Ph.D. Candidate

Tsewang Rigzin

Tsewang Rigzin’s research interests: International migration, refugees, poverty, social policy, inequality/disparity, Subjective Well-being, and community development.


Tsewang Rigzin is a doctoral student concentrating on social policy and policy analysis at the Columbia School of Social Work. His research interest includes understanding the impact of social safety-net policies on the issues of inequality, poverty, and subjective wellbeing, with a cross-nation comparative perspective. Tsewang also studies the issues on the welfare of the immigrant community. As a doctoral research assistant, Tsewang is currently working with Dr. Neeraj Kaushal on the effects of the immigrant population on the U.S. electoral outcome. Before joining Columbia University, Tsewang worked as the Deputy Director for the Tibet Fund, a non-governmental organization in India that works for Tibetan refugees in South Asia. Tsewang holds MSW from Mangalore University in India and Masters in Development Practice from Emory University, Atlanta.