Tianyuan Huang is a PhD student in early modern and modern Japanese history. Through the evolving conceptions, discourses, and practices surrounding female-specific health issues, her research explores the intersection of the history of medicine, gender and sexuality studies, and the sociology of knowledge. In her dissertation, Tianyuan investigates both the deliberate and the unintentional enacting of ignorance in relation to women’s health, analyzing how different forms of “not knowing” shaped social relationships, legal proceedings, along with individuals’ life and death. In addition, Tianyuan is interested in the historical movement of medical texts, techniques, and therapeutic substances in East Asia, as well as digital humanities and the application of historical geographic information systems (HGIS).

Tianyuan received her Bachelor of Laws (2014) and Master of Laws (2017) in International Politics from Peking University and a Master of Public Policy (2017) from the University of Tokyo. Before entering the PhD program at Columbia University, she worked for an LGBTI rights NGO as a part-time researcher with a focus on international human rights mechanisms and human rights diplomacy.