Congratulations! Class of 2024

Faculty Advisor: Robin McNeal

“Jessie Benkert got me through a tough moment at Cornell. I had been away from teaching what used to be my old workhorse, Introduction to China, for many years, and was coming back to it but had somehow decided to completely rewrite the course. Every once in a while, a course just doesn’t feel like it lands with the audience in the right way. This was close enough to our restart after the pandemic that students would sit, in large numbers, in the classroom before class, quiet and with all the lights off, as if still hiding out from a frightening world. I wasn’t sure I was connecting with anyone in the lectures that followed those dark beginnings. But Jessie was fully engaged. Sometimes just that one student is enough - she would come up after class with questions that showed she was really thinking through the themes of the course, and connecting course content to what she learned in other classes or what was going on around her. That is, of course, one of the highest goals of the humanities - to make thoughtful connections with people, ideas, and events around you and well beyond you. When, near the end of the class, Jessie asked me to sign on as her advisor it was a very easy “yes.” She went on to work more closely, I think, with some of our other faculty, and since I was away on leave during her final semester, we did not get the chance to sustain the same interactions during her senior year, but I know she stayed fully engaged with her major, and I expect big things from her in the future. Thanks, Jessie, for making that class much more of a joy than it would have been without you, and please do go forward with all the curiosity and enthusiasm I saw in you back then.” Robin McNeal

Faculty Advisor: Ivanna Yi

“It has been a pleasure to advise Aja’nae for the past few years. Aja’nae creativity and strong writing skills stand out, as do her wide range of interests. In office hours, we have had conversations ranging from contemporary Korean dramas to Korean R&B music, and she often brought her expertise on these subjects to the classroom. What a joy, too, to see Aja’nae sharing her acting and screenwriting skills in a contemporary film adaptation of a traditional p’ansori tale, one of the most memorable final projects I've seen. Congratulations, Aja'nae!” Ivanna Yi 

Faculty Advisor: Jane-Marie Law

“During his time as a student here at Cornell, I have seen Brennan O’Brion find his own voice and path. He came here to do Computer Science and is leaving having been admitted to a number of top graduate programs in Clinical Psychology and Counseling. In every class I had with Brennan in it, he was the quiet student who modeled kindness, inclusiveness, and reflection. He also found his intellectual and spiritual doppelganger in the Japanese Zen poet Ryôkan. Brennan would often memorize poems by his favorite poets and share them at just the right moment. As the world feels like it is getting meaner, less forgiving, more cynical, and less civil, this student reminded me of why I teach. At Cornell we celebrate a lot of different kinds of brilliance. I am glad that through Brennan I have come to recognize the true radiance of humble humaneness and gentle depth.” Jane-Marie Law

Faculty Advisor: Andrew Campana

"Jocelyn Tripoli is an incredibly thoughtful and impressive researcher, whose work has taken her to some of the most important but understudied topics within Japan studies. As the department's first Diversity Research Grant winner, she did groundbreaking work on the cultural and legal history of gender minorities. What she accomplished in her time here at the undergraduate level is genuinely significant, and I can't wait to see what she does next!" Andrew Campana

Faculty Advisor: Ding Xiang Warner

“Lulu Yuan has been an absolute delight to work with. She is impressively self-motivated, intellectually curious, and blessed with talent in abundance. At Cornell she counts literature, creative writing, and foreign languages—especially Japanese and German—among her favorite subjects. Lulu has distinguished herself not only with a stellar academic record but the impressive feat of graduating a full year ahead of schedule, earning a major in Asian Studies and a minor in Psychology. In her spare time, Lulu enjoys working as a language consultant at Cornell’s Center for Teaching Innovation and helping international PhD students to hone their English language skills in preparation for their teaching assistantship assignments. She is also an avid Vlogger, with postings of her life as an international student in the United States, her experience as a world traveler, and tips on learning English. After graduating from Cornell, Lulu will pursue this passion for sharing her knowledge by working at Hamilton College as a Chinese Language Teaching Fellow. I wish her the very best as she embarks on this next phase of her life’s journey.” Ding Xiang Warner

