
Profiles
Dr Hannah Theaker
Lecturer in History and Politics
School of Society and Culture (Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business)
Biography
Biography
Lecturer in History and Politics, University of Plymouth
I joined the History and Politics departments in 2021, having previously been the Plumer Junior Research Fellow in Oriental Studies, St Anne's College, University of Oxford. My work explores empire, rebellion, migration and the co-construction of religion and ethnicity in China’s northwest, with a particular focus on the impact of 19th century state-directed resettlements of Muslims following the Great Northwestern Rebellions, 1860-1872. An additional strand of my current work explores the impacts of contemporary Sinicization of Islam campaigns among Chinese-speaking Muslims.Broadly speaking, I am interested in histories of ethnicity and the environment, and in writing engaged histories that speak to the present.
Qualifications
D.Phil, St Anne's College, University of Oxford, 2019 Dissertation: "Moving Muslims: the Great Northwestern Muslim Rebellion and the Transformation of Chinese Islam, 1862-1897"
M.St Oriental Studies, St Anne's College, University of Oxford, 2014
MA Chinese and History, University of Edinburgh, 2012
Professional membership
Associate Fellow, AdvanceHE
Member of the American Historical Association
Roles on external bodies
I am the subeditor of British Journal of Chinese Studies; I also coordinate an informal network of scholars working on Islam in China.
Teaching
Teaching
Teaching interests
I teach across History and Politics departments, offering a range of courses on China, refugee studies, historical methodology, postcolonialism and the Global South.
PIR 314: Mao to Now - the Politics of Modern China
PIR 500X: Refugee Studies
IRL 204: Global Development and International Relations
HIST 522: Talking History, Seeing History: Research Methods in Oral and Visual History
Areas of expertise for supervision:
China, especially late imperial China, and/or ethnic politics
Research
Research
Research interests
Modern China
Ethnicity and religion
Islam in China
Sinicization
Comparative colonialisms
Environmental history
Other research
My current book project builds on my D.Phil thesis, completed at Oxford, which explores the history and repercussions of the devastating Great Northwestern Muslim Rebellion, 1860-1872. The book project deepens and extends that work, exploring the 1860s as a moment which radically remade both the structure of Islamic communities in Shaanxi, Gansu, and Qinghai, but which also had far-reaching impacts on the way Islam is perceived and understood in China. Further work of mine has explored the history of the so-called Ma family warlords, and contemporary campaigns to sinicize Islam in China.
I have also contributed to Hannibal Taubes' ongoing project to document late imperial Chinese temple murals: http://twosmall.ipower.com/murals/
Grants & contracts
Impact Acceleration Award, University of Plymouth, "Sinicization of Islam in China: Beyond Xinjiang", 2022
Creative practice & artistic projects
I authored a series of articles and interactive exercises on Qing history for BBC Bitesize: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/znmk4xs
Publications
Publications
“Old Rebellions, New Minorities: the Ma Family Warlords and the Xinhai Rebellion”, as part of ‘Resisting Minoritization’ special edition of Global Intellectual History, 2021 DOI: 10.1080/23801883.2021.1939503
“Introduction to the British Historiography of the Qing” 清史研究在英國 [in Chinese], Qing History 清史研究, 2019 2, 1-10.
BBC Bitesize, series of articles and interactive exercises on Qing history, https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/znmk4xs
“Wounds that Fester: Histories of Chinese Islamophobia” https://theasiadialogue.com/2019/08/02/wounds-that-fester-histories-of-chinese-islamophobia/, August 2019
“Document Authentication Report”, in David Tobin, “The “Xinjiang Papers”: How Xi Jinping Commands Policy in the People’s Republic of China, 2022, https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/seas/news/xinjiang-papers-how-xi-jinping-commands-policy-peoples-republic-china
Personal
Personal
Reports & invited lectures
“Sinicising Islam: A Roundtable Discussion”, in conversation with Dr. David Stroup, Dr. Rian Thum and Prof. Rachel Harris, University of Manchester China Institute, February 2022
“No Mere Soldiers: Gansu's Republican-era Muslim 'Warlords' as Politicians”, University of Manchester China Institute, May 2021
Conferences organised
Third Workshop of the Amdo Research Network, University of Oxford, September 2021
Convener of the University of Oxford China Centre Seminar Series, 2018-2020