Tian joined DMU as a Lecturer in Criminology in 2019, after completing her dual PhD in Cultural and Global Criminology at the University of Kent and Utrecht University.
Her research focuses on migration and race, punishment and resistance. Across these areas, she is particularly interested in how systems of control, exclusion, and inequality are produced, justified, experienced, and resisted across different historical and social contexts.
Her monograph, Contesting Crimmigration in Post-Hukou China, examines crimmigration trend and process regarding the internal migration in contemporary China. It was awarded the Asian Criminological Society’s Distinguished Book Prize in 2023.
Tian is also engaged in decolonising knowledge initiatives at DMU and across other UK academic institutions. Her work seeks to produce situated and indigenous forms of knowledge that challenge dominant narratives and contribute to new global frameworks for criminological studies. She is the principal investigator of a British Academy-funded project on prison histories in late Qing China, which explores resistance and creativity within prison reforms often depicted as externally imposed by the West.
Tian has also been actively involved in supporting and advocating for East and Southeast Asian communities in the UK and the Netherlands. She has shared her expertise, contributing to national and international media discussions, including appearances on Sky News and EuroNews, and in publications such as The Guardian and The Straits Times. Her recent project explores how diverse grassroots efforts can help us understand, challenge, and meaningfully respond to racism against East and Southeast Asian communities in the UK and the Netherlands.
Tian is happy to supervise PhD students in her areas of interest.