Faculty Advisor: Nick Admussen
Triple Major in Asian Studies, Computer Sciences, and China Asia-Pacific Program (CAPS)

“Eric Zhang is a triple major in Asian Studies, Computer Science, and the China Asia-Pacific Program, a student in our heritage Chinese language program, and an alumnus of Cornell’s semester abroad in Beijing. Throughout his degree he has consistently pushed to broaden his experience, his horizons, and his skills, whether that meant study in China, integrating his STEM and humanities education, or studying Greek and Roman philosophy in the department of classics. He will arrive at his first job in the technology industry as an immensely capable, rounded, effective and humane young professional. Congratulations, Eric!” Nick Admussen

Faculty Advisors: Karim-Aly Kassam (chair), Sarah Besky (minor member), John Zinda (minor member)
Thesis Title: "Tourism, Vulnerability, and Adaptation on Nepal's Tamang Heritage Trail"

“Ian undertook MA research on Tourism, Vulnerability, and Adaptation on Nepal's Tamang Heritage Trail under challenging conditions towards the end of the pandemic navigating both physical and cultural challenges. He learned Nepali and worked with young indigenous scholars while undertaking fieldwork in the communities of Briddhim and Gatlang in Rasuwa District, Nepal. Combining mixed methods that utilized both qualitative and quantitative insights, he has produced scholarly work that makes a significant contribution and prepares the basis for future doctoral work that may be pursued by him and others. Congratulations Ian!” Karim-Aly Kassam

Faculty Advisors: Nick Admussen (chair), Shaoling Ma (minor member)
Thesis Title: “Echoes of an Era: Disco Culture in 1980s China and Its Contemporary Representations”

“Hong Xiao, who you can call Iris Hong, has greatly contributed to the campus community during her time at Cornell. One way is with her project on filmed dance in the late twentieth century, an essay that promises to give us an affective and bodily history of the great changes of the eighties and nineties in China. A second way is through exemplary work as a publishing assistant at the Cornell East Asia Series of the Cornell University Press. The third is assuredly as a trusted friend and supporter to the women and men who studied alongside her. Thank you, Xiao, and we wish you the absolute best in your future work!” Nick Admussen

Faculty advisors: Tamara Loos (chair), Arnika Fuhrmann (minor member)
Thesis Title: “Revolting Schoolgirls: Female Students as Political Hope and Anxiety in Thai Teen Media and the 2020-2021 Protests”

“Anna is a bright spark—intelligent, effervescent, and curious.  She is at once insouciant and acutely serious when it comes to her academic work. In her master’s thesis, Anna studies Thai youth protests on and off screen through a gendered lens. Her approach to all she observes is refreshing, erudite, and sassy. I have never met anyone quite like her and will miss her very much!” Tamara Loos

Faculty Advisors: Andrew Campana (chair), Nick Admussen (minor member)
Thesis Title: “The Anatomy of a Fujoshi: Rethinking the Rotten Woman through Media and Mediated Practices”

“It was wonderful having Kae in our Master’s program. Kae is a genuinely innovative thinker, skilled not just at analyzing texts but coming up with broader theoretical frameworks to clarify complicated phenomena. Their genuinely pathbreaking thesis on fandom in contemporary Japan was written not just with thoroughness and clarity, but with power and flair. I’m so happy they’ll be spending next year at the Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies in Yokohama!” Andrew Campana

Faculty Advisors: Magnus Fiskesjo (chair), Tom Pepinsky (minor member)
Thesis Title: “Same Same But Different: Chinese Identity Among Ethnic Chinese Indonesian, Malaysian, Singaporean And Thai Former Undergraduate Students in Beijing”

