Hannah Theaker
@htheaker.bsky.social
Lecturer in History and Politics, University of Plymouth, researching histories of Islam, rebellion and minoritization in China; documenting the contemporary sinicisation of Islam in China
Reposted by Hannah Theaker
Compulsory team teaching on every module is perhaps the biggest ever threat to the quality of teaching in UK universities.
It causes chaos on the ground for timetabling, ruins course coherence and turns lecturers into permanent supply teachers. It is pedagogically incoherent… 1/
It causes chaos on the ground for timetabling, ruins course coherence and turns lecturers into permanent supply teachers. It is pedagogically incoherent… 1/
November 6, 2025 at 6:57 AM
Compulsory team teaching on every module is perhaps the biggest ever threat to the quality of teaching in UK universities.
It causes chaos on the ground for timetabling, ruins course coherence and turns lecturers into permanent supply teachers. It is pedagogically incoherent… 1/
It causes chaos on the ground for timetabling, ruins course coherence and turns lecturers into permanent supply teachers. It is pedagogically incoherent… 1/
Reposted by Hannah Theaker
Absolutely shocking that the Chinese govt pressured a UK university to shut down research about forced labour in Xinjiang and the links to global supply chains. The work of Laura Murphy and her team had been instrumental in getting Chinese companies sanctioned.
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
UK university halted human rights research after pressure from China
Exclusive: Leading professor at Sheffield Hallam was told to cease research on supply chains and forced labour in China after demands from authorities
www.theguardian.com
November 3, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Absolutely shocking that the Chinese govt pressured a UK university to shut down research about forced labour in Xinjiang and the links to global supply chains. The work of Laura Murphy and her team had been instrumental in getting Chinese companies sanctioned.
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Reposted by Hannah Theaker
UK university halted human rights research after pressure from China
UK university halted human rights research after pressure from China
Exclusive: Leading professor at Sheffield Hallam was told to cease research on supply chains and forced labour in China after demands from authorities
A British university complied with a demand from Beijing to halt research about human rights abuses in China, leading to a major project being dropped, the Guardian can reveal.
In February, Sheffield Hallam University, home to the Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice (HKC), a leading research institution focused on human rights, ordered one of its best-known professors, Laura Murphy, to cease research on supply chains and forced labour in China. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
November 3, 2025 at 5:13 AM
UK university halted human rights research after pressure from China
Reposted by Hannah Theaker
"In total, the documents show Sheffield [Hallam University] had earned £3.8m in 2021/22 from China and Hong Kong." That's how little was enough for them to sell out.
This is as bleak as it gets:
‘China intimidated UK university to ditch human rights research, documents show’ www.bbc.com/news/article...
‘China intimidated UK university to ditch human rights research, documents show’ www.bbc.com/news/article...
China intimidated UK university to ditch human rights research, documents show
Sheffield Hallam University apologises to Professor Laura Murphy for restricting her academic freedom.
www.bbc.com
November 3, 2025 at 9:14 AM
"In total, the documents show Sheffield [Hallam University] had earned £3.8m in 2021/22 from China and Hong Kong." That's how little was enough for them to sell out.
Reposted by Hannah Theaker
'In February, Sheffield Hallam University, home to the Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice (HKC), a leading research institution focused on human rights, ordered one of its best-known professors, Laura Murphy, to cease research on supply chains and forced labour in China.' 1/3
UK university halted human rights research after pressure from China
Exclusive: Leading professor at Sheffield Hallam was told to cease research on supply chains and forced labour in China after demands from authorities
www.theguardian.com
November 3, 2025 at 7:44 AM
'In February, Sheffield Hallam University, home to the Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice (HKC), a leading research institution focused on human rights, ordered one of its best-known professors, Laura Murphy, to cease research on supply chains and forced labour in China.' 1/3
Reposted by Hannah Theaker
I wrote a story @theguardian.com about Zhang Yadi, a London-bound Chinese student and Tibetan rights advocate who was arrested over the summer on suspicion of “inciting separatism.”
If found guilty, she faces a prison sentence of up to 15 years.
Read the story, with comments from @hrw.org, below:
If found guilty, she faces a prison sentence of up to 15 years.
Read the story, with comments from @hrw.org, below:
‘She didn’t realise how dangerous it was’: London-bound student held in China over Tibet support
Zhang Yadi was due to begin a degree in the UK but the activist vanished on holiday amid tensions over Dalai Lama
www.theguardian.com
September 30, 2025 at 11:22 AM
I wrote a story @theguardian.com about Zhang Yadi, a London-bound Chinese student and Tibetan rights advocate who was arrested over the summer on suspicion of “inciting separatism.”
If found guilty, she faces a prison sentence of up to 15 years.
