Month: May 2019

I’m very pleased to share that I just finished my first week of work as a Liu Xiaobo Fellow at the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), a U.S. government commission tasked with monitoring the status of human rights and rule of law in China.

As a Fellow, I’m drawing on my language and area knowledge to assist CECC staff with news monitoring, research, and analysis connected to the Commission mandate. Moving to federal work in human rights and law is a bit of a change for me given my academic background, but I’m thrilled to be doing work that allows me to be deeply involved in the U.S. and global responses to China’s escalating rights abuses.

On the morning of May 8, 2019, I successfully defended my dissertation, titled Imperfect Perfection: Uyghur Muqam and Practices of Cultural Renovation in the PRC, meaning that I am now Dr. Anderson.

Several days before my defense, on Friday, May 3, I walked in IU’s graduate commencement and received my doctoral hood. The pomp and circumstance of the ceremony were a lovely way to cap off my very long tenure as a graduate student.

The successful conferral of my degree would never have happened without the guidance, support, and cooperation of hundreds of people around the world over the past decade-plus. My deepest thanks to all who have been part of my long and winding intellectual journey.