Eric Schluessel
@ericschluessel.bsky.social
Assoc. Prof. of Hist. and Intl. Affrs. at Grg. Wshngtn. Univ.
Historian of the Uyghur region/Xinjiang/East Turkestan/Moghulistan/etc.
Historian of the Uyghur region/Xinjiang/East Turkestan/Moghulistan/etc.
Reposted by Eric Schluessel
The Uyghur filmmaker Ikram Nurmehmet Ikram is behind bars on political charges. Shelly Kraicer reviews his four short films, and explores what they tell us about how “ethnic minority” artists can—and cannot—work inside China's system:
www.chinafile.com/re...
www.chinafile.com/re...
Balancing What Can Be Said with What Can Only Be Implied | ChinaFile
The young Uyghur filmmaker Ikram Nurmehmet is now in a Chinese prison for “actively participating in terrorist activities.” He was likely targeted because he had studied in Turkey between 2010 and 2016. It is always difficult for what China calls “ethnic minority” (i.e. non-Han Chinese) filmmakers to make the films they want to make inside China, where review by the state Film
www.chinafile.com
July 3, 2025 at 3:33 PM
The Uyghur filmmaker Ikram Nurmehmet Ikram is behind bars on political charges. Shelly Kraicer reviews his four short films, and explores what they tell us about how “ethnic minority” artists can—and cannot—work inside China's system:
www.chinafile.com/re...
www.chinafile.com/re...
Strange choices from the university whose library is building America's biggest collection of Uyghur books. And a press that published @seanroberts.bsky.social The War on the Uyghurs.
press.princeton.edu/books/paperb...
library.princeton.edu/about/librar...
press.princeton.edu/books/paperb...
library.princeton.edu/about/librar...
June 30, 2025 at 10:22 AM
Strange choices from the university whose library is building America's biggest collection of Uyghur books. And a press that published @seanroberts.bsky.social The War on the Uyghurs.
press.princeton.edu/books/paperb...
library.princeton.edu/about/librar...
press.princeton.edu/books/paperb...
library.princeton.edu/about/librar...
Reposted by Eric Schluessel
Author copy fresh out of the box! I'm shaking!
@uofmpress.bsky.social made the publication process so smooth! And huge thanks for hosting an open access version, which will be available on my official publication date: August 5.
But if you'd rather buy a hard copy, use code UMWEB30 for 30% off!
@uofmpress.bsky.social made the publication process so smooth! And huge thanks for hosting an open access version, which will be available on my official publication date: August 5.
But if you'd rather buy a hard copy, use code UMWEB30 for 30% off!
June 25, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Author copy fresh out of the box! I'm shaking!
@uofmpress.bsky.social made the publication process so smooth! And huge thanks for hosting an open access version, which will be available on my official publication date: August 5.
But if you'd rather buy a hard copy, use code UMWEB30 for 30% off!
@uofmpress.bsky.social made the publication process so smooth! And huge thanks for hosting an open access version, which will be available on my official publication date: August 5.
But if you'd rather buy a hard copy, use code UMWEB30 for 30% off!
This summer, June 7-August 7, I'll be running an online course in "Introduction to Chaghatay!" 12 meetings. $280 for the whole thing. Open access textbook + videos to walk you through grammar and readings. Fees will support GW's Uyghur Studies Initiative. Apply here!
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Introduction to Chaghatay, Summer 2025
This is an application form for the not-for-credit summer course in introductory Chaghatay language to be held through the Sigur Center for Asian Studies at the George Washington University in Summer ...
docs.google.com
April 22, 2025 at 8:56 PM
This summer, June 7-August 7, I'll be running an online course in "Introduction to Chaghatay!" 12 meetings. $280 for the whole thing. Open access textbook + videos to walk you through grammar and readings. Fees will support GW's Uyghur Studies Initiative. Apply here!
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
They’re back!! ❤️😭🫡
OFFICIAL: Seizure of our Twitter handle by revisionist elements condemned. Establishing thoughtwork operations-in-exile on this platform until glorious reunification.
