Ben Hales entered Harvard’s History and East Asian Languages (HEAL) program in 2024. He researches the modern history of China’s relationship with Central Asia, focusing in particular on settler-indigenous and sedentary-pastoral relations from the 1940s-1990s. Beyond history, he has also published on Chinese diplomacy in independent Central Asia since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Ben holds a B.A. in Ancient and Modern History and an MPhil in Modern Chinese Studies, both from the University of Oxford.