University of Madras Archives

Persis Naumann

Dr. Persis Naumann is a global health ethicist, educator, and social entrepreneur committed to advancing stigma-free healthcare through ethics, education, and community engagement. Originally from Chennai, India, and now based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, she serves as adjunct professor in the Center for Global Health Ethics at Duquesne University. Her interdisciplinary work bridges bioethics, medical sociology, and public engagement to address health inequities, particularly those affecting women and marginalized communities. Her research focuses on infertility stigma, reproductive health, and culturally responsive healthcare, with an emphasis on ensuring that lived experiences inform policy, education, and practice.

Beyond academia, Dr. Naumann is the founder of Kelir Global and Kelir Books, literary initiatives dedicated to ethical storytelling, heritage language preservation, and community belonging. She also serves on the board of directors of the Fulbright Association India Interest Group as vice president and the Greater Pittsburgh Chapter as advocacy chair. Through her scholarship and leadership, she builds bridges across cultures while promoting concepts such as equity, dignity, and inclusion.

As a former Fulbright-Nehru Student Research Fellow, Dr. Naumann conducted empirical bioethics research in Chennai, examining the sociocultural dimensions of involuntary childlessness and infertility stigma. During that tenure, she once had the opportunity to address an audience of over 2,000 students at a women’s health conference in Chennai. After her presentation, some of the students approached her with a simple question: “Will you come to our classrooms and teach us more?” That moment inspired her current Fulbright project.

As a 2026–2027 Fulbright U.S. Scholar, Dr. Naumann is collaborating with the Department of Sociology at the University of Madras on “Advancing Medical Sociology through Ethics Education for Stigma-Free Healthcare in Tamil Nadu.” The project is integrating medical ethics into sociology education through experiential learning, interdisciplinary collaboration, and community engagement. By partnering with students, faculty, healthcare professionals, NGOs, and policymakers, she seeks to strengthen the role of sociologists in healthcare, promote culturally grounded approaches to reproductive health, and foster lasting partnerships between India and the United States. Through the project, Dr. Naumann aims to help build more compassionate, equitable, and stigma-free healthcare systems guided by her belief that “education is not just about knowledge, it is about meaningful connections, creating pathways for real-life contributions, and shaping the future workforce with dignity and hope.”

Hansini Bhasker

Hansini Bhasker is a Tamil (ethno)musicologist, multi-genre vocalist, performer, composer, and improviser from Connecticut who deploys embodied music-making and movement for socio-ecological healing and change. She recently received her master’s in music (performance and ethnomusicology) from Wesleyan University. Earlier, she graduated summa cum laude with a degree in music (composition and musicology) from Princeton University, with certificates in vocal performance, cognitive science, entrepreneurship, and finance. She is a YoungArts winner in Voice and winner of the concerto competition of Wesleyan whose musical practice and research bridge across Karnatak, Western classical opera and early choral repertory, French chanson, jazz, pop, musical theater, gospel, R&B, Kazakh folk, Javanese gamelan, and experimental soundscape and extended vocal techniques. Her master’s thesis explored cross-cultural contrasts, evolutions, and interactions in the use and control of vibration, timbre variation, and pitch oscillation in vocalization. Following her Fulbright year, she will be pursuing a PhD in ethnomusicology, dwelling further on questions related to performers’ identity-making through interactions related to the physical environment, accessibility, and legal and sociocultural contexts. She is an avid lover of food, languages, reading, biking, and “musicking”.

Hansini’s Fulbright-Nehru research project is examining how Karnatak performers in Chennai navigate relations between mind, body, ability, and self; the study is based within three distinct contexts: the Tamil Nadu state; the nation of India; and U.S. diasporic organizations. She believes that the current inflectional moment – which celebrates local artists with disability by combining Indian concepts of disability with Western ideas introduced through migratory diasporic engagement – offers an exceptional and timely case study to explore how people negotiate legal and sociocultural conditions in framing and claiming their identities.