Read the story, with comments from @hrw.org, below:
If found guilty, she faces a prison sentence of up to 15 years.
Read the story, with comments from @hrw.org, below:
Reposted by Hannah Theaker
There is no such thing, as Starmer well knows, as a "golden ticket of resettlement and family reunion" for people who have been granted refugee status. This is meaningless guff aimed to play to populist fantasies that refugees get provided with everything. 1/
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Starmer to end asylum ‘golden ticket’ of resettlement and family reunion rights
People granted asylum will have to earn right to invite family in plan charities call ‘straight from populist playbook’
www.theguardian.com
October 1, 2025 at 9:36 PM
There is no such thing, as Starmer well knows, as a "golden ticket of resettlement and family reunion" for people who have been granted refugee status. This is meaningless guff aimed to play to populist fantasies that refugees get provided with everything. 1/
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Reposted by Hannah Theaker
New today: my essay in @jodemocracy.bsky.social on The Golden Age of Transnational Repression: www.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/the...
The Golden Age of Transnational Repression | Journal of Democracy
Authoritarian regimes are targeting exiles and diaspora communities in more places than ever before. Activists, journalists, and regular people living abroad must watch their backs…
www.journalofdemocracy.org
October 1, 2025 at 11:35 AM
New today: my essay in @jodemocracy.bsky.social on The Golden Age of Transnational Repression: www.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/the...
Reposted by Hannah Theaker
Most of the restrictions mentioned in this article are in 2021's Internet Religious Information Services regs. www.chinalawtranslate.com/en/internet-...
What is new in the Code of Conduct is that it impacts online conduct of registered clergy in their personal, as well as professional capacity.⏬
What is new in the Code of Conduct is that it impacts online conduct of registered clergy in their personal, as well as professional capacity.⏬
September 22, 2025 at 3:23 AM
Most of the restrictions mentioned in this article are in 2021's Internet Religious Information Services regs. www.chinalawtranslate.com/en/internet-...
What is new in the Code of Conduct is that it impacts online conduct of registered clergy in their personal, as well as professional capacity.⏬
What is new in the Code of Conduct is that it impacts online conduct of registered clergy in their personal, as well as professional capacity.⏬
Reposted by Hannah Theaker
My head is actually spinning at how many current and future colleagues, both in the China field and beyond it, we are about to lose because of this
September 20, 2025 at 1:42 PM
My head is actually spinning at how many current and future colleagues, both in the China field and beyond it, we are about to lose because of this
Reposted by Hannah Theaker
Most humanities research — including the best, most world leading research by people we’ve all heard of — is unfunded, by which they mean produced as part of one’s routine job as a university lecturer, just “not funded by a big competitive external grant”.
This would mean the death of research.
This would mean the death of research.
Ministers ‘want to shift funds away from low-quality research’ .
Universities UK president says institutions cannot afford “unfunded hobbyist research”.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
Universities UK president says institutions cannot afford “unfunded hobbyist research”.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
Ministers ‘want to shift funds away from low-quality research’ - Research Professional News
Universities UK president says institutions cannot afford “unfunded hobbyist research”
www.researchprofessionalnews.com
September 12, 2025 at 10:35 AM
Most humanities research — including the best, most world leading research by people we’ve all heard of — is unfunded, by which they mean produced as part of one’s routine job as a university lecturer, just “not funded by a big competitive external grant”.
This would mean the death of research.
This would mean the death of research.
Reposted by Hannah Theaker
This is a jaw-dropping statement from anyone in a uni leadership role — but also — what exactly is ‘low-quality’ and ‘hobbyist’ research? Nearly every academic I know is burning the candle at both ends and STILL producing important work in their fields. This feels like an anti-humanities dog whistle
Ministers ‘want to shift funds away from low-quality research’ .
Universities UK president says institutions cannot afford “unfunded hobbyist research”.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
Universities UK president says institutions cannot afford “unfunded hobbyist research”.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
Ministers ‘want to shift funds away from low-quality research’ - Research Professional News
Universities UK president says institutions cannot afford “unfunded hobbyist research”
www.researchprofessionalnews.com
September 12, 2025 at 8:23 AM
This is a jaw-dropping statement from anyone in a uni leadership role — but also — what exactly is ‘low-quality’ and ‘hobbyist’ research? Nearly every academic I know is burning the candle at both ends and STILL producing important work in their fields. This feels like an anti-humanities dog whistle
Reposted by Hannah Theaker
Tens of thousands of people in China are barred from leaving their province and sometimes even their homes by the world’s largest surveillance apparatus.
An AP investigation finds much of this technology came from U.S. companies.
An AP investigation finds much of this technology came from U.S. companies.