February 25, 2025 at 3:57 PM
They’re back!! ❤️😭🫡
Reposted by Eric Schluessel
My friend and mentor Orville Schell puts very clearly what many people with experience in 20th century China are thinking:
The parallels with the nihilism and chaos-for-its-own-sake of the Cultural Revolution years.
www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/d...
The parallels with the nihilism and chaos-for-its-own-sake of the Cultural Revolution years.
www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/d...
Trump’s Cultural Revolution | by Orville Schell - Project Syndicate
Orville Schell sees obvious and troubling parallels between the US president and Mao Zedong.
www.project-syndicate.org
February 21, 2025 at 10:11 PM
My friend and mentor Orville Schell puts very clearly what many people with experience in 20th century China are thinking:
The parallels with the nihilism and chaos-for-its-own-sake of the Cultural Revolution years.
www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/d...
The parallels with the nihilism and chaos-for-its-own-sake of the Cultural Revolution years.
www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/d...
Reposted by Eric Schluessel
Available today: a report, authored by myself and my friend and colleague @davidstroup.bsky.social , exploring the aims and impacts of the sinicisation of Islam campaign in Hui communities. See here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
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<p><span><b><i>Making Islam Chinese: Religious Policy and Mosque Sinicisation in the Xi Era</i></b></span></p>
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<p><span>This report lays out a comprehensive survey of the impacts of the Sinicisation of Islam programme on Hui communities from 2017
papers.ssrn.com
February 10, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Available today: a report, authored by myself and my friend and colleague @davidstroup.bsky.social , exploring the aims and impacts of the sinicisation of Islam campaign in Hui communities. See here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Monday, Nov 18, 4:00–5:00 Eastern Time/10:00–11:00 CET, we'll host an online talk by Prof. Don Wyatt on Africans in Early Modern China! Register here.
www.eventbrite.com/e/through-po...
Hosted by the Sigur Center for Asian Studies/East Asia NRC
www.eventbrite.com/e/through-po...
Hosted by the Sigur Center for Asian Studies/East Asia NRC
Through Ports of No Return: Entrances of the African into China
Join Dr. Don Wyatt, scholar on the intellectual history of China, to discuss the possibility of an African presence in Early Modern China.
www.eventbrite.com
November 14, 2024 at 4:42 PM
Monday, Nov 18, 4:00–5:00 Eastern Time/10:00–11:00 CET, we'll host an online talk by Prof. Don Wyatt on Africans in Early Modern China! Register here.
www.eventbrite.com/e/through-po...
Hosted by the Sigur Center for Asian Studies/East Asia NRC
www.eventbrite.com/e/through-po...
Hosted by the Sigur Center for Asian Studies/East Asia NRC
Um, "Sinology" 🀄, I guess? (Emoji for labeling purposes.)
*Two* positive reviews of my Tarikh-i Ḥamidi translation came out this week!
From Jun Sugawara in the JAS: doi.org/10.1215/0021...
From Tristan Brown in the Journal of Chinese History: doi.org/10.1017/jch....
*Two* positive reviews of my Tarikh-i Ḥamidi translation came out this week!
From Jun Sugawara in the JAS: doi.org/10.1215/0021...
From Tristan Brown in the Journal of Chinese History: doi.org/10.1017/jch....
The Tarikh-i Ḥamidi: A Late-Qing Uyghur History
Research on the modern history of Xinjiang has undergone a steady expansion in recent years. Owing to the sustained contributions of researchers ever since the publication in 1986 of Andrew Forbes's s...
doi.org
November 14, 2024 at 4:14 AM
Um, "Sinology" 🀄, I guess? (Emoji for labeling purposes.)
*Two* positive reviews of my Tarikh-i Ḥamidi translation came out this week!
From Jun Sugawara in the JAS: doi.org/10.1215/0021...
From Tristan Brown in the Journal of Chinese History: doi.org/10.1017/jch....
*Two* positive reviews of my Tarikh-i Ḥamidi translation came out this week!
From Jun Sugawara in the JAS: doi.org/10.1215/0021...
From Tristan Brown in the Journal of Chinese History: doi.org/10.1017/jch....
