Disability Matters Online Symposia 2026: China and Disability

This a free online event taking place via Zoom on Thursday 13th August, 2026, from 10-11.15am UK/ 5-6.15pm China.

Disability Matters is a major  six year pan-national programme of disability, health and science research, funded by a Wellcome Trust Discretionary Award. 

A key ambition of Disability Matters is to make disability the driving subject of research. We will be promoting scholarship that demonstates the contribution of disability studies to a host of fields including medicine, medical humanities, medical sociology, science and technology studies, health sciences, population health as well as other key areas including education, law, business, legal studies, health psychology, social work, etc. 

The theme of this online symposium will be on China and disability, with three brilliant speaker presenting their work on disability inclusion in employment and education. 

Agenda

• Introduction (5 minutes)
• Three x spoken provocations (10 minutes x 3)
• Q&A (15 minutes) 
• Open discussion (20 minutes) 
• Closing (5 minutes)

Total duration: 1 hour 15 minutes 

Speakers 

Title: A Life Course Perspective on Disability: Education-to-Work Transitions of People with Visual Impairments in China

Dr Minjie Chen is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the School of Government, Shenzhen University, China. She holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of Nottingham. Her interdisciplinary training spans social work and social science research methods, and her research focuses on disability, accessibility, inclusive public services, and urban governance.

Her early work examines the life course experiences of people with visual impairments in China, focusing on education-to-work transitions, institutional barriers, and the production of inequality across the life course. Building on this foundation, her current research expands into accessible city development and urban governance, with particular attention to the gap between accessibility policy design and lived experiences of diverse user groups. She is actively involved in research projects and fieldwork on accessible city initiatives in China.

Dr Chen has published several peer-reviewed articles in the international journals, covering disability, education, gender, and social vulnerability. She serves as an Editorial Board Member of Disability & Society (SSCI), and is a regular reviewer for multiple SSCI journals in the field of disability and social policy.

Her forthcoming work includes several journal articles, two co-authored book chapters with Springer and Palgrave Macmillan, as well as a sole-authored monograph under contract with Peter Lang. She is the winner of the Peter Lang 2026 Emerging Scholars Competition in Disability Studies within Education Contexts.

Title: Interfaces That Buffer: Disability-Led Data Labelling and the Making of Actionable Participation in China

Jinna He is a postdoctoral researcher at Guangzhou University. Her research sits at the intersection of communication, disability studies, and science and technology studies. Her current work examines data labelling as an emerging form of diverse employment for disabled people in China, with a particular focus on visually impaired workers, accessibility practices, and the everyday negotiation of digital work. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, life-history interviews, and collaborative research with organisations of persons with disabilities, her work explores how disabled workers and disability-led organisations navigate, adapt, and reshape digital infrastructures in order to make work participation more accessible and sustainable.

Title: Engaging with Tensions and Dilemmas in Inclusive Pedagogical Practice with the Lens of Critical Realism

Zitian Zeng: For the past decade, Zitian’s work has focused on how research and practice can come together to ensure quality educational experiences for all students, through the development of inclusive classroom practices and teachers’ responses to learners’ individual differences. Her current research interests centre on inclusive pedagogy, inclusive practices, teacher-student relationships and trauma-informed schooling practices. Zitian started her professional career as a classroom teacher in Hong Kong, in a specialist school for both primary- and secondary-aged students with physical disabilities. Thereafter, she completed a PhD from the University of Cambridge. Alongside her research, she enjoys contributing to school and university teaching in both the UK and Hong Kong, communicating meaningful research findings to teachers and other educators, and facilitating collaboration between different professionals to enable children and young people to participate fully in education.

Timezones

We are a pan-national programme and encourage attendees from all over the world. Therefore your timezone may differ from what is listed above. 

Access

When you purchase a ticket, you will receive a confirmation email. For security reasons, please ensure that you join the meeting with the same name as the one used in the sign up. We will not be able to admit you into the meeting if your name does not match the attendee list.

A reminder email will be sent a week before the event. A second reminder email with the Zoom link and joining details will be shared 24 hours ahead of the event.

Written copies of the speaker’s talks will be made available before the session via our website.

Attendees are welcome to join or leave the event at any time. Participating in the Q&A and discussion is optional.

Stay connected

For more information and news, follow us on social media and visit our website.

Twitter: @DisMatters

Bluesky: @dismatters.bsky.social

Instagram: disability_matters

Website: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/ihuman/disability-matters

If you have any questions or would like to talk to our team about adjustments or requirements, you can send an email to disabilitymatters@sheffield.ac.uk