Wuyan Yao

Room 7.46, Run Run Shaw Tower, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

yao_wuyan@connect.hku.hk | +852 6586 4025

RESEARCH FOCUS

Digital humanities, digital cultural heritage, and heritage tourism

EDUCATION

09/2020–09/2026 — University of Hong Kong (HKU); Hong Kong SAR, China

  • Ph.D. in Digital Humanities
  • Thesis: Digital Solutions for Archaeological Tourism in Rural Contexts: Insights from the Vedi River Valley, Armenia as a Case Study

08/2018–05/2020 — University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-Chapel Hill); Chapel Hill, NC, USA

  • Master of Science in Library Science (MSLS)
  • Thesis: Digital Humanities Pedagogy in Academic Libraries in the Research Triangle

08/2014–07/2018 — Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU); Guangzhou, China

  • BA in Library Science, GPA: 3.6/4.0

PUBLICATIONS

Peer-Reviewed Journal Publications

  1. Yao, W., & Xiao, P. (2022). What contributes to a qualified digital humanities librarian and ideal digital humanities pedagogy? An exploratory qualitative study. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 48(6), 102524. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2022.102524 (SSCI, JCR Q2)

  2. Whitaker, C. C., Avagyan, A., Cobb, P. J., Hovakimyan, G., Homar, K., & Yao, W. (2025). From the field to the museum: engaging young Armenians in the complete life-cycle of archaeological artifacts. Journal of Community Archaeology & Heritage, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/20518196.2025.2518616 (Scopus Indexed)

Conference Paper

  1. Wang, P., & Yao, W. (2021). Bibliometric and visualized analysis of publications on video-based teacher professional development programmes based on Scopus and VOSviewer. In S.C. Kong, Q. Wang, R. Huang, Y. Li, & T. C. Hsu (Eds.), Conference Proceedings (English Paper) of the 25th Global Chinese Conference on Computers in Education (GCCCE 2021) (pp. 94-102). Centre for Learning, Teaching and Technology, The Education University of Hong Kong.

Manuscript under Review

  1. Yao, W., & Cobb, P. (Major Revision). A review of application areas, deployment technologies, and evaluation approaches for augmented reality (AR) in archaeological tourism. Heritage. (ESCI Indexed)

Manuscripts in Preparation

  1. Yao, W., Xu, M., & Xiao, P. It takes a village to raise a digital memory: engaging local communities in digital heritage construction in traditional Chinese villages.

  2. Yao, W., & Cobb, P. Exploring archaeological tourism potential and community-led development patterns in Armenia's Vedi River Valley.

PRESENTATIONS

Conference Presentation

  1. Yao, W. (2025). The Interactive Digital Presentation of the Humanities: Our Experiments with Augmented-Reality (AR) for Archaeological Tourism [Oral presentation]. Hong Kong Digital Humanities Association (HKADH) Conference 2025, Hong Kong.

Guest Lectures

  1. XR Technologies and Archaeological Education, eXtended Reality (XR) in the Humanities (Course), Faculty of Arts, University of Hong Kong, two guest lectures, 2025–2026.

  2. Digital Archaeology is Public Archaeology, Dead People's Things: Excavating the Past with Archaeology (Common Core Course), University of Hong Kong, March 2026.

  3. Extended Reality in Archaeology workshop, University Library, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, October 2025.

RESEARCH GRANT

05/2025–Present — Principal Investigator Transforming Archaeological Tourism Experiences with AR and AI: A Mobile Guide for the Vedi River Valley in Armenia, HKU

  • Successfully secured Arts Technology Lab Seed Funding (HKD 50,000).
  • Led the design and development of an AR and AI-based mobile guide system to enhance archaeological tourism experiences.
  • Oversaw project planning and execution, integrating field research findings to optimize the system.

RESEARCH EXPERIENCES

08/2024–Present — Project Leader Digital Cultural Heritage of Traditional Chinese Villages from a Critical Heritage Theory Perspective, School of Information Management, SYSU

  • Led a 4-member research team to conduct remote interviews with 12 residents across 11 traditional villages in 4 provinces; preparing manuscripts.