Reposted by Eric Schluessel
"An ideologically motivated effort to silence viewpoints and remove resources and information on gender on the New College campus." My statement at PEN America on New College literally tossing the library of its student-led gender and diversity center into a dumpster: pen.org/press-releas...
Florida’s New College Trashes Library of Books at Gender and Diversity Center
PEN America has condemned New College of Florida’s destruction of a student-run library of books on gender, part of the College’s abrupt closure of the student-led gender and diversity center on Thurs...
pen.org
August 16, 2024 at 6:58 PM
"An ideologically motivated effort to silence viewpoints and remove resources and information on gender on the New College campus." My statement at PEN America on New College literally tossing the library of its student-led gender and diversity center into a dumpster: pen.org/press-releas...
Reposted by Eric Schluessel
sometimes it consoles me to remember whatever work I do today, it cannot be worse than the Cybertruck
June 25, 2024 at 3:40 PM
sometimes it consoles me to remember whatever work I do today, it cannot be worse than the Cybertruck
The June 2024 issue of Late Imperial China is out! muse.jhu.edu/issue/52704 We have four articles on gender, agriculture, forestry, and suicide:
You Wang (Chicago), "Women Till and Women Weave: Rice, Cotton, and the Gendered Division of Labor in Jiangnan" #Qing ... (1/4)
You Wang (Chicago), "Women Till and Women Weave: Rice, Cotton, and the Gendered Division of Labor in Jiangnan" #Qing ... (1/4)
Project MUSE - Late Imperial China-Volume 45, Number 1, June 2024
muse.jhu.edu
June 24, 2024 at 12:18 PM
The June 2024 issue of Late Imperial China is out! muse.jhu.edu/issue/52704 We have four articles on gender, agriculture, forestry, and suicide:
You Wang (Chicago), "Women Till and Women Weave: Rice, Cotton, and the Gendered Division of Labor in Jiangnan" #Qing ... (1/4)
You Wang (Chicago), "Women Till and Women Weave: Rice, Cotton, and the Gendered Division of Labor in Jiangnan" #Qing ... (1/4)
The Sigur Center for Asian Studies at GW seeks an Assistant Director (Taiwan specialist)! ~25% research and ~75% admin. Starts August. AD would report to me as director and help lead a great budget and events team. Taiwan expertise is essential, as is experience managing budgets and writing grants.
Assistant Center Director, Sigur Center for Asian Studies
The George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs (ESIA) is one of the world’s leading schools of international affairs and one of the largest schools of international affairs i...
www.gwu.jobs
May 10, 2024 at 9:18 AM
The Sigur Center for Asian Studies at GW seeks an Assistant Director (Taiwan specialist)! ~25% research and ~75% admin. Starts August. AD would report to me as director and help lead a great budget and events team. Taiwan expertise is essential, as is experience managing budgets and writing grants.
Reposted by Eric Schluessel
“UCLA’s administration has taken a decidedly hands-off approach to its student protesters, allowing them to continue their peaceful assembly. Seeing it’s possible to proceed without violence makes it even clearer that the cops and administrators harming students are making an active choice.”
I sat down and tried to sum up the last week or so of campus protests. This is what I got.
The real rioters? Cops and college presidents.
The kids are alright. The adults are not.
www.thehandbasket.co
April 29, 2024 at 12:41 AM
“UCLA’s administration has taken a decidedly hands-off approach to its student protesters, allowing them to continue their peaceful assembly. Seeing it’s possible to proceed without violence makes it even clearer that the cops and administrators harming students are making an active choice.”
Reposted by Eric Schluessel
I've said this several times but it is worth repeating:
You don't ask an LLM something, you are giving it a prompt.
You don't get back an answer, you get plausible sounding text.
Using the incorrect words for what they do allows the people peddling the technology to get away with ridiculous claims.
You don't ask an LLM something, you are giving it a prompt.
You don't get back an answer, you get plausible sounding text.
Using the incorrect words for what they do allows the people peddling the technology to get away with ridiculous claims.
