John Thompson

Field: Chinese History
Advisor: Eugenia Lean
Email: jbt2112@columbia.edu

John’s dissertation, “Air Defense and the Bombing War in China, 1932–1945,” examines the history of bombing and politics in China during the War of Resistance against Japan and the Second World War. Combining insights from political theory, the history of technology, and critical war studies, it examines how China’s Nationalist Party used air defense to build a fascist political community united in life and death, and how air defense developed into a government logic with legacies inherited by the present day. Before coming to Columbia, John received a BA in East Asian Languages and Civilizations from the University of Chicago and a MA in Regional Studies – East Asia from Harvard University.