iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Timothy Grose @timothyagrose.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

It's been a long time since I've done a translation! This months is Saga Dawa--the holiest months in Buddhism. Yesterday marked the holiest day of the holiest month. This song introduces practices and beliefs of this auspicious occasion. Lots to learn from Tibetan music. youtu.be/uZFj7r-E_pY

youtu.be

Saga Dawa་(ས་ག་ཟླ་བ།) by Dorje Tsering (རྡོ་རྗེ་ཚེ་རིང་། ཚ་བ་བརྟན་འཛིན།) and Tsawa Tenzin

YouTube video by Heaven is High and The Emperor is Far Away 天高皇帝远

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Timothy Grose @timothyagrose.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

Strange this @pbs.org documentary on Muslim youth voices in the US used an anti-veiling poster from Xinjiang in its segment about proposed legislation in the States

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Reposted by Timothy Grose

David Stroup @davidstroup.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

Striking cover image (and title!) for @timothyagrose.bsky.social’s forthcoming book with @uwapress.uw.edu. The “Studies of Ethnic Groups In China” series (edited by none other than @steveharrell.bsky.social) continues to be a vital resource for scholars in the field! uwapress.uw.edu/book/9780295...

uwapress.uw.edu

Settling Xinjiang

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Timothy Grose @timothyagrose.bsky.social · 16/04/2026

ehhh. @degruyterbrill.bsky.social, this wasn't what I had in mind when I suggested a special volume (which, I don't think ever happened) after your editor censored my introduction. Instead we get Sautman? A look at the bibliography reveals it isn't thorough or good-faith. brill.com/display/titl...

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Timothy Grose @timothyagrose.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

Shipment from China just arrived!

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Timothy Grose @timothyagrose.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

Turkish vlogger describes the mosque in Toyuq (تۇيۇق)

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Timothy Grose @timothyagrose.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

These plans do not contain explicit references to Uyghur culture, history, religion, or even Uyghurs as largest population of the city... i'm afraid the transformation of Kashgar has only begun

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Reposted by Timothy Grose

Association for Asian Studies @asianstudies.org · 10/02/2026

Call for Applications: Luce/ACLS Collaborative Grant in China Studies, which offers a grant of up to $120,000 to design and implement initiatives over a period of 12-18 months. Letters of intent are due by March 31. www.acls.org/competitions/luce-acls…

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Timothy Grose @timothyagrose.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

Stills of a Kashgar knife shop captured from a Vlog posted four months ago...

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Timothy Grose @timothyagrose.bsky.social · 04/11/2025

Maybe just a moment of discouragement, but between @lauratmurphy.bsky.social censorship @sheffieldhallamuni.bsky.social, @manuginobili.bsky.social in Hangzhou for an NBA event, and booming tourism in XJ, it’s hard not to feel corporate interests win—and impossible to ignore the Uyghurs left behind

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Timothy Grose @timothyagrose.bsky.social · 03/11/2025

Amazing World Peace Mandala timelapse created by RHIT Communication and Marketing's David Essex and Bryan Cantwell (uploaded and shared with their permission) youtu.be/E4sHiF3WQKs

youtu.be

Mandala Time Lapse

YouTube video by Heaven is High and The Emperor is Far Away 天高皇帝远

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Timothy Grose @timothyagrose.bsky.social · 30/10/2025

A Chinese State Media broadcast that describes some of the Party's strategies to control Tibetan monasteries from within. youtu.be/2-h2Qm0Uhas

youtu.be

Chinese State Media Report on Monastery Management in Tibet

YouTube video by Heaven is High and The Emperor is Far Away 天高皇帝远

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Timothy Grose @timothyagrose.bsky.social · 29/10/2025

Not at all new, but a post last week from Kashgar shows that education officials are doubling down on Sinification in Uyghur majority schools. "说国家通用语言、写国家通用语言文字”已成为校园里的新风尚" Speaking and writing the national common language have become the campus' new trends"

