Staff Profile
Dr Nilanjana Premaratna
Lecturer in International Politics
Research Interests
The role of arts and culture and peacebuilding (including local cosmologies), critical International Relations, protest and cultural politics in South and Southeast Asia, “civic heroism” and rescuers, visual politics, Buddhist feminist peacebuilding
Qualifications
- PhD, University of Queensland, Political Science and International Studies
- MA, University of Queensland, International Studies/Peace and Conflict Resolution
- BA, University of Colombo, Major in English, Minor in International Relations and Journalism
Previous Positions
- Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Political Science, Umeå University
- Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Geography, University of Zurich
- Visiting Lecturer, Department of International Relations, University of Colombo
My research takes place within peace and conflict studies, with a particular focus on arts and peacebuilding. My book Theatre for Peacebuilding: The Role of Arts in Conflict Transformation in South Asia (Palgrave, 2018) examines the peacebuilding approach and practices of three theatre groups from Sri Lanka, Nepal, and India.
I am currently working on a second book project, where I examine how different art forms – specifically film, theatre, music, and literature – contend with past violence, present conceptualisations of peace, and imagined futures in Sri Lanka. The project makes methodological, empirical and conceptual advances. I address a persistent call for methodological pluralism by using an array of methods, including audio-visual elicitation and life diagrams. I address an empirical gap by exploring how multiple art forms have addressed peacebuilding over time, in relation to Sri Lanka. Finally, I propose a conceptualisation around the arts as counterpublics.
Awards
- Dean’s Award for Outstanding Research Higher Degree Theses, The University of Queensland, 2015
Current funded projects and exhibitions
- 2023-2026: "Beyond winners and losers: Regional variations of peace in Sri Lanka's war victory" with A/Prof. Malin Åkebo (PI), Umea University, Sweden (Swedish Research Council)
- 2024: "Artful Struggles: Contemporary Art from Sri Lanka" exhibition co-curated with Prof. Lars Waldorf and organised in collaboration with GemArts, Agora and Vimbam
Past funded projects and exhibitions
- 2023: Impact Catalyst Fund for the "Artful Struggles: Contemporary Sri Lankan Art" exhibition in Harrow, co-organised with Prof. Lars Waldorf, Agora, Vimbam and the Harrow Arts Centre
- 2022: Faculty Research Fund to research music and peacebuilding in Sri Lanka’s 2022 Protests
- 2019-2020: "Varieties of Peace: A relational approach" with Prof. Anna Jarstad (PI), A/Prof. Malin Åkebo, A/Prof. Johanna Söderström, and A/Prof. Elisabeth Olivius (Riksbankens Jubileumsfond)
- 2019: Karl Staaff Foundation Individual Grant
Undergraduate
- POL1032: Key Concepts in International Politics
- POL2110: Security Studies
- POL3046: Dissertation in Politics
Postgraduate
- POL8060: Gender, War and Military
- POL8062: Arts and Peacebuilding
- POL8099: MA Dissertation
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Articles
- Premaratna N. Dealing With Sri Lanka’s Demons: Using Documentary Film for Peacebuilding. Journal of Peacebuilding and Development 2021, 16(1), 39-54.
- Premaratna N. Theatre for peacebuilding: transforming narratives of structural violence. Peacebuilding 2020, 8(1), 16-31.
- Premaratna N. Envision and Embody a People's Peace through Theater. Peace Review 2019, 31(3), 424-431.
- Chou M, Bleiker R, Premaratna N. Elections as Theater. PS: Political Science & Politics 2016, 49(1), 43-47.
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Authored Book
- Premaratna N. Theatre for Peacebuilding: The Role of Arts in Conflict Transformation in South Asia. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018.
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Book Chapters
- Premaratna N. Foes to fellows to friends: Performing relational peace through theater in Sri Lanka. In: Anna K. Jarstad, Johanna Söderström, and Malin Åkebo, ed. Relational Peace Practices. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 2023, pp.198-220.
- Premaratna N, Rajkobal P. The arts as a peacebuilding approach: Feminist contributions and directions. In: Tarja Väyrynen, Swati Parashar, Élise Féron, Catia Cecilia Confortini, ed. Routledge Handbook of Feminist Peace Research. London: Taylor and Francis, 2021, pp.260-269.
- Premaratna N. Building peaceful communities: Collaboration and co-creation through theatre. In: Rosie Meade and Mae Shaw, ed. Arts, Culture and Community Development. Bristol: Policy Press, 2021, pp.231-239.
- Premaratna N, Bleiker R. Arts and Theatre for Peacebuilding. In: Oliver P. Richmond, Sandra Pogodda, Jasmin Ramović, ed. The Palgrave Handbook of Disciplinary and Regional Approaches to Peace. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016, pp.82-94.
- Premaratna N, Bleiker R. Art and Peacebuilding: How Theatre Transforms Conflict in Sri Lanka. In: Oliver P. Richmond, ed. Palgrave Advances in Peacebuilding: Critical Developments and Approaches. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010, pp.376-391.