“Sompassorn impressed me a lot. She is an innovative and versatile young scholar with a lot of initiative, a sharp judgment, and a sense of the importance both of details, and of the big picture. Her MA thesis on Chinese Southeast Asian students and their China experience exemplifies all this and it is outright fascinating.” Magnus Fiskesjo

Faculty Advisors: Larry McCrea (chair), Durba Ghosh (minor member), Jane-Marie Law (minor member)
Dissertation Title: "Religion and Ecology among the Bishnoi of North India"

"I am very happy to see Vincent Burgess completing his PhD this year. I have only come fairly late to serve as Vince's chair, after Professor Gold's retirement, but I have seen and admired how much work he has put into bringing his dissertation work to a successful conclusion, overcoming significant challenges to do so. Vince has produced an intelligent and insightful study of the North Indian Bishnoi religious community's engagement with contemporary environmental and political discourses as it repositions itself in the wider religious space of postcolonial India. We all wish Vince well and look forward to seeing more of his work as he moves on into the field." Larry McCrea

Faculty Advisors: Anne Blackburn (chair), Larry McCrea (minor member), Dan Boucher (minor member), Tamara Loos (additional member)
Dissertation Title: "A Study of Buddhism, Gender, and Politics in Early Second Millennium Sri Lanka"

"From our earliest conversations when Bruno Shirley was beginning to plan doctoral applications, it was clear that he is a person of generosity, creativity, and determination.  Fortunately for Cornell, Bruno was willing to leave his native New Zealand, and entered our Asian Literature, Religion, and Culture doctoral program after prior work there in Buddhist Studies, Religious Studies, and Political Science.  Bruno has a passion for languages, which served well in the graduate program where Bruno worked across Sinhala, Sanskrit, Pali, and Tamil for research on gender, power, Buddhism, and kingship in one of Sri Lanka’s premodern polities.  Always alert to the fact that he had moved from one settler-colonial society to another, Bruno continued to engage with Māori language even in the U.S. and has maintained a strong interest in the politics of subordination and difference.  Bruno’s work is remarkable for close and creative attention to multilingual premodern inscriptions from Laṅkā. Thanks to Bruno’s research we now see much better the intellectual and institutional dynamism and variability that characterized royal discourse and practice during Laṅkā’s Poḷonnaruva period.  On the basis of Bruno’s careful work at the intersection of Lankan inscriptions and critical gender theory, we have also begun to look more closely at gendered power in premodern Lankan courtly culture.  In addition to all these scholarly contributions, Bruno contributed actively to the life of the Department of Asian Studies and our graduate field of Asian Literature, Religion, and Culture. For instance, Bruno worked with other student colleagues to expand the leadership voice of graduate students in the Department, and established the Society for Buddhist Studies at Cornell which has since maintained an active international seminar calendar. Working with Bruno has been a tremendous pleasure, and I wish him every joy and success in the years to come!" Anne Blackburn

Faculty Advisors: Arnika Fuhrmann (chair), Kaja McGowan (minor member), Eric Tagliacozzo
Dissertation Title: “Between Lives: Livingness and Remnants of Rice Ontology in Northern Thailand”

“Sirithorn Siriwan (“Ing”) arrived at Cornell in 2017 with considerable knowledge of the ontologies, affective cultures, languages, and performative elements of northern Thai rice cultures. In the course of her doctoral studies, she built further robust, interdisciplinary foundations for her inquiry into the performative, embodied, religious, and political significance of rice. Sirithorn ultimately developed a unique research project that combines a materialist perspective on ritual and belief with a performance-theoretical approach that de-temporalizes our notions of what exists and when. Her dissertation “Between Lives: Livingness and Remnants of Rice Ontology in Northern Thailand” provides fine-grained perspectives on the duration of cultural practice; a sophisticated theory of agency across time in a site frequently relegated to marginality; and truly new contributions to understanding of the workings of memory, religion, cultural practice, and gender in Thailand.” Arnika Fuhrmann