05/2022–Present — Research Group Member Ararat Plain Southeast Archaeological Project (APSAP), Faculty of Arts, HKU

  • Led a 4-person field team to conduct tourism potential and digital heritage outreach research in Armenia, engaging 45 local stakeholders and community members.
  • Designed a mobile application with augmented reality (AR) navigation and reconstruction to improve visitor experience in Armenia's Vedi River Valley.
  • Collaborated on the development and implementation of the educational program From the Field to the Museum in Armenia, supported the integration of VR/AR tools into community archaeological outreach and assisted in collecting student evaluation data.
  • Participated in archaeological excavation and documentation at the Vedi Fortress site in Armenia.
  • Led the early-phase development and optimization of the Vedi Fortress VR tour, assisted in organizing and implementing public outreach activities in Hong Kong (parks, on-campus museum), and hosted promotional booths at university events and InnoCarnival 2025 (Hong Kong Science Park).

06/2019–08/2019 — Research Group Member Applying Design Thinking in Public Library Makerspaces: A Case Study of Guangzhou Library, Guangzhou Library, China

  • Collected cases and drafted research reports; analyzed design thinking applications to inform public cultural space innovation.

06/2017–06/2019 — Research Group Member Series research on Rules and Regulations of Public Library Annual Reports: Focusing on Constructing Standard and Policy, School of Information Management, SYSU

  • Conducted policy analysis and literature review; completed a paper titled A Literature Review on Rules and Regulations of Public Cultural Institution Annual Reports.
  • Contributed to Research Report on the Annual Report System for Public Cultural Institutions and the Guidelines for Compiling Annual Reports of Public Libraries (Draft).

TEACHING EXPERIENCES

06/2023–07/2025 — Field Trip Leader Archaeology and digital humanities in the field (HKU Summer Course, Faculty of Arts), Armenia

  • Led HKU undergraduate students on course-integrated field trips in Armenia, serving as a guide and teaching local cultural context.

06/2022–07/2025 — Workshop Facilitator From the Field to the Museum Program, APSAP, Armenia

  • Developed teaching materials, planned archaeological workshops, and led AR sessions for local children in Armenia.

05/2023 — Workshop Instructor Visitor Program, Faculty of Arts, HKU

  • Organized and led archaeological workshops for mainland Chinese secondary students, covering fieldwork methods, VR tours, and hands-on activities.

09/2022–12/2022 — Teaching Assistant Dead People's Things: Excavating the Past with Archaeology (Common Core Course for undergraduate students), HKU

  • Led 2 independent tutorials, facilitated discussions, assessed student work, and provided detailed feedback.
  • Received positive feedback from students (evaluation score: 94.6/100).

09/2021–04/2022 — Teaching Assistant Educational Inquiry (for undergraduate students from Faculty of Education), HKU

  • Assisted in designing inquiry-based learning activities and proposed evidence-based teaching improvement.

PROFESSIONAL & PRACTICAL EXPERIENCES

12/2021–12/2022 — Remote English Editor Journal of Library Work in Colleges and Universities; Hunan University, China

  • Proofread and edited English abstracts to ensure academic accuracy and international readability.

01/2020–05/2020 — Cataloger Resource Description & Management Department, Davis Library, UNC-Chapel Hill

  • Cataloged English and East Asian language resources, optimizing collection organization and retrieval efficiency.

05/2019–08/2019 — Intern Subject Services Department, Guangzhou Library

  • Organized public cultural outreach activities and provided professional research and information consultation services.

02/2019–04/2019 — Digital Track Competitor Cross-campus Makeathon, UNC-Chapel Hill

  • Collaborated in designing and prototyping the mobile application Design Thinker, including requirement analysis, functional design, and testing.

AWARDS & ACHIEVEMENTS

  • Postgraduate Scholarship, HKU (2020–2024) Competitive scholarship awarded to full-time postgraduate students with strong academic performance.

  • Philip K H Wong Foundation Postgraduate Fellowship, HKU (2020–2021) Competitive fellowship recognizing outstanding academic records.

  • Bibliotheca Library Science Scholarship, SYSU (2017–2018) Awarded for academic excellence and future potential in library and information science.

ACADEMIC SERVICE

  • Peer reviewer, Digital Transformation and Society.

SKILLS

Computer Skills — Proficient in using Tableau (data visualization), Rhino (digital modeling), and MaxQDA (qualitative analysis); have a basic grasp of SQL, C, and Python programming.

Language Skills — Mandarin (native), Cantonese (proficient), English (proficient), Spanish (conversational), Russian (beginner), Korean (beginner), Armenian (beginner).