LU scholar & alumni win Sociological Association Best Thesis Awards

Dr Ruby Lai Yuen-shan, Research Assistant Professor of Department of Sociology and Social Policy and Mr Gary Yip Yui-fung, MPhil graduate, Lingnan University (LU) have been awarded the PhD and MPhil levels respectively of the 2019 Best Thesis Award from the Hong Kong Sociological Association.

 

Dr Ruby Lai’s winning thesis “Premarital Abortion: Reproductive Politics in Post-Socialist China” discusses reproductive experiences in the unmarried population in China, focusing on premarital abortion in relation to the family, the state, and the market.

 

Mr Gary Yip’s winning thesis, entitled “The Dynamics of Online Shaming: A Sociological Study of Hong Kong’s Virtual World”, examines online shaming by netizens in Hong Kong, arguing that this is a multi-dimensional interactive practice. This challenges the general understanding which tends to classify it simplistically as one of the many forms of online humiliation.

 

Only one of these coveted annual awards is given to the best theses at MPhil and PhD levels submitted by all higher institutions in Hong Kong.