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Department of English

Faculty of Arts - University of Peradeniya

Prof. A Parakrama

Professor of English

Ph.D(USA), M.A (USA), BA(Hons.)(Peradeniya)

  •    Department of ENGLISH
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Education

PhD

University of Pittsburgh, USA

1990

MA

University of Georgia, USA

1985

BA (Hons)

University of Peradeniya

1981

Attorney-at-Law

Sri Lanka

2005 ( First and Second Year Completed)

Current Positions

Director - Centre for the Study of Human Rights, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka

2017 - To Present

Professor of English - University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka

2014 - To Present

Positions Held

Chief Consultant & Course Designer - CORE VALUES training Programme for second-tier Sri Lankan community activists, USAIDSponsored SPICE initiative

2015 - 2016

Head - Department of English

2014 - 2017

Visiting Professor & Senior Fellow - Humanities Center, University of Pittsburgh, USA

2012 - 2013

Consultant - Strategic Plan 2013 -2015, Transparency Maldives

2012 - 2013

Visiting Professor, - National University of Malaysia, School of Language & Linguistics

2009 - 2010

Head - Office of Civil Affairs, United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN), Kathmandu, Nepal

2007 - 2008

Senior Consultant - Vibhasha Translation Project, Centre for Policy Alternatives, Sri Lanka (funded by Ford & Asia Foundations)

2001/2003 - 2004/2006

Sri Lanka Country Representative - Oxfam Community Aid Abroad (Australia)

2001 - 2003

Fellow, [Non-Resident Fellowship] - Carnegie Council for Ethics & International Affairs, New York

2000 - 2001

Senior Fellow - Jennings Randolph Program for International Peace, United States Institute of Peace, Washington DC

1999 - 2000

Dean - Faculty of Arts, University of Colombo

1996 - 1999

Head - English Department, University of Colombo

1994 - 1996

Senior Lecturer - Department of English, University of Colombo

1990 - 1994

Memberships

Secretary - Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA)

2016

President - Peradeniya Arts Faculty Teachers’ Association (PAFTA)

2016

Member - Advisory Committee on the Presidential Initiative to steer Sri Lanka towards a Trilingual Society (to prepare 10-year Master Plan)

2010 - 2011

President - Sri Lanka English Language Teachers’ Association (SLELTA)

2008 - 2010

Member - English Advisory Committee, Ministry of Education, Sri Lanka

2000 – 2001, 2005

Member - Curriculum Development Panel, Advanced Level English, Presidential Task Force on Education

1999

Member - Border Village Citizens Commission, Sri Lanka

1999

Director - Centre for Policy Alternatives, Sri Lanka

1999 - 2003

Member - Advisory Committee, Centre for the Study of Human Rights

1993/96

Member - Standing Committee for the Humanities and Social Sciences, University Grants Commission, Sri Lanka

1996/97

Chair - Committee of Heads, English Language Teaching Units, Sri Lanka

1996

Acting President - Sri Lanka Association for Commonwealth Language & Literary Studies

1995/96

Editor in Chief - University of Colombo Review

1997 -1999

Editor - Phoenix, Journal of the Sri Lanka Association of Commonwealth Literature and Language

1997/98

Vice President - Federation of University Teachers’ Associations, Sri Lanka

1995/96

Director - Environmental Foundation Limited

1992/95

Committee Member - March for Conservation, Sri Lanka

1994-1997

Team Leader - Local & National Capacities Evaluation, Tsunami Evaluation Coalition (TEC) four country study

2005/6

Team Leader - HURIST Review of UNDP programmes in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Macedonia, Philippines (member)

2004/5

Trainer - Human Rights Based Approach (HRBA) to UNDP in Kyrgyzstan, India, Nepal and HURIST Review countries

2003/8

Policy Adviser - Peace & Development, UNDP/Nepal (International Appointment made by BCPR/New York)

2003/4

Awards

Member - Raymond Williams’ Keywords revision panel convened at Jesus College, Cambridge University

2007 - to present

Member - Editorial Board, PALA [Anthology of American Literature for Asian Students], chaired by Professor Paul Lauter (Trinity College)

1999 to Present

Fulbright New Century Scholar - 2007/8

Guggenheim Research Grant - “Saturated with Loss: The Bereaved Sexualities of Sri Lanka’s Prolonged War”

2001/2002

Building Communities of Peace: Working Towards the Subaltern Resolution of Sri Lanka’s Civil War - US Institute of Peace

2001/2002

Fellow - Carnegie Council for Ethics & International Affairs

2000/2001

Senior Fellowship - United States Institute of Peace, Jennings Randolph Program for International Peace

1999/2000

NARESA, Sri Lanka (Now National Science Foundation) Sri Lanka, Research Grant RG/98/SS/01 - “Approaches to text and context in English language learning & teaching in Sri Lanka as a means of re-orienting English towards new social goals and realities”

1998 - 2000

Culture Studies Fellowship - University of Pittsburgh, USA

1987/88

America Academy of Poets - Award for Poetry, University of Georgia

1985

Senior Fellowship - United States Institute of Peace, Jennings Randolph Program for International Peace

1999/2000

Publications

BOOKS

Co-Author, GCE Advanced Level General English, Vol I & II [for use in all schools in Sri Lanka at the university entrance level], Ministry of Education, Sri Lanka, 2000. Revised in 2001.

Parakrama, A. (1990) Language & Rebellion: Discursive Unities and the Possibility of Protest, London: Katha

Parakram, A. (1995) De-Hegemonizing Language Standards: Learning from (Post) Colonial Englishes about “English”, London: Macmillan

Parakrama, A. (1998) Identity in Crisis or Crisis as Identity: Notes to the Margins of this War, Newton Gunasinghe Memorial Lecture 1998: December 1998 [Monograph].

Parakrama, A (2002) Collected Poems, Colombo: Gunaratne

Parakrama, A (2004) Social Cleaving: Resistance and Loss within a Bereaved Culture Colombo: Katha Publishers [monograph on conflict-related collective psychosocial trauma]

CHAPTERS IN BOOKS

Parakrama. A, “The Malchemy of English in Sri Lanka: Reinforcing Extra-Linguistic Value and Inequality