A record of my academic milestones and learning journey.
EDUCATION
2014
Ph.D. in Comparative Literature: University of Massachusetts Amherst
Dissertation supervisor: Professor William Moebius
Transgressing Space and Subverting Hierarchies: A Comparative Analysis of Street Theater Groups in Sri Lanka, India, and the United States
2013
Certificate in Advanced Feminist Studies, University of Massachusetts Amherst
2002
B.A. in English. Second Class, upper division, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
2001
Superior Diploma in Modern French Studies- Diplôme Supérieurd’ Études Françaises Modernes, Alliance Française of Kandy, Sri Lanka
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
2017-present:
Senior Lecturer, Department of English, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
https://arts.pdn.ac.lk/english/staff/3_KanchukaNayaniDharmasiri.php
2013-2017:
Lecturer, Department of Fine Arts, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
2004-2012 :
Teaching Assistant, University Massachusetts Amherst, U.S.A.
(Departments of Comparative Literature, Theatre, and English)
1998-2002 :
French Instructor, Alliance Française of Kandy
BOOK CHAPTERS
“Nora and the Politics of Gender in the Postcolonial Performance Space in Sri Lanka.”
Co-author. Kathiresu Rathitharan. Ibsen in the Decolonized South Asian Theatre. Eds.
Sabiha Huq and Srideep Mukherjee. Oxford: Routledge, 2024.
“From Villain to Superhero: Reimaginings of Ravana in Twentieth- and Twenty-First Century Sri Lanka.”
Frontiers of South Asian Culture: Nation, Trans-Nation and Beyond. Eds.
Parichay PAtra and Amitendu Bhattacharya. New York: Routledge, 2023.
“Voices from the Therīgāthā: Framing Western Feminisms in Sinhala Translation.”
Translating Women: Different Voices and New Horizons. Eds.
Luise von Flotow & Farzaneh Farahzad. New York: Routledge, 2017
“Modern Theatre in Sri Lanka.”
Routledge Handbook of Asian Theatre. Ed.
Siyuan Liu. New York: Routledge, 2016
“From Narratives of Nations to Bloody Streets: Contemporary Sinhala and Tamil Theatre in Sri Lanka.”
Mapping South Asia through Performance. Ed.
Ashis Sengupta. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015
JOURNAL ARTICLES
“Ajith Thilakasena: The Painter of Short Stories.”
Sahithyaya: Literary Journal 2020-2021. Ed. Harshana Rambukwella et al.
Colombo: Department of Cultural Affairs, 2021.
“Brecht in the Streets of Sri Lanka.”
Translations. Fondazione Universitaria San Pellegrino, 2014
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS AND PUBLIC LECTURES
2024
“Decolonizing Feminism: South Asian Perspectives.”
Exploring Ethics in Transnational Media Research.” (Online) Bournemouth University, 2024
2023
“Ravana: Perspectives from Sri Lanka.”
XVI Biennial CLAI International Conference, Sikkim University, India, 2023
2020
“Remaking and Transcreating Ravana in Contemporary Sri Lanka.”
South Asian Program. Cornell University. USA, 2020
2018
“Translating for the Theatre: Rethinking Translation through Multiple Subject Positions.”
Translation Studies: New Directions, a key note speech, Savithribai Phule Pune University, India, 2018
2017
“Transcreating Soranoito: Manga to Performance.”
Department of Media, Communication, and Culture, international Christian University, Tokyo, 2017
2016
“Translators and Directors in a Postcolonial Context”
Asian Translation Traditions. Monash University Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2016
AWARDS AND HONORS
2024
Tattooed Sherlock: Stories. Nominated for the best collection of short stories.
State Literary Festival, Sri Lanka 2024.
2023
Surpanakha, finalist, State Drama Festival, Sri Lanka,
2020
Cornell South Asian Studies Fellowship, Cornell University, Ithaca, U.S.A
2018
State Literary Award for the Best Translated Play Script, Thatta Gaayikaawa, a translation of Eugène Ionesco’s La Cantatrice Chauve
(co-translator. Lohan Gunaweera)
2011
Graduate School Travel Grant, University of Massachusetts Amherst
2010
College of Humanities and Fine Arts Dissertation Fellowship, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2010
2009
American Institute for Sri Lankan Studies Dissertation Planning Grant
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