Newton Niu is an award-winning documentary filmmaker from China, with nearly two decades of
experience working across state broadcast and independent production. His collaborative and independent
projects have received major international and Chinese awards, including recognition at IDFA and the
Sundance Film Festival.
Based on extensive fieldwork across almost all provinces in China, his work engages with contemporary
Chinese society, politics, and everyday governance, offering a distinctive ground-level perspective shaped

'Decolonising peacebuilding' challenges the dominance of Eurocentric, top-down models that have shaped international interventions, calling instead for approaches grounded in the histories, knowledge systems, and political struggles of communities most affected by conflict.

'Decolonising peacebuilding' challenges the dominance of Eurocentric, top-down models that have shaped international interventions, calling instead for approaches grounded in the histories, knowledge systems, and political struggles of communities most affected by conflict.

When the Islamic empire emerged in the seventh century, it faced a twofold challenge: socializing its population to commit to a unified state that curtailed previous freedoms while subjecting itself to the requirement to adhere to the teachings of the religion through which it legitimized itself. In this presentation, I argue that this dual challenge crystallized in a debate about the rule of law that emerged as early as the first generation of Islam. The debate produced a distinctly constitutional political theory that came to structure classical Islamic law.

Join us for the Nuffield College LGBTQ+ History Month Event 2026

This talk traces how global competition for critical minerals fuels advances in semiconductors, robotics, and AI driving an arms race in superintelligence and energy-hungry data centers. We’ll explore how these forces connect and the choices that will shape our future.