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Timothy Grose @timothyagrose.bsky.social · 29/10/2025

trip down memory lane took me to footage from the Labrang Mosque...now almost ten years ago. youtu.be/cxv-YpWzEpA

youtu.be

Salat at the Labrang Mosque

YouTube video by Heaven is High and The Emperor is Far Away 天高皇帝远

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Timothy Grose @timothyagrose.bsky.social · 03/10/2025

The Tashi Kyil monks are on break now, but tune in to see them put the finishing touches on the mandala and stay for its deconstruction www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9qw...

youtube.com

Mandala last day

YouTube video by Heaven is High and The Emperor is Far Away 天高皇帝远

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Timothy Grose @timothyagrose.bsky.social · 02/10/2025

I forget how it goes exactly, but there is a saying about surrounding yourself with people smarter than you. well, that's my strategy. humbled to be part of this team, honored to receive this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity from LUCE/ @acls1919.bsky.social and motivated to make this project special

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Reposted by Timothy Grose

Maura Elizabeth Cunningham @mauracunningham.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

Big congratulations to @timothyagrose.bsky.social @drdavidtobin.bsky.social @emilyupson.bsky.social, who received a Luce/ACLS Collaborative Grant in China Studies for their project, "Un-Settling Xinjiang: Archiving, Digitizing and Curating Knowledge of Settler Colonial Violence in China and Beyond."

acls.org

Recent Fellows

Formed in 1919, ACLS is a nonprofit federation of 81 scholarly organizations. As the preeminent representative of American scholarship in the humanities and social sciences, ACLS holds a core belief…

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Timothy Grose @timothyagrose.bsky.social · 13/07/2025

I recorded this talk for a conference I attended virtually after tech difficulties prevented the audience from seeing the slides. The images are pretty powerful. Although not professionally edited, I hate to think that it was just collecting digital dust in my hard drive. youtu.be/7YyA3nUwh9k

youtu.be

"'#Uyghurs are #uyghurs they aren't Muslims'" (talk on religious restrictions and secularization)

YouTube video by Heaven is High and The Emperor is Far Away 天高皇帝远

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Timothy Grose @timothyagrose.bsky.social · 06/05/2025

make no mistake: the program is about surveillance. the Party forced residents to "open" the one intimate space the existed beyond the reach of the government

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Timothy Grose @timothyagrose.bsky.social · 06/05/2025

lso, as shown in the poster, each family is assigned a cadre. In this case, because the family is "regular" (一般户 ئادەتتىكى ئائىلە) and not "trustworthy" they would be subjected to more overnight stays from their assigned cadre (帮扶干部). for example, archive.ph/9SEgm

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Timothy Grose @timothyagrose.bsky.social · 06/05/2025

Happy when vloggers unwittingly post evidence of state violence in the region. This poster is from the fanghuiju (sometimes called "becoming family--long story) campaign. As shown, each family is designated as either "regular" (true here) "trustworthy" or "untrustworthy..."

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Timothy Grose @timothyagrose.bsky.social · 10/04/2025

I’m guessing the officials’ thoughts are, if we make it easier for Uyghur families to send their children to neigaoban (a boarding school) or college by having few children, then they will voluntarily have fewer children. Of course, “longterm” birth control measures are the real key to the equation

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Timothy Grose @timothyagrose.bsky.social · 10/04/2025

A combination of certificates for having fewer children, a one time 6000rmb subsidy with 150 yuan given each month “long-term” birth control measures are used, and bonus points for children on entrance exams saw new births in this rural Uyghur village drop over 50% in 4 years

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Timothy Grose @timothyagrose.bsky.social · 05/04/2025

And yes, sama was performed at Eid...after thousands prayed at the mosque

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Timothy Grose @timothyagrose.bsky.social · 05/04/2025

Children would stay up late--shops would show movies for families to watch together (maybe Bloodsport wasn't the best choice!)

