Constantine Lignos

Field: Sino-Tibetan History & Religion
Advisor: Gray Tuttle and Jacob Dalton (UC Berkeley)
Email: cjl2212@columbia.edu

Constantine’s research focuses on the history of public ritual performance in Tibet and its Mongol and Manchu adoption in the borderlands.  He is interested in the transference of religious ritual performance (particularly ‘cham/‘chams, the masked monastic dance) to the social and political spheres during the ascendence of the Fifth Dalai Lama and the establishment of the Ganden Phodrang.  More broadly, his project explores the relationship between public ritual and sacral rulership to reconsider the nature of the “theatre state.” He is also compiling a glossary of Tibetan terms relevant to the LGBTQ community. Previously, he received his MA in Tibetan Studies from Columbia and his MA in Performance Studies from NYU Tisch.

Crismon Lewis

Field: Chinese History

Advisor: Feng Li

Email: crismon.lewis@columbia.edu

Crismon Lewis is a Ph.D. candidate of pre-modern Chinese history. His dissertation project, entitled “Western Zhou (1045–771 BCE) Bronze Inscriptions and the Beginnings of Early Chinese Literature,” traces the evolutionary development of early bronze inscriptional practice and explores their literary and aesthetic qualities. His research also concerns questions of literacy and its expansion in early first millennium BCE China.

Prior to joining the EALAC department, Crismon received an M.A. in Chinese from the University of Colorado Boulder and a B.A. in Chinese from Brigham Young University.

Hana Lethen

Field: Japanese Literature
Advisor: Haruo Shirane
Email: hana.lethen@columbia.edu