US tech companies enabled the surveillance and detention of hundreds of thousands in China
U.S. technology firms such as IBM, Dell and Cisco largely designed and built China’s surveillance state, an AP investigation finds. The tech companies deny wrongdoing.
bit.ly
September 9, 2025 at 7:45 AM
Tens of thousands of people in China are barred from leaving their province and sometimes even their homes by the world’s largest surveillance apparatus.
An AP investigation finds much of this technology came from U.S. companies.
An AP investigation finds much of this technology came from U.S. companies.
Reposted by Hannah Theaker
We just released IMMARKUS 1.0 - our first full release!
An open-source tool for semantic image annotation: multi-image workbench, AI-powered selection tools, ontology builder, knowledge graph, #IIIF support.
Runs fully local–no login, no-signups, no data sent to the cloud!
👉 immarkus.xmarkus.org
An open-source tool for semantic image annotation: multi-image workbench, AI-powered selection tools, ontology builder, knowledge graph, #IIIF support.
Runs fully local–no login, no-signups, no data sent to the cloud!
👉 immarkus.xmarkus.org
IMMARKUS
An image annotation environment for the MARKUS platform. Developed by Prof. Dr. Hilde De Weerdt, Dr. Rainer Simon, Dr. Lee Sunkyu, Dr. Iva Stojević, Meret Meister, and Xi Wangzhi with funding from the...
immarkus.xmarkus.org
September 8, 2025 at 12:44 PM
We just released IMMARKUS 1.0 - our first full release!
An open-source tool for semantic image annotation: multi-image workbench, AI-powered selection tools, ontology builder, knowledge graph, #IIIF support.
Runs fully local–no login, no-signups, no data sent to the cloud!
👉 immarkus.xmarkus.org
An open-source tool for semantic image annotation: multi-image workbench, AI-powered selection tools, ontology builder, knowledge graph, #IIIF support.
Runs fully local–no login, no-signups, no data sent to the cloud!
👉 immarkus.xmarkus.org
Reposted by Hannah Theaker
From Sanmenxia and Three Gorges to the Yarlung Tsangpo Dam, China has long relied on monumental hydropower to prove state capacity. @zenel25.bsky.social and @pguer.bsky.social show how such projects, while promising development and security, often deepen the very insecurities they claim to resolve.
The Technopolitics of China’s Yarlung Tsangpo Dam Project and the Paradox of Hydropower | Made in China Journal
Three years after announcing their intent to construct a mega-dam along the Yarlung Tsangpo (Brahmaputra) River as part of the Fourteenth Five-Year Plan, Chinese officials gave their approval to proce...
madeinchinajournal.com
September 4, 2025 at 11:42 AM
From Sanmenxia and Three Gorges to the Yarlung Tsangpo Dam, China has long relied on monumental hydropower to prove state capacity. @zenel25.bsky.social and @pguer.bsky.social show how such projects, while promising development and security, often deepen the very insecurities they claim to resolve.
Reposted by Hannah Theaker
Lovely to hear Melvyn Bragg talking about the big idea behind "In Our Time": to get academics on the air, talking about the subjects they were most passionate & knowledgeable about, without worrying about whether they had "media training".
It's remarkable that this was (& remains) such an odd idea!
It's remarkable that this was (& remains) such an odd idea!
September 4, 2025 at 6:34 AM
Lovely to hear Melvyn Bragg talking about the big idea behind "In Our Time": to get academics on the air, talking about the subjects they were most passionate & knowledgeable about, without worrying about whether they had "media training".
It's remarkable that this was (& remains) such an odd idea!
It's remarkable that this was (& remains) such an odd idea!
Oh damn, always my dream to one day make to In Our Time, so I am delighted it will continue. But this still feels huge to me - so much admiration for Bragg and his curiosity about absolutely everything.
A huge moment -- Melvyn Bragg steps down from In Our Time after over a quarter of a century. What a programme and what a legacy! Just a model for how to make great, clever, engaging radio, and a twenty-seven-year experiment that proves there's a huge global audience for smart, scholarly programming.
Melvyn Bragg decides to step down from presenting In Our Time
After 26 years on the programme, the legendary presenter bids farewell to the series
www.bbc.co.uk
September 3, 2025 at 1:18 PM
Oh damn, always my dream to one day make to In Our Time, so I am delighted it will continue. But this still feels huge to me - so much admiration for Bragg and his curiosity about absolutely everything.
Reposted by Hannah Theaker
A reminder that it is not illegal to claim asylum in the UK, no matter how you arrived here.