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Timothy Grose @timothyagrose.bsky.social · 05/04/2025

People celebrated iftar in the streets! Every evening came alive with chatter and laughter

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Timothy Grose @timothyagrose.bsky.social · 05/04/2025

Young people would meet at the food hall above the Arman market and wait patiently for their cell phones to buzz indicating that the day's fast was over. Having just recited du'a, the young women feigns wiping her face

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Timothy Grose @timothyagrose.bsky.social · 05/04/2025

This sign reads: "[We're] sorry. Food is not being served"

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Timothy Grose @timothyagrose.bsky.social · 05/04/2025

Many restaurants were closed except for iftar and dinner, as this sign indicates; "[Only] 'iftar' and dinner will be served."

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Timothy Grose @timothyagrose.bsky.social · 05/04/2025

as the sign in this image states, some snacks were dedicated specifically for women

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Timothy Grose @timothyagrose.bsky.social · 05/04/2025

Men waited around tables to break their fasts with snacks of dates (following the Prophet), fruit, and nan

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Timothy Grose @timothyagrose.bsky.social · 05/04/2025

People even closed their shops throughout the day to pray. This sign explains: "It's prayer time, please wait a moment."

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Timothy Grose @timothyagrose.bsky.social · 05/04/2025

The number of prayer goers at a jume prayer in Urumchi was so great, they had to perform namaz on the street

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Timothy Grose @timothyagrose.bsky.social · 05/04/2025

Ramadan Day 1 Kashgar: The faithful poured out of Heytgah in the hundreds if not thousands.

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Timothy Grose @timothyagrose.bsky.social · 05/04/2025

All these Ramadan--and now Eid--posts about the "freeness" of religious expression in Xinjiang by folks, some dressing up like they're some sort of sultan... For reference, here are some of the rituals, practices, and celebrations of the sacred month before authorities tightened restrictions.

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Timothy Grose @timothyagrose.bsky.social · 04/04/2025

So lemme get this straight. Move to XJ on a whim while finishing a PhD. “Out of nowhere” met someone who knows Senuber Tursun who then agrees to teach you dutur. Well regardless how it panned out, I hope he asks her about the trouble she found herself in for “endangering state security” @shahit.biz

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Timothy Grose @timothyagrose.bsky.social · 03/04/2025

we should all just stay off Twitter--the dull stupidity. the post says, "Ramadan in Xinjiang--blah blah--can we celebrate". Well this is Eid--Ramadan is over. the police say, yeah you can dance and do a lot of things... no mention of fasting. why are you dressed like that, bruh?

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Reposted by Timothy Grose

Xinjiang Victims Database @shahit.biz · 08/03/2025

Adding the transcription/translation of phone calls from Radio Free Asia Uyghur that confirmed the detention of young linguistics scholar Nebijan Hebibulla (shahit.biz/eng/1544/). He was detained in February 2018, while a professor at Xinjiang University, and given 15 years.

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Timothy Grose @timothyagrose.bsky.social · 06/03/2025

Thrilled and honored to be part of this year’s cohort of Wilson Fellows! I hope my project about how low level cadres in the Uyghur homeland blog about their work will demonstrate the seriousness of the crisis to a much broader audience www.wilsoncenter.org/article/wils...

wilsoncenter.org

Wilson Center Announces 2025-26 Wilson China Fellowship Class

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Reposted by Timothy Grose

Jim Millward @jimmillward.bsky.social · 02/03/2025

What's been happening in the Uyghur region? it's still dire: 500k-1m detained in prisons and new kanshousuo; assimilating institutionalization of non-Han young, old in boarding schools, nursing homes while working age non-Han pushed to distant forced labor. New report: www.ushmm.org/genocide-pre...

ushmm.org

Eight Years On, China’s Repression of the Uyghurs Remains Dire - United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

The report seeks to improve our collective understanding of China’s ongoing repressive policies in the predominantly Uyghur province of Xinjiang in western China. It finds that, given the available in...

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