About
I am a multi award-winning educator and researcher at the Waikato Management School. My primary research develops new theory on organising in 'methodologically illegible' contexts, informed by extended ethnographic fieldwork in China's underground music scenes.
My secondary research stream is dedicated to the scholarship of teaching and learning — particularly resilient course design models that integrate AI at scale and promote equity within the student body.
Critical Leadership Studies
Methodological Illegibility
Organisational Ethnography
Power & Resistance
AI in Higher Education
Scholarship of Teaching & Learning
China Studies
Publications
Journal Articles
Paradoxical Leadership: A Dialog between Voice and Silence in Chinese Underground Music Scenes
Ryan, A.
Under Review
From Practice to Inquiry: Discovering a Dual AI Ecosystem through AI-Agnostic Pedagogy
Ryan, A. & Nourani, P.
Under Review
Embodied Interdisciplinary Ethnography: A Framework for Researching Organisation in Fluid, Unconventional Fields
Ryan, A.
Under Review
Theorizing in the Dark: Methodological Illegibility and the Organisational Other
Ryan, A.
In Progress
Process over Product: A Scaffolded Assessment Architecture for Building Management Competencies in Large Classes
Ryan, A.
In Progress
Book Chapters
Researching the Illegible: Ethnography from the Chinese Underground
Ryan, A. · In Handbook of Qualitative Leadership Research Methods: Beyond the Trodden Paths. DeGruyter.
Forthcoming 2026
The Art of Creative Brokering: Leadership in the Chinese Punk Scene
Ryan, A. (2024) · In D. Knights, H. Liu, O. Smolovic-Jones & S. Wilson (Eds.), The Routledge Critical Companion to Leadership Studies (pp. 200–211). Routledge.
Hyper-Blended Learning in China during Covid-19
Ryan, A. (2024) · In T. Bowell et al. (Eds.), Revitalising Higher Education. Cardiff University Press.
Conference Presentations
Beyond ChatGPT: Alternative AI Ecosystems in China
Nourani, P. & Ryan, A. (2025) · ANZ AI Education Symposium, University of Sydney.
Pop-up Punk: A Case Study of Leadership in a Punk Collective in China
Ryan, A. (2024) · International Studying Leadership Conference, University of Birmingham.
The Art of Creative Brokering: Leadership in the Chinese Punk Scene
Ryan, A. (2023) · International Studying Leadership Conference, Copenhagen Business School.
Uses of Generative AI in Second Language Classrooms
Ryan, A. (2023) · Learnfest, University of Waikato.
Teaching Dispatches from China during COVID-19
Ryan, A., Lane, N. & Johansson, P. (2022) · Learnfest, University of Waikato. (Panel)