Research
China, the Arab world & global empire
My first book project, Invisible Entanglements, traces Chinese–Arab connections from the late nineteenth century through World War II.
Read about the project →Historian · Teacher · Public Scholar
Shuang Wen
I am a historian of modern China and the Arab world whose research and teaching explore connections across regions, languages, and communities that are often studied separately.
I work at the intersections of modern East Asian and Middle Eastern history, global and transregional history, Islam and Muslims in China, Chinese–Arab relations, and the history of medicine, illness, and care.
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Connecting worlds usually studied apart
My scholarship asks what becomes visible when China and the Arab world are placed in the same historical frame—through empire, migration, religion, intellectual exchange, commerce, medicine, and everyday life.
Teaching
Global history beyond the classroom
I use primary sources, fieldwork, oral history, immersive learning, and place-based inquiry to help students understand historical connections through lived experience.
Explore my teaching →Community
Oral history, health & public engagement
My community-facing work links historical inquiry with oral history, migration, religious communities, health, caregiving, and contemporary urban life.
See engagement projects →Current research
My research portfolio is expanding from transregional histories of empire and mobility toward medicine, oral history, and the experiences of Chinese Muslim communities.
Invisible Entanglements
Chinese–Arab Connections in the Age of Global Empires
Drawing on Chinese- and Arabic-language sources and research conducted across China, the Middle East, Europe, and the United States, the project examines how seemingly distant societies became connected through global imperial networks.
Global historyChinese–Arab relationsEmpireMobility
Medicine, illness & care
My current work investigates breast cancer among women in China, including Chinese Muslim women, through oral history, archival research, and the study of biomedical treatment, traditional medicine, religion, gender, work, family, and caregiving.
History of medicineOral historyGenderCare
Teaching through connection
My courses invite students to move between archives and streets, texts and communities, historical argument and direct observation. Experiential learning is not an add-on to my teaching; it is one of the ways students learn how historical knowledge is made.