In November-December 2025 I undertook a rich and very rewarding research sojourn across Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar. The extended trip centred on academic exchange, public scholarship, and our ongoing work on heritage literacy. The journey began in Jeddah, where I was honoured to serve as a […]
I had a great time recording a podcast with Tazin Abdullah as part of the Language On The Move series, in collaboration with the New Books Network. You can listen to it here: https://newbooksnetwork.com/a-semiotics-of-muslimness-in-china Alternatively, you can also find the podcast on the Language On The Move website […]
Below is the link to the full recording of our presentation at the Manchester China Institute. Just before the event, we formally donated Sino-Muslim artwork to the Institute and arranged for two pieces to be exhibited on loan at the Manchester Museum nearby. These artworks, paper cuts by […]
I recently gave the plenary lecture at the annual symposium of the ‘Professional, Academic, and Work-Based Literacies’ (PAWBL) special interest group, which sits under the aegis of BAAL. The lecture, titled “Eat. Pray. Live. How Literacies of Food Heritage, Faith and Commerce Merge in Sino-Muslim China“, was based […]
I am thrilled to announce my new book emerging from my work in the Sino-Muslim Heritage Literacy project (funded by the Leverhulme Trust, see here). This book, a Cambridge Element, brings together some important strands in the data collection from the project and I hope that it will […]
Some literacy researchers refer to artefactual literacy as the study of literacy practices embedded in material cultural objects. Literacy practices that are connected to objects and physical experience are often key to heritage, in this case a fan that is used within a traditional tea ceremony. According to Dr Naoki Yamamoto, […]
The practice of stone carving is an important part of Chinese history, art, and culture, and likely one of mankind’s oldest crafts. This video presents a fascinating confluence of stone carving and traditional Islamic calligraphy. The video shows how Wang Fengtong [王凤桐], along with three generations of his family, carved […]
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