Jingwen Li is a historian of medicine engaging with disability media studies and medical anthropology. She works on the history of sensory impairment and the human body across cultural traditions. She specializes in the history of the long 19th and early 20th centuries, with particular attention to East Asia’s role in the global rise of “scientific medicine.”

Jingwen’s dissertation focuses on medical, legal and social disputes over some liminal ocular impairment such as “blurriness” and “visual disturbances” in early clinical encounters between China and the US from the 1830s to the 1930s. Drawing on a rich array of sources—including hospital records, legal documents, missionary writings, business correspondence, scientific journals, and policy papers—her work uncovers overlooked patient experiences and sheds light on the nuanced medical landscape in China during the early development of “scientific medicine.” The project demonstrates how contested standards in diagnosing and healing ocular impairments have shaped evolving understandings of the body, transformations in clinical communication, and the establishment of epistemic and professional authority.

Jingwen received her B.A. in Communication and Philosophy from Renmin University of China and an M.A. in East Asian Studies from Yale University. Jingwen is a 2024–2025 research fellow at the Consortium for the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine.