Ben Hales entered Harvard’s History and East Asian Languages (HEAL) PhD program in 2024. He primarily researches PRC ethnic policies and the relationship between indigenous societies and the state in the region variously described as Xinjiang/Chinese Central Asia/The Uyghur Region, during the Mao (1949-1976) and immediate post-Mao (1976-1991) eras. He has also published on Chinese diplomacy with Central Asian countries since the collapse of the Soviet Union.