INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR ETHNIC STUDIES
ජනවාර්ගික අධ්‍යයනය සඳහා වූ ජාත්‍යන්තර කේන්ද්‍රය
இனத்துவக் கற்கைகளுக்கான சா்வதேச நிலையம்

Nireka Weeratungeleads the qualitative component of the research projects on Social-ecological Dynamics in Rapid Economic Development: Infrastructure and Coastal Change in Southeastern Sri Lanka (SEDRIC), as well as Land Ownership and Womens Empowerment in Sri Lanka. She was the Principal Investigator on the Migration and collectives/networks as pathways out of poverty? Gendered vulnerabilities and capabilities amongst poor fishing communities in Asia project from 2016-2019. She has a PhD in anthropology from the University of Toronto, Canada with over 25 years of research and practice in the interface of gender, environment and development issues in the Asia-Pacific region. Her main areas of work are the social and cultural aspects of natural resource use, focusing on livelihood strategies in relation to poverty, vulnerability, resilience and wellbeing in fishing and farming communities. She is a member of the Scientific Steering Committee of Integrated Marine Biosphere Research (IMBeR), a global research project on ocean sustainability. She has worked in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Solomon Islands, Philippines and Vietnam.

Ranmini Vithanagama is a Development Economist with research interests in the broad areas of gender, social exclusion and social vulnerability. At ICES, she is primarily involved with research using quantitative methods, often using primary household datasets. She has a PhD in Economics from the University of Colombo and is an Associate Member of CIMA, UK.

e-mail: ranmini.ices@gmail.com

Hasini Haputhanthri is a development professional and arts manager in Sri Lanka.She’s involved in a global network of researchers and practitioners on historical dialogue and reconciliation. Initially trained as a sociologist at Delhi University India and Lund University Sweden, she recently specialized in Oral History and Museum Anthropology at Columbia University New York.

Finishing her 10 year stint with Deutsche Gesellschaft fr Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Hasini now works as an independent consultant and researcher. Among her current assignments are Archive of Memory: reflections on 70 years of independence in Sri Lanka – an oral history project, and a baseline survey of 25 museums, with its publication forthcoming as Museums, Memory and Identity Politics in Sri Lanka.

Radhika is a public historian, researcher, and peacebuilding practitioner with 20 years of experience based in Sri Lanka. She works through arts, oral history, and people-to-people dialogues to facilitate a public discourse on issues of gender, security, justice, and peace. She has worked for the UN and international INGOs on tsunami recovery and post-war peacebuilding and development. As an independent public history practitioner, she is the co-founder of the "Herstories project"(2012), "The Community Memorialisation Project" (2016) and “The Women’s Histories of Sex Work” (2023) focused on creating archives of peoples’ narratives that document the impact of conflict on their lives. She has mentored and developed similar strategies with women’s organisations, museums and initiatives in Uganda, DRC, Afghanistan, Trinidad and Chile. Using the arts as a medium for tackling issues of history, representation, urban development, pluralism and political economies post-crises, she has curated the “Colomboscope” festival of arts (2014 and 2015), the inaugural "It's About Time” traveling history museum (2019), and “Shared Journeys”, a seven-country online exhibition (2021). She holds a Masters in Development Management from the London School of Economics and Political Science, London, U.K. and BA(Hons) York University, Toronto.

Nadine Vanniasinkam is currently involved in research related to inter-religious relations and conflict, the agency of women with disabilities in participating in the reconciliation process and gendered dimensions of poverty and migration in fishing communities in Sri Lanka. Her research interests lie in gender, nationalism and minority identity politics. She has a MA in Applied Linguistics from the University of Melbourne, a BA (Hons) in English Literature (University of Colombo) and a LLB from the University of London.

e-mail: nadine.ices@gmail.com

Viyanga Gunasekera is a Researcher at the International Centre for Ethnic Studies, Colombo. Currently, she is involved in projects studying barriers to women’s representation in politics, women’s land rights and empowerment, social inclusion and exclusion, and vulnerability in the light of covid 19 in Sri Lanka. She was previously involved in studies that explored the psychosocial wellbeing of ex-combatants and pluralistic memories of post-war Sri Lanka. Viyanga has a MPhil in Psychology from the University of Peradeniya. Her research interests include vulnerable groups of people, transitional justice, reconciliation, memory, women’s empowerment, and psychosocial wellbeing.

e-mail: viyanga.ices@gmail.com

Eva Ambos is a cultural anthropologist. She has previously worked and taught at the

Universities Tübingen and Heidelberg in Germany. Her research interests include religion &

ritual, arts & performance, critical theory and decolonial approaches.

e-mail: evaa.ices@gmail.com

Uvini Panditha is an Attorney-at-Law by profession. She holds a LLB from the University of London, a BSC (Hons) in Psychology from the University of Coventry and is currently reading for her Masters in Human Rights and Democratisation at the University of Colombo. Her research interests include gender, human rights and religion.

e-mail: uvini.ices@gmail.com

Nipunika is a graduate with a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Sociology from the  University of Peradeniya, where her academic contributions are highlighted by impactful publications in the field of LGBTIQ Activism and the Advancement of LGBTIQ Rights in Sri Lanka, specifically centered around Gotagogama. Currently, her research endeavors extend to the LGBTIQ Community Activism and critical study of women's development and empowerment in the plantation sector.

e-mail: nipunika.ices@gmail.com

Tirani Wijewickrama holds a Bachelor’s in Social Sciences from the Kotelawala Defence University and is currently reading for a Masters in Sociology at the University of Colombo. Her research interests include gender, stigma, reconciliation and memory.

Yohani Dodangoda is a graduate from the Faculty of Arts, University of Peradeniya and is also an LLB graduate from the University of London. She is currently studying for her Attorney's at Law Examination at the Sri Lanka Law College.

e-mail: yohani.ices@gmail.com

Ms Roshni Kapur is a PhD candidate at the University of Gent. She graduated in Sociology and Law at the University of London, and had her Master’s Degree on Conflict and Peace Studies from the University of Sydney. Until recently, she was a Programme Manager/Political Strategist at the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung.