- Contemporary China Centre
About me
I am professor of Chinese studies in the School of Humanities, director of the Contemporary China Centre and REF lead for Modern Languages and Linguistics. I edit the open access book series cultural china for University of Westminster Press.
From August 2018 to January 2024, I was Associate Head of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences with responsibility for external relations, providing leadership across Humanities, Social Sciences, Law, and Life Sciences in relation to employability, global engagement, and knowledge exchange, working closely with Heads of School and Professional Service teams to implement the University’s strategy in relation to these key areas. I also devised strategies for outreach work and public and community engagement and contributed to new interdisciplinary course development. As part of the university's senior management team, I was a member of several university level governance committees.
From 2013-2018 I was Head of the Department of Modern Languages and Cultures as well as the department's research director. I am REF Unit of Assessment lead for Modern Languages and Linguistics and a researcher and editor of international standing. I am a member of the British Academy's Strategic Committee for Languages in Higher Education and Chair of the Universities China Committee in London (UCCL).
Teaching
Over the years, my teaching has covered a range of modules and topics on Chinese society and culture, modern history, history and politics of the PRC, including a history of the democracy movement, post-Mao literature, as well as Chinese language. I have also developed and taught a highly innovative and interdisciplinary course on concepts of happiness across cultures and cultural studies. Currently I am module leader for Problems and Perspectives in Cultural Studies as well as the postgraduate Dissertation in the School of Humanities.
Research
My research focuses on the link between the personal and spiritual in the wider social and political context of contemporary China. I have published extensively on religious thought and belief in contemporary China, including the use of the term faith in political discourse. My work also includes an exploration of the meaning of happiness in the Chinese socialist project. Most recently, I focus on public visual culture in contemporary China with particular emphasis on urban surfaces. Together with a colleague at Westminster International University in Tashkent, I am working on a project on Chinese language learning and Chinese soft power appeal in Uzbekistan. Please refer to Westminster Research for a full list of publications.
I am editor of the British Journal of Chinese Studies https://bjocs.site and a fervent advocate of open access publishing.
Publications
For details of all my research outputs, visit my WestminsterResearch profile.