The pernicious thing here is not so much the headline (Home Office officiously pestering students to restate a currently enforced policy) but the link in the second para to asylum. It's yet another insinuation that asylum is somehow an abuse of the immigration system.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
International students warned to not overstay visas
The Home Office is proactively contacting foreign students to warn them of the consequences of overstaying a visa for the first time.
www.bbc.co.uk
September 2, 2025 at 9:15 AM
A reminder that it is not illegal to claim asylum in the UK, no matter how you arrived here.
Reposted by Hannah Theaker
CFP: Joint Conference of the Historical Society for 20th Century China and the Institute for Modern History, Academia Scinica
Deadline: October 15
Please note that papers/panels can engage any aspect of China and/or Taiwan's long 20th Crntury
All the info: hstcconline.org/announcements/
Deadline: October 15
Please note that papers/panels can engage any aspect of China and/or Taiwan's long 20th Crntury
All the info: hstcconline.org/announcements/
Announcements
Call for Papers International Conference Jointly Organized by the Historical Society for Twentieth-Century China and the Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica Taiwan Reframing Modern Histori…
hstcconline.org
September 1, 2025 at 3:02 PM
CFP: Joint Conference of the Historical Society for 20th Century China and the Institute for Modern History, Academia Scinica
Deadline: October 15
Please note that papers/panels can engage any aspect of China and/or Taiwan's long 20th Crntury
All the info: hstcconline.org/announcements/
Deadline: October 15
Please note that papers/panels can engage any aspect of China and/or Taiwan's long 20th Crntury
All the info: hstcconline.org/announcements/
Reposted by Hannah Theaker
CDT Quote of the Week:
chinadigitaltimes.net/2025/08/inte...
chinadigitaltimes.net/2025/08/inte...
!["Now what China is providing is not even a formal education. It's assimilation. [It's enforcing] CCP loyalty, and also teaching Xi Jinping Thought in the curriculum. So there's no room for formal knowledge to be learned. [...] It’s indoctrination." - Dr. Gyal Lo, sociologist and educational expert, on the proliferation of colonial boarding schools in Tibet. Some of the Tibetan students in these boarding schools are as young as four.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ppd3ypfty6f2rlonrydgsjgj/bafkreierrxrakawqtay5oo66qn7xu2boiwifxt22kn6w2d5ivnpcn67uve@jpeg)
August 28, 2025 at 11:12 PM
CDT Quote of the Week:
chinadigitaltimes.net/2025/08/inte...
chinadigitaltimes.net/2025/08/inte...
Reposted by Hannah Theaker
This is terrorism.
Refugee support organisations have been forced to install safe rooms in their premises, relocate to less visible sites and in some cases close their offices in response to the threat of far-right violence.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
#r4today
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
#r4today
Refugee charities install safe rooms and relocate amid rise in far-right threats
Exclusive: One NGO placed on an online hitlist had to temporarily close its office owing to harassing phone calls
www.theguardian.com
August 23, 2025 at 4:35 AM
This is terrorism.
Reposted by Hannah Theaker
Would any Xinjiang scholars be interested in chatting with me for a newsletter issue 👀
August 20, 2025 at 11:24 AM
Would any Xinjiang scholars be interested in chatting with me for a newsletter issue 👀
Reposted by Hannah Theaker
not really beating the "authoritarian government" allegations by demanding a gallery in ANOTHER COUNTRY censor artwork about..........authoritarian governments
Exclusive: Thai gallery removes China-focused artworks after 'pressure' from Beijing
In what artists called the latest attempt by Beijing to silence critics overseas, the Bangkok Arts and Cultural Centre changed multiple works by artists in exile in the exhibit on authoritarian governments collaborating across borders.
www.reuters.com
August 8, 2025 at 2:00 PM
not really beating the "authoritarian government" allegations by demanding a gallery in ANOTHER COUNTRY censor artwork about..........authoritarian governments
Reposted by Hannah Theaker
🚨 New research report 🚨
“Preventing Transnational Repression: the case of the Uyghur diaspora”
By David Tobin and @nyrolaelima.bsky.social
sites.google.com/sheffield.ac...
“Preventing Transnational Repression: the case of the Uyghur diaspora”
By David Tobin and @nyrolaelima.bsky.social
sites.google.com/sheffield.ac...
August 12, 2025 at 12:16 PM
🚨 New research report 🚨
“Preventing Transnational Repression: the case of the Uyghur diaspora”
By David Tobin and @nyrolaelima.bsky.social
sites.google.com/sheffield.ac...
“Preventing Transnational Repression: the case of the Uyghur diaspora”
By David Tobin and @nyrolaelima.bsky.social
sites.google.com/sheffield.ac...
Reposted by Hannah Theaker
grotesque abuse of law
“Within this crowd a significant number of people are displaying placards expressing support for Palestine Action, which is a proscribed group.”
August 11, 2025 at 8:18 PM
grotesque abuse of law