About Timothy Thurston

I am lecturer in Chinese Studies at the University of Leeds and a UKRI Future Leaders Fellow, researching language, folklore, and society in Northwest China. I am particularly interested in oral cultures of Northwest China, broadly construed to include oral traditions, contemporary hip-hop, and everything in between. In 2015, I completed my dissertation on language, modernity, and Tibetan comedy in Amdo and I am currently writing a manuscript entitled Satirical Tibet: Media, Voice, and Ideology in a Modernizing Amdo. I am also PI of the Tibetan Sustainable Heritage Initiative (TaSHI), which aims to develop new pathways for supporting the vitality and viability of threatened traditional practices and knowledge systems in Tibetan communities within the People's Republic of China.
Folklore and East Asian Studies, Associate Professor in the Study of Contemporary China at the University of Leeds

NBN Episodes hosted by Timothy:

Juwen Zhang, "Oral Traditions in Contemporary China: Healing a Nation" (Lexington Books, 2022)

March 22, 2023

Oral Traditions in Contemporary China

Juwen Zhang
Hosted by Timothy Thurston

Oral Traditions in Contemporary China: Healing a Nation (Lexington Books, 2022) is the newest monograph from Professor Juwen Zhang of Willamette Colle…

Liora Sarfati, "Contemporary Korean Shamanism: From Ritual to Digital" (Indiana UP, 2021)

March 25, 2022

Contemporary Korean Shamanism

Liora Sarfati
Hosted by Timothy Thurston

Once viewed as an embarrassing superstition, the theatrical religious performances of Korean shamans--who communicate with the dead, divine the future…

John Fenn and Lisa Gilman, "Handbook for Folklore and Ethnomusicology Fieldwork" (Indiana UP, 2019)

February 22, 2022

Handbook for Folklore and Ethnomusicology Fieldwork

John Fenn and Lisa Gilman
Hosted by Timothy Thurston

With The Handbook for Folklore and Ethnomusicology Fieldwork (Indiana University Press, 2019), Lisa Gilman and John Fenn offer a comprehensive review …

Ziying You, "Folk Literati, Contested Tradition, and Heritage in Contemporary China: Incense Is Kept Burning" (Indiana UP, 2020)

January 18, 2022

Folk Literati, Contested Tradition, and Heritage in Contemporary China

Ziying You
Hosted by Timothy Thurston

In Folk Literati, Contested Tradition, and Heritage in Contemporary China: Incense Is Kept Burning (Indiana UP, 2020), Ziying You explores the role of…

Mark Bender and Aku Wuwu, trans., "The Nuosu Book of Origins: A Creation Epic from Southwest China" (U Washington Press, 2019)

December 29, 2021

The Nuosu Book of Origins

Translated by Mark Bender and Aku Wuwu
Hosted by Timothy Thurston

The Nuosu people, who were once overlords of vast tracts of farmland and forest in the uplands of southern Sichuan and neighboring provinces, are the …

Lijun Zhang and Ziying You, "Chinese Folklore Studies Today: Discourse and Practice" (Indiana UP, 2020)

February 27, 2020

Chinese Folklore Studies Today

Lijun Zhang and Ziying You
Hosted by Timothy Thurston

The discipline of folkloristics in the People’s Republic of China is robust and well-funded. With thousands of scholars across the country, it is surp…

Charlene Makley, "The Battle for Fortune: State-led Development, Personhood, and Power among Tibetans in China" (Cornell UP, 2018)

February 10, 2020

The Battle for Fortune

Charlene Makley
Hosted by Timothy Thurston

Rebgong, in the Northeastern part of the Tibetan Plateau (China’s Qinghai Province), is in the midst of a ‘Battle for Fortune.’ That is, a battle to b…

Andrea Kitta, "The Kiss of Death: Contagion, Contamination, and Folklore" (Utah State UP, 2019)

December 17, 2019

The Kiss of Death

Andrea Kitta
Hosted by Timothy Thurston

Disease is a social issue and not just a medical one. This is the central tenet underlying The Kiss of Death: Contagion, Contamination, and Folklore (…

Emily Wilcox, "Revolutionary Bodies: Chinese Dance and the Socialist Legacy" (U California Press, 2019)

