-Oriented Design. Zhuangshi (Decoration), No. 1, 27–31. (CSSCI; in Chinese)
Winner of the First Prize, Outstanding Paper Award for Young Scholars in Material Culture and Design Studies (2022).

[18] Zhang, L. (2020). Mediating through Objects: The Ethical Potential of Speculative and Critical Design from the “Object Turn” in Philosophy of Technology. Art & Design Research, No. 1, 59–65. (CSSCI; in Chinese) Winner of the Second Prize, 10th Guangdong Provincial Outstanding Achievement Award in Philosophy and Social Sciences (2024).

Conference Papers:

[1] Zhang, Li. Emergent Design Cultures in the New Materialist Turn. Proceedings of the ICDHS 14th International Conference on Design History and Design Studies, 2025. 10 【distinguished paper awards】

[2] Zhang, Li； BY Zhang， YJ Liu； An Alternative Design Ethics of Otherness-Centered: Caring for Intelligent Artifacts, Proceeding of DRS2024, https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2024.409 

[3] Liu, Yujia, Zhang, Li*; Healing Rooted in Love： Discursive Design Healing with Intellectual Reflection as the Core. Proceedings of Cumulus 2023 Beijing. *Corresponding Author.

[4] Zhang, Meng, Zhang, Li*; Design and Grief: the loss and connection of love. Proceedings of Cumulus 2023 Beijing.*Corresponding Author.

[5] Tian, Haorui,  Zhang, Li*; Zhang, Meng. From Imitating Nature to Transforming Nature: A New Typology of Biodesign. Proceedings of Cumulus 2023 Beijing. *Corresponding Author.

[6] Gao, Tanhao; Liu, Yujia; Zhu, Lingyu; Zhou, Hongtao; Zhang, Li*. Yearning for Revival: Using Healing as the Linking Strategy to Recreate Emotionally Resilient Communities. Proceedings of IASDR 2023.*Corresponding Author.

[7] Tian, Haorui,  Zhang, Li*; Zhang, Meng. Artificial Nature: Possibilities for Mycelial Composite Material. Proceedings of Cumulus 2023.*Corresponding Author.

[8] Chen, Jinchen, Zhang, Li*. Feminist Value Sensitive Design of Self-tracking Technology Based on Female Body Data. Proceedings of Cumulus 2023.*Corresponding Author.

[9] Zhang,Li,  Zhang, Meng and Tian, Haorui. Biological Interaction and Bioethics of ‘Death to Living’, Proceedings of Chinese CHI 2022. （EI会议） https://doi.org/10.1145/3565698.3565792 

[10] Zheng, J., Zhang, Li*. “On the Possibility of Object-Oriented Speculative Design: A Genderless AI Speaker Based on Anti-correlation Thinking”. In: Rau, PL.P. (eds) Cross-Cultural Design. Interaction Design Across Cultures. HCII 2022. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 13311. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-06038-0_10 *Corresponding Author.

[11] Liu, Y., Zhang, Li*.“How Discursive Design Therapy is Possible: Theory and Strategy”. In: Rau, PL.P. (eds) Cross-Cultural Design. Interaction Design Across Cultures. HCII 2022. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 13311. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-06038-0_37 *Corresponding Author.

[12] Li Zhang, The Significance of Fiction: The Aesthetic Politics of Speculative Design, Lessons to Learn? Past Design Experiences and Contemporary Design Practices, Proceedings of the ICDHS 12th International Conference on Design History and Design Studies, Fedja Vukić, Iva Kostešić eds. Zagreb 2020, p.419-29.

Honors and Awards

Individual Awards:

[1] 2024  Second Prize, 10th Guangdong Provincial Outstanding Achievement Award in Philosophy and Social Sciences (Sole Recipient)

[2] 2023  Grand Prize, 3rd National Teaching Innovation Competition for University Faculty(Guangdong University of Technology)

[3] 2022  First Prize, Outstanding Paper Award for Young Scholars 1st Material Culture and Design Studies Conference (Sole Recipient)

[4] 2022  (National Competition) First Prize, 5th National Digital Creative Teaching Skills Competition (Product Design Category)(Sole Recipient)

[5] 2022  Grand Prize, 2nd National Teaching Innovation Competition for University Faculty (Guangdong University of Technology)(First-Ranked Recipient)

[6] 2021  Top Ten Outstanding Young Designers of Guangdong Province, Guanghua Longteng Award

[7] 2021  Top 100 Young Chinese Designers,17th China Design Young Professionals List

Awards for Students under Guidance:

[1] 2023  (National Competition) Second Prize, First China Graduate Beautiful China Innovation Design Competition

[2] 2023  iF Design New Talent Award and iF Student Design Award (2 awards) Supervising Faculty

[3] 2022  Bronze Award, IDEA Awards (Industrial Designers Society of America, IDSA)

[4] 2022  Top 30 Concept Award, China Design Intelligence Award (DIA)

[5] 2022  Outstanding Supervising Faculty Award, 10th Future Designer National College Digital Art & Design Competition (Guangdong Regional Competition)

[6] 2023  (National Competition) First Prize, National Finals of Milan Design Week China College Design Exhibition (Supervising Faculty)

[7] 2022  (National Competition) First Prize, China Good Design & National Digital Art and Design Competition (Product Design Category)

[8] 2021  Gold Award, Global Chinese Design Awards (Supervising Faculty)

[9] 2021  Best Concept Design Award, Golden Pin Design Award (Supervising Faculty)

[10] 2021  Merit Award (Product Design), Taiwan International Student Creative Design Competition (Supervising Faculty)

Contact

Email: liz116@tongji.edu.cn 、3917773@qq.com