I am an experienced public speaker and have delivered dozens of talks to universities and other organizations around the globe. I’ve testified before the Canadian House of Commons and Uyghur Tribunal, and once interpreted between Uyghur and English in a hearing before the House Foreign Affairs Committee in the U.S. Congress.
My research and commentary on the Uyghur crisis have been cited in a number of major outlets, including the New York Times, the Atlantic, BBC, New Statesman, and Der Spiegel, among many others. My writing has appeared in several scholarly and public-facing venues, including Asian Music, Los Angeles Review of Books, and Georgetown Journal of International Affairs.
Testimonies
Uyghur Tribunal (London, England), September 2021
Subcommittee on International Human Rights, Canada’s House of Commons, July 2020 (virtual)
Invited Talks & Panels
Expert speaker, U.S. Department of State speakers program; gave presentations to audiences in Kyrgyzstan, Uruguay, and Malaysia (all virtual), 2020 – 2022
Speaker, Japan Uyghur Association, Apr 2022 (virtual)
Speaker, Georgetown University panel on religious freedom and the Uyghur crisis, Apr 2022
Moderator, Roundtable on Divestment at George Washington University, Athenai Institute, Feb 2022
Moderator, Book Talk with Darren Byler, Uyghur Human Rights Project, Oct 2021 (virtual)
“Compelled Silence, Compelled Sound: Erasure and Replacement in Uyghur Soundscapes,” Eurasia Talks
Seminar Series, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey, Jul 2021 (virtual)
“Compelled Silence and Compelled Sound,” Special webinar on Xinjiang, Central Asia Working Group of University of California at Berkeley, Mar 2021 (virtual)
Panelist, “China’s Uyghur Concentration Camps: The Ignored Genocide,” Hart House, University of Toronto, Toronto, CA, Mar 2021 (virtual)
Panelist, “Has the World Turned Its Back on the Uyghurs,” Georgetown University, Jan 2021 (virtual)
Panelist, “The Uyghur Crisis: Repression and Resistance,” Philadelphia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Aug 2020 (virtual)
“Cultural Destruction in the Uyghur Region,” University of Southern California, May 2020 (virtual)
“The Silencing of Religious Life in the Uyghur Region,” Religion Seminar Series: Incarceration, Nationalism, and Religious Identity in China, Butler University, Indianapolis, IN, Mar 2020
Academic Workshop & Conference Presentations
Presenter, Workshop on preventing transnational repression, London, United Kingdom, June 2025
Presenter, International Network for Critical China Studies launch workshop, University of Sheffield, United Kingdom, July 2024
Presenter, Workshop on Uyghur cultural resilience in diaspora, University of Sheffield, United Kingdom, July 2023
Presenter, Workshop on transnational repression, University of Sheffield, United Kingdom, April 2023
Presenter, Workshop on atrocities in the Uyghur homeland, University of Sheffield, United Kingdom, March 2022
Discussant, Association for Asian Studies panel “‘Reformation’ Beyond the Gate: State Power and the Making of Bare Life in the Xinjiang Uyghur Region” (virtual), Mar 2022
“The Question of Intent in the Uyghur Genocide,” Conference: The Xinjiang Crisis: Genocide, Crimes Against Humanity, Justice, Newcastle University, Newcastle, UK, Sept 2021
“Compelled Silence and Compelled Sound in the Uyghur Genocide,” Society for Ethnomusicology Virtual Annual meeting (originally planned for Ottawa, Canada), Oct 2020
General Public Presentations
Public science presenter on STEAM panels at Phoenix Fan Fusion, Jun 2025:
- Panel: “It’s All About Popular: What Makes Friendships Successful”
- Panel: “Why does everything need subtitles now? A look at sound and music in media”