I don’t think it can be emphasized enough that large language models were never intended to do math or know facts; literally all they do is attempt to sound like the text they’re given, which may or may not include math or facts. They don’t do logic or fact checking — they’re just not built for that
Unfortunately, it repeatedly offers incorrect answers for straightforward math questions. 🧪
March 18, 2024 at 11:46 AM
I've said this several times but it is worth repeating:
You don't ask an LLM something, you are giving it a prompt.
You don't get back an answer, you get plausible sounding text.
Using the incorrect words for what they do allows the people peddling the technology to get away with ridiculous claims.
You don't ask an LLM something, you are giving it a prompt.
You don't get back an answer, you get plausible sounding text.
Using the incorrect words for what they do allows the people peddling the technology to get away with ridiculous claims.
Hey everyone! If you're feeling generous, today is the day to give to the Uyghur Studies Initiative at GW! For us, a little bit goes a very long way. Here are some successes from our first year as an endowed initiative:
1. We teach Uyghur language!
2. Summer grad student research funding! (con't)
1. We teach Uyghur language!
2. Summer grad student research funding! (con't)
GW Giving Day 2024
Giving Day is April 3-4! Raise High and support what matters most to you at GW.
give.gwu.edu
April 3, 2024 at 9:40 PM
Hey everyone! If you're feeling generous, today is the day to give to the Uyghur Studies Initiative at GW! For us, a little bit goes a very long way. Here are some successes from our first year as an endowed initiative:
1. We teach Uyghur language!
2. Summer grad student research funding! (con't)
1. We teach Uyghur language!
2. Summer grad student research funding! (con't)
I'm really proud that we at the Sigur Center for Asian Studies at GWU can offer this to our students. This and our endowment-supported Uyghur language classes make, I think, a strong beginning for the Uyghur Studies Initiative.
March 19, 2024 at 12:54 AM
I'm really proud that we at the Sigur Center for Asian Studies at GWU can offer this to our students. This and our endowment-supported Uyghur language classes make, I think, a strong beginning for the Uyghur Studies Initiative.
Reposted by Eric Schluessel
A reminder for those who still haven’t understood: ChatGPT and other LLMs are designed to write language that matches patterns found in existing texts so the generated text sounds plausible. It absolutely does not query for “facts” in the way that we have come to think of “googling” information.
I write with @juliaangwin.com about our study that showed 50% of AI models’ responses to questions voters might ask were inaccurate.
Government must hold companies accountable, including through the privacy law called for by POTUS in his powerful #SOTU speech.
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
Government must hold companies accountable, including through the privacy law called for by POTUS in his powerful #SOTU speech.
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
Opinion: AI doesn't have all the answers — especially this election season
In our study, we found many AI chatbots and apps such as ChatGPT and Gemini provide misinformation on when and where to vote. Tech companies should improve their platforms.
www.latimes.com
March 9, 2024 at 9:26 AM
A reminder for those who still haven’t understood: ChatGPT and other LLMs are designed to write language that matches patterns found in existing texts so the generated text sounds plausible. It absolutely does not query for “facts” in the way that we have come to think of “googling” information.
Reposted by Eric Schluessel
People's Daily have created a set of "digital hosts" from different ethnic minority groups to introduce the Two Sessions.
The results are creepy AF.
politics.people.com.cn/n1/2024/0302...
The results are creepy AF.
politics.people.com.cn/n1/2024/0302...
March 5, 2024 at 10:57 PM
People's Daily have created a set of "digital hosts" from different ethnic minority groups to introduce the Two Sessions.
The results are creepy AF.
politics.people.com.cn/n1/2024/0302...
The results are creepy AF.
politics.people.com.cn/n1/2024/0302...
Reposted by Eric Schluessel
People who claim private companies are more efficient than the government have never tried to talk to their insurance company
February 26, 2024 at 6:25 PM
People who claim private companies are more efficient than the government have never tried to talk to their insurance company
Reposted by Eric Schluessel
I keep bringing this up in other contexts, but Duke hired the same consultants that are gutting education across the country. West Virginia University was in the news recently for having a ton of programs cut, too.