June 18, 2019

Revolutionary Bodies

Emily Wilcox
Hosted by Timothy Thurston

What is “Chinese dance,” how did it take shape in during China’s socialist period, and how has this socialist form continued to influence Post-Mao exp…

Tsering Döndrup, "The Handsome Monk and Other Stories" (Columbia UP, 2019)

June 12, 2019

The Handsome Monk and Other Stories

Tsering Döndrup
Hosted by Timothy Thurston

A series of stories ranging from two-page narrative excerpts to 90+ page novellas, The Handsome Monk and Other Stories (Columbia University Press, 201…

Levi S. Gibbs, "Song King: Connecting People, Places and Past in Contemporary China" (U Hawaii Press, 2018)

April 2, 2019

Song King

Levi S. Gibbs
Hosted by Timothy Thurston

How does music link people across time and space? How do singers modulate their repertoires to forge links with audiences both within and across local…

Pema Tseden, "Enticement: Stories of Tibet" (SUNY Press, 2018)

February 19, 2019

Enticement

Pema Tseden
Hosted by Timothy Thurston

Though most renowned for his award-winning Tibetan films, Pema Tseden, is also a prolific author and translator. Enticement: Stories of Tibet (State U…

Ben Gatling, "Expressions of Sufi Culture in Tajikistan" (U Wisconsin Press, 2018)

January 22, 2019

Expressions of Sufi Culture in Tajikistan

Ben Gatling
Hosted by Timothy Thurston

George Mason University professor Ben Gatling’s debut book, Expressions of Sufi Culture in Tajikistan (University of Wisconsin Press, 2018), is a beau…

Bill Ivey, "Rebuilding an Enlightened World: Folklorizing America" (Indiana UP, 2018)

October 2, 2018

Rebuilding an Enlightened World

Bill Ivey
Hosted by Timothy Thurston

Bill Ivey’s Rebuilding an Enlightened World: Folklorizing America (Indiana University Press, 2018) advances the idea that we are entering a post-enlig…

Christina Maags and Marina Svensson, "Chinese Heritage in the Making: Experiences, Negotiations, and Contestations" (Amsterdam UP, 2018)

May 25, 2018

Chinese Heritage in the Making

Christina Maags and Marina Svensson, eds.
Hosted by Timothy Thurston

In Chinese Heritage in the Making: Experiences, Negotiations, and Contestations (Amsterdam University Press, 2018), edited by Christina Maags and Mari…

Erik Mueggler, "Songs for Dead Parents: Corpse, Text, and World in Southwest China" (U Chicago Press, 2017)

May 21, 2018

Songs for Dead Parents

Erik Mueggler
Hosted by Timothy Thurston

The Lòlop’ò of Southwest China’s Yunnan Province have a folktale in which they, Han Chinese, and Tibetans were given the technology of writing. The Ha…

Dorothy Noyes, "Humble Theory: Folklore's Grasp on Social Life" (Indiana UP, 2016)

March 22, 2018

Humble Theory

Dorothy Noyes
Hosted by Timothy Thurston

Humble Theory: Folklore's Grasp on Social Life (Indiana University Press, 2016) is an anthology of essays from Dorothy Noyes, professor of English and…

C. Grant and H. Schippers, "Sustainable Futures for Music Cultures: An Ecological Perspective" (Oxford UP, 2016)

February 19, 2018

Sustainable Futures for Music Cultures

Catherine Grant and Huib Schippers, eds.
Hosted by Timothy Thurston

Sustainable Futures for Music Cultures: An Ecological Perspective (Oxford University Press, 2016), a multi-authored volume co-edited by Catherine Gran…

Ray Cashman, "Packy Jim: Folklore and Worldview on the Irish Border" (U Wisconsin Press, 2016)

January 17, 2018

Packy Jim

Ray Cashman
Hosted by Timothy Thurston

How do individuals on national or societal peripheries make use of tradition and to what ends? How can narratives discursively construct a complex wor…

Ian Brodie, "A Vulgar Art: A New Approach to Stand-Up Comedy" (UP of Mississippi, 2014).

November 20, 2017

A Vulgar Art

Ian Brodie
Hosted by Timothy Thurston

In A Vulgar Art: A New Approach to Stand-Up Comedy (The University Press of Mississippi, 2014), Ian Brodie, an associate professor of folklore at Cape…