Wei Yu Wayne Tan

Wei Yu Wayne Tan is an Associate Professor of History at Hope College, where he has been a faculty member since 2016. His scholarly work focuses on disability history with particular emphasis on Japanese society across historical periods.

Tan's research examines how disability, particularly blindness, has been understood and experienced in Japanese history. His work challenges Western-centric narratives about disability by revealing how blind communities in early modern Japan developed professional guilds and social structures that provided both opportunities and constraints. He explores how religious, medical, and social frameworks shaped disability experiences in non-Western contexts.

• Specializes in disability history with focus on Japan
• Examines historical evolution of blindness as a social and medical category
• Challenges assumptions about disability in non-Western contexts
• Connects historical disability frameworks to contemporary issues

His acclaimed 2022 book examines disability in early modern Japan, revealing how blind communities developed professional networks that provided social standing in certain contexts while marginalizing others. Tan's current research extends this work into modern Japan, analyzing how Western medical models influenced disability concepts during Japan's modernization.

Dr. Tan has received significant recognition for his scholarship:

• American Historical Association's 2023 Patricia Buckley Ebrey Prize
• Disability History Association's 2023 Outstanding Book Award

Tan has presented his research at major professional venues including the National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Institute on Global Histories of Disability, the Association for Asian Studies, and the American Historical Association. His teaching portfolio includes world history, Japanese history, East Asian cultural history, Russian history, disability history/studies, pandemics and social history, and history of science and medicine.