Same consultant - Huron Consulting is going door to door gutting universities.
Same consultant - Huron Consulting is going door to door gutting universities.
February 16, 2024 at 3:27 PM
I keep bringing this up in other contexts, but Duke hired the same consultants that are gutting education across the country. West Virginia University was in the news recently for having a ton of programs cut, too.
Same consultant - Huron Consulting is going door to door gutting universities.
Same consultant - Huron Consulting is going door to door gutting universities.
David Brophy's translation of Kashgari's In Remembrance of the Saints has won the Hanan Prize for Translation!
Nicole Willock's Lineages of the Literary got the Smith Inner Asia Book Prize!
Plus an honorable mention for Lawrence Zhang's Power for a Price!
So happy for friends and colleagues. :)
Nicole Willock's Lineages of the Literary got the Smith Inner Asia Book Prize!
Plus an honorable mention for Lawrence Zhang's Power for a Price!
So happy for friends and colleagues. :)
Drum roll please ...🥁
We are thrilled to announce the winners of our #AAS2024 awards! Congratulations to all the honorees.
www.asianstudies.org/aas-2024-pri...
We are thrilled to announce the winners of our #AAS2024 awards! Congratulations to all the honorees.
www.asianstudies.org/aas-2024-pri...
February 15, 2024 at 2:45 PM
David Brophy's translation of Kashgari's In Remembrance of the Saints has won the Hanan Prize for Translation!
Nicole Willock's Lineages of the Literary got the Smith Inner Asia Book Prize!
Plus an honorable mention for Lawrence Zhang's Power for a Price!
So happy for friends and colleagues. :)
Nicole Willock's Lineages of the Literary got the Smith Inner Asia Book Prize!
Plus an honorable mention for Lawrence Zhang's Power for a Price!
So happy for friends and colleagues. :)
Reposted by Eric Schluessel
Re-upping my announcement here: I’m going to be presenting to GWU’s China Peripheries Seminar tomorrow (Feb 14). Thanks to @ericschluessel.bsky.social for the invite. Registration and info for the zoom link listed below: t.co/YYOZTyCGLt
China Peripheries Seminar
A series of policy-oriented talks on the ethnically diverse and highly contested regions along China’s geographical edges, this year’s seminar focuses around key transformations taking place in China ...
t.co
February 13, 2024 at 5:44 PM
Re-upping my announcement here: I’m going to be presenting to GWU’s China Peripheries Seminar tomorrow (Feb 14). Thanks to @ericschluessel.bsky.social for the invite. Registration and info for the zoom link listed below: t.co/YYOZTyCGLt
Reposted by Eric Schluessel
I wanted to call your attention to a new endeavor initiated by Annie Zhang 張潔平 and me: a non-fiction translation short-term fellowship, building on the wonderful work of Frontline 在場非虛構獎學金！ Details here: https://www.frontlinefellowship.io/translationfellowship
February 8, 2024 at 5:26 PM
I wanted to call your attention to a new endeavor initiated by Annie Zhang 張潔平 and me: a non-fiction translation short-term fellowship, building on the wonderful work of Frontline 在場非虛構獎學金！ Details here: https://www.frontlinefellowship.io/translationfellowship
Thursday's China Peripheries Seminar, online 1:00–3:00 PM Eastern, features Emily Yeh on "Development and the Environment in Tibet" and Guldana Salimjan on "Ecology and Settler Colonialism in Xinjiang!" I'm so proud to be putting two of the scholars I admire most in the spotlight. Sign up here!
China Peripheries Seminar
A series of policy-oriented talks on the ethnically diverse and highly contested regions along China’s geographical edges, this year’s seminar focuses around key transformations taking place in Ch...
docs.google.com
February 7, 2024 at 2:39 PM
Thursday's China Peripheries Seminar, online 1:00–3:00 PM Eastern, features Emily Yeh on "Development and the Environment in Tibet" and Guldana Salimjan on "Ecology and Settler Colonialism in Xinjiang!" I'm so proud to be putting two of the scholars I admire most in the spotlight. Sign up here!