Wayne Soon
@waynesoon.bsky.social
Historian of Medicine, China, Taiwan, and Diaspora at the University of Minnesota. Associate Professor. Currently researching on global health insurance histories in East Asia. https://a.co/d/4tahHXR
Pinned
Wayne Soon
@waynesoon.bsky.social
· Nov 19
Health Insurance, Medicine, and Society in Taiwan: Chinese Authoritarianism, Taiwanese Ethnicities, and Global Actuarial Science
This article explores the history of the Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang KMT) government’s expansion of health insurance in Taiwan from 1950 to the 2010s through the lens of ethnicity, politi...
www.tandfonline.com
Pleased to share my new article on the history of health insurance in Taiwan through the lens of ethnicity, politics, and global health. (Open Access) 1/
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Wayne Soon
I spoke to Josh Edbrooke at National Taiwan Normal University's International Taiwan Studies Centre about my book, In the Global Vanguard: Agrarian Development and the Making of Modern Taiwan. Many thanks to Josh for the thoughtful questions and discussion audioboom.com/posts/879447...
In the Global Vanguard, with Professor James Lin
Professor James Lin from the University of Washington shares the backstory to his latest book and demonstrates how Taiwan's early development missions impacted Taiwan's own population in ways ...
audioboom.com
October 30, 2025 at 4:51 PM
I spoke to Josh Edbrooke at National Taiwan Normal University's International Taiwan Studies Centre about my book, In the Global Vanguard: Agrarian Development and the Making of Modern Taiwan. Many thanks to Josh for the thoughtful questions and discussion audioboom.com/posts/879447...
Reposted by Wayne Soon
A podcast on my book Island Tinkerers is available today. Thanks to senior programs manager Adrienne Wu at Global Taiwan Institute for arranging the interview and publishing the podcast! 華府的智庫「全球台灣研究中心」幫我做了一個關於我的新書以及台灣科技產業的軟實力的訪談，是智庫的經理吳至芳主持的「台灣沙龍」這個節目的最新一集喔，歡迎大家線上收聽！謝謝至芳！
mailchi.mp/globaltaiwan...
mailchi.mp/globaltaiwan...
October 30, 2025 at 3:12 PM
A podcast on my book Island Tinkerers is available today. Thanks to senior programs manager Adrienne Wu at Global Taiwan Institute for arranging the interview and publishing the podcast! 華府的智庫「全球台灣研究中心」幫我做了一個關於我的新書以及台灣科技產業的軟實力的訪談，是智庫的經理吳至芳主持的「台灣沙龍」這個節目的最新一集喔，歡迎大家線上收聽！謝謝至芳！
mailchi.mp/globaltaiwan...
mailchi.mp/globaltaiwan...
I think the rise of an anti covid vaccine movement in Japan and the rise of Sanseito requires an in depth studies. I’ll be interested to read scholarly studies on the history of contemporary vaccines in Japan, in relations to the rise of right wing populism. 1/
www.asahi.com/sp/ajw/artic...
www.asahi.com/sp/ajw/artic...
Sanseito retains populist message after silencing vaccine stance | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis
The minor opposition party Sanseito, which is projected to capture double-digit seats in the July 20 Upper House election, has muted some of its conspiracy theories.
www.asahi.com
August 21, 2025 at 11:52 PM
I think the rise of an anti covid vaccine movement in Japan and the rise of Sanseito requires an in depth studies. I’ll be interested to read scholarly studies on the history of contemporary vaccines in Japan, in relations to the rise of right wing populism. 1/
www.asahi.com/sp/ajw/artic...
www.asahi.com/sp/ajw/artic...
Reposted by Wayne Soon
Read Wayne Soon's review of Fighting for Health: Medicine in Cold War Southeast Asia Edited by C. Michele Thompson, Kathryn Sweet, and Michitake Aso
From the new issue of Technology & Culture, available at @projectmuse.bsky.social
muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/articl...
From the new issue of Technology & Culture, available at @projectmuse.bsky.social
muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/articl...
July 28, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Read Wayne Soon's review of Fighting for Health: Medicine in Cold War Southeast Asia Edited by C. Michele Thompson, Kathryn Sweet, and Michitake Aso
From the new issue of Technology & Culture, available at @projectmuse.bsky.social
muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/articl...
From the new issue of Technology & Culture, available at @projectmuse.bsky.social
muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/articl...
Reposted by Wayne Soon
Woohoo, I have page proofs for my book!
July 28, 2025 at 11:56 AM
Woohoo, I have page proofs for my book!
Reposted by Wayne Soon
Review in Technology and Culture of "Fighting for Health" by @waynesoon.bsky.social:
"In sum, this is an excellent volume that deserves to be widely read by scholars of the #ColdWar, military medicine, #healthcare, and (post)colonialism."
Read: muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/articl...
"In sum, this is an excellent volume that deserves to be widely read by scholars of the #ColdWar, military medicine, #healthcare, and (post)colonialism."
