Yidan Zhang

Community Bursary Award Holder

DPhil Archaeology (2020)

I am very grateful to David Scrymgeour and Career Essentials Inc. for supporting the St Cross Community Bursary. Receiving this award means a great deal to me, and I am truly thankful that my work in cultural engagement and community-building has been recognised in this way. 

As a DPhil student in Archaeology at Oxford, I care deeply about using culture, education, and public engagement to bring people together. I have also been greatly encouraged by the diverse and international community at St Cross, which has strengthened my commitment to creating spaces for intercultural dialogue and mutual understanding. 

At Oxford, I have been a core committee member of the PhoenOx Chinese Dance Society (Oxford’s first Chinese dance society) for the past five years, helping to support its organisation, visibility, and public activities, including performances at Oxford’s Chinese New Year Gala and other community events. 

I have also held leadership roles in the Oxford Chinese Students and Scholars Association and helped support academic and cultural exchange through the Oxford Sino-British Academic Exchange Society. Beyond Oxford, I am a co-founder of Starry Night, a long-running non-profit initiative dedicated to sharing and preserving diverse ethnic cultural heritage through educational and public programmes. As part of this work, we have organised cultural activities in Oxford and contributed video greetings from representatives of China’s 56 ethnic groups to Oxford and wider UK Chinese New Year celebrations. Together, these experiences, alongside my museum volunteering and public education work, reflect my commitment to using culture as a bridge between communities and to fostering greater understanding across different social and cultural backgrounds.  

This bursary will help me continue that work in and around Oxford by supporting further cultural communication, intercultural exchange, and stronger connections across communities.