Alexa Burnston

Ms. Alexa Burnston graduated from Duke University in May 2022 with a Bachelor of Arts. Her self-designed (Program II) major was titled: “Understanding the Concept of Value Through the Lens of Classical Musical Traditions,” where she explored the meaning of classical music and its perceptions of value across the human experience. She is a trained opera singer who ventured into jazz and Carnatic singing during her time in college. In Spring 2022, she performed a senior distinction recital in all three music forms, completed an ethnomusicology honors thesis, and graduated Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa, with a 4.0 GPA, and with distinction.

While at Duke, she participated in numerous related student groups, serving as President of Small Town Records -Duke’s premier on-campus record label, serving on the student programming board (DUU), and in roles at Duke’s arts umbrella organization (duARTS), Duke’s Arts and Entertainment Alumni network (DEMAN), and the Duke in New York Arts and Media program (DiNY).

She has received numerous accolades for her work in music, including a Benenson Award in the Arts from Duke University, where she was able to begin her Carnatic and jazz training, Duke University Union’s Event of the Year Award, and received recognition for her work as a member of the CMA EDU leadership program. She has also been awarded for her opera singing.

Ms. Burnston’s passions in music span beyond her singing, and she also has direct arts administration and industry experience. She has been working in arts administration roles since the age of 16 and has worked in roles at Jazz at Lincoln Center and the Palm Beach Opera. In the music industry, she maintains an interest in classical music as well as music policy and supervision, working in roles at notable classical label Naxos of America, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and global record label Sony Music. Her experiences have prepared her to connect her research to a future career in the music industry.

Ms. Burnston’s background provides a comparative perspective for Carnatic research and will glean India-specific insights to explore the different ways to help markets and musicians. She will study in Chennai, the hub of Carnatic music, work with music students at the University of Madras, and analyze the role of arts administration in Carnatic music by working with Sabhas (music venues) and local arts administrators. Her Fulbright-Nehru research project is centered around the December season, during which Chennai hosts the largest Carnatic music festival in the world. She also aims to pursue a personal project about digital music distribution and continue Carnatic voice lessons.

Huaixiang Tan

Prof. Huaixiang Tan (previous Tan Huaixiang, prefer Tan) is a Full Professor in Costume and Makeup Design and Technology in the Theatre Department, School of Performing Arts, at University of Central Florida, in Orlando, Florida. She holds an MFA degree in Costume Design from Utah State University and a BFA degree from the Central Academy of Drama in Beijing.

Besides teaching, Prof. Tan enjoys designing costume/makeup for departmental theatre productions and professional theatres. Her costume designs were recognized by the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Region IV for the Meritorious Achievement Award – Excellence in Costume Design, Outstanding Teaching Artist, and Distinguished Achievement in Costume Design. Prof. Tan’s professional credits include the works Three River Shakespeare Festival in Pittsburgh, PA; Historic Liberty Theatre in Washington, WA; Orlando Repertory Theatre, FL; The Lambs players Theatre, San Diego, CA; and Department of Theatre, Film & Dance, at Cornell University.

Prof. Tan is an author of two books Character Costume Figure Drawing 3rd edition in 2018, and Costume Craftwork on a Budget 2nd edition 2019, published by Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, New York and London. The Character Costume Figure Drawing 3rd edition was published in Spanish by Grupo Anaya, S.A. Madrid, Spain 2019. Prof. Tan is a member of United Scenic Artists, local 829.

Prof. Tan has a great passion for Indian dance costumes and makeup. Her Fulbright-Nehru research seeks to focus on participation by direct observation, interaction, and hands-on practice involved in the creative process to learn different types of classical dance costume/makeup design, material, and construction. The research also intends to also provide firsthand knowledge of dance costume styles and construction techniques from local professionals’ original works. Writing a book on Indian dance costume will provide opportunities to introduce and promote Indian dance costume art to the world.