Read: muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/articl...
July 24, 2025 at 3:40 AM
Review in Technology and Culture of "Fighting for Health" by @waynesoon.bsky.social:
"In sum, this is an excellent volume that deserves to be widely read by scholars of the #ColdWar, military medicine, #healthcare, and (post)colonialism."
Read: muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/articl...
"In sum, this is an excellent volume that deserves to be widely read by scholars of the #ColdWar, military medicine, #healthcare, and (post)colonialism."
Read: muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/articl...
Pleased to share my review in T&C on the edited volume on Fighting for Health: Medicine in Cold War Southeast Asia. @nuspress.bsky.social
I enjoyed reading the essays in the volume, and learned a lot from them.
muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/articl...
I enjoyed reading the essays in the volume, and learned a lot from them.
muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/articl...
July 23, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Pleased to share my review in T&C on the edited volume on Fighting for Health: Medicine in Cold War Southeast Asia. @nuspress.bsky.social
I enjoyed reading the essays in the volume, and learned a lot from them.
muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/articl...
I enjoyed reading the essays in the volume, and learned a lot from them.
muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/articl...
Ebook version of my 2020 book, Global Medicine in China: A Diasporic History is on sale at $16 from @stanfordpress.bsky.social Consider buying a copy!
www.sup.org/books/asian-...
www.sup.org/books/asian-...
July 18, 2025 at 1:26 AM
Ebook version of my 2020 book, Global Medicine in China: A Diasporic History is on sale at $16 from @stanfordpress.bsky.social Consider buying a copy!
www.sup.org/books/asian-...
www.sup.org/books/asian-...
Pleased to share my interview with the excellent team at the Infectious Historians podcast.
I hope it will be useful for folks interested in incorporating the history of SARS and COVID in a non-western context in their classes!
infectioushistorians.com/2025/05/09/c...
I hope it will be useful for folks interested in incorporating the history of SARS and COVID in a non-western context in their classes!
infectioushistorians.com/2025/05/09/c...
Episode 137 – Covid in Taiwan with Wayne Soon, Infectious Historians
Marian Devotion and Plague in Late Medieval Italy with Bianca Lopez Episode 134 - March 7, 2025 Bianca Lopez (Southern Methodist University) joins the...
infectioushistorians.com
July 12, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Pleased to share my interview with the excellent team at the Infectious Historians podcast.
I hope it will be useful for folks interested in incorporating the history of SARS and COVID in a non-western context in their classes!
infectioushistorians.com/2025/05/09/c...
I hope it will be useful for folks interested in incorporating the history of SARS and COVID in a non-western context in their classes!
infectioushistorians.com/2025/05/09/c...
Pleased to be sharing my review essay in HSNS on “New Directions in Global Health Histories of China and Taiwan”. I reviewed Mary Brazelton, Rachel Core, Fang Xiaoping and Yi-Tang Lin’s monographs & identified key themes in global health histories.
online.ucpress.edu/hsns/article...
online.ucpress.edu/hsns/article...
June 30, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Pleased to be sharing my review essay in HSNS on “New Directions in Global Health Histories of China and Taiwan”. I reviewed Mary Brazelton, Rachel Core, Fang Xiaoping and Yi-Tang Lin’s monographs & identified key themes in global health histories.
online.ucpress.edu/hsns/article...
online.ucpress.edu/hsns/article...
Enjoyed reading Tristan Brown‘s book. Pairs well with Rogaski’s new book on Knowing Manchuria, which I enjoyed reading too. 1/ @tristangbrown.bsky.social @princetonupress.bsky.social
June 3, 2025 at 12:48 AM
Enjoyed reading Tristan Brown‘s book. Pairs well with Rogaski’s new book on Knowing Manchuria, which I enjoyed reading too. 1/ @tristangbrown.bsky.social @princetonupress.bsky.social
May 26, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Read Rana Mitter’s piece in FP’s latest issue. I enjoyed it, but was also hoping that some of Sulmaan Wasif Khan’s insights in his recent book on US-China-Taiwan historical relations will make it more into the piece.
www.foreignaffairs.com/china/once-a...
www.foreignaffairs.com/china/once-a...
The Once and Future China
If you dropped in to China at any point in its modern history and tried to project 20 years into the future, you would almost certainly end up getting it wrong. In 1900, no one serving in the late Qin...
www.foreignaffairs.com
May 26, 2025 at 1:29 AM
Read Rana Mitter’s piece in FP’s latest issue. I enjoyed it, but was also hoping that some of Sulmaan Wasif Khan’s insights in his recent book on US-China-Taiwan historical relations will make it more into the piece.
www.foreignaffairs.com/china/once-a...
www.foreignaffairs.com/china/once-a...
Do folks know of any presses that are open to publishing shorter monographs, besides Columbia Shorts and Cambridge Elements? Thanks!
May 21, 2025 at 6:59 PM
Do folks know of any presses that are open to publishing shorter monographs, besides Columbia Shorts and Cambridge Elements? Thanks!
Reposted by Wayne Soon
I had a lot of fun teaching the Geopolitics of Chips session in today's HUDT3001 class using Honghong Tinn's fantastic new book, Island Tinkerers.
I'm not sure whether my students understood the technical details I explained, but they recognize the centrality of high-end chips produced in Taiwan.
I'm not sure whether my students understood the technical details I explained, but they recognize the centrality of high-end chips produced in Taiwan.
April 15, 2025 at 2:54 PM
I had a lot of fun teaching the Geopolitics of Chips session in today's HUDT3001 class using Honghong Tinn's fantastic new book, Island Tinkerers.
I'm not sure whether my students understood the technical details I explained, but they recognize the centrality of high-end chips produced in Taiwan.
I'm not sure whether my students understood the technical details I explained, but they recognize the centrality of high-end chips produced in Taiwan.
Reposted by Wayne Soon
AAHM Asia network breakfast meeting. Great to meet everyone! @aahmhistmed.bsky.social
May 3, 2025 at 4:18 AM
AAHM Asia network breakfast meeting. Great to meet everyone! @aahmhistmed.bsky.social
With Singapore's election in two days time, a couple of academic readings to recommend on Sg.
Carl Trock's approach showed the impt of understanding the (post)colonial histories--control over raw materials & human resources were central themes of ruling authorities on the island 1/
Carl Trock's approach showed the impt of understanding the (post)colonial histories--control over raw materials & human resources were central themes of ruling authorities on the island 1/
Singapore: Wealth, Power and the Culture of Control
This volume examines Singapore’s culture of control, exploring the city-state’s colonial heritage as well as the forces that have helped to mould its current social landscape. Taking a comparative app...
www.routledge.com
May 1, 2025 at 12:21 AM
With Singapore's election in two days time, a couple of academic readings to recommend on Sg.
Carl Trock's approach showed the impt of understanding the (post)colonial histories--control over raw materials & human resources were central themes of ruling authorities on the island 1/
Carl Trock's approach showed the impt of understanding the (post)colonial histories--control over raw materials & human resources were central themes of ruling authorities on the island 1/
Reposted by Wayne Soon
Anna Shields and I have organized the first China-Princeton Digital Humanities workshop! This week-long workshop on the digital humanities for Chinese studies will be held in person at Princeton University, June 16th to 20th!
chinesedh2025.eas.princeton.edu
chinesedh2025.eas.princeton.edu
China-Princeton Digital Humanities Workshop 2025
chinesedh2025.eas.princeton.edu
April 18, 2025 at 8:57 PM
Anna Shields and I have organized the first China-Princeton Digital Humanities workshop! This week-long workshop on the digital humanities for Chinese studies will be held in person at Princeton University, June 16th to 20th!
chinesedh2025.eas.princeton.edu
chinesedh2025.eas.princeton.edu
Reposted by Wayne Soon
Photos from talks at Luther College in Iowa (Wednesday), w/my host & the great poster another undergrad made for the event & at U of Minnesota (Thursday, photo t
by @waynesoon.bsky.social), also spoke at Carleton (Tuesday), introduced there by Tun Myint (a local prof & someone I profile in my book)
by @waynesoon.bsky.social), also spoke at Carleton (Tuesday), introduced there by Tun Myint (a local prof & someone I profile in my book)
April 18, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Photos from talks at Luther College in Iowa (Wednesday), w/my host & the great poster another undergrad made for the event & at U of Minnesota (Thursday, photo t
by @waynesoon.bsky.social), also spoke at Carleton (Tuesday), introduced there by Tun Myint (a local prof & someone I profile in my book)
by @waynesoon.bsky.social), also spoke at Carleton (Tuesday), introduced there by Tun Myint (a local prof & someone I profile in my book)
Congratulations @jamestwotree.bsky.social! Looking forward to reading this very important book!
April 10, 2025 at 9:08 PM
Congratulations @jamestwotree.bsky.social! Looking forward to reading this very important book!
I-mei, Wei-chuan foods, and Taiwanese food ind. are probably going to do very well in the short term; predict a surging export to the US, esp. to Asian supermarkets and restaurants stateside with the way the tariffs are structured. #surging
www.washingtonpost.com/style/2025/0...
www.washingtonpost.com/style/2025/0...
The most surprising things Americans are panic buying amid tariff fears
Can you buy dried seaweed or imported cat food in bulk? Devoted shoppers have been trying to find out.
www.washingtonpost.com
April 10, 2025 at 7:27 PM
I-mei, Wei-chuan foods, and Taiwanese food ind. are probably going to do very well in the short term; predict a surging export to the US, esp. to Asian supermarkets and restaurants stateside with the way the tariffs are structured. #surging
www.washingtonpost.com/style/2025/0...
www.washingtonpost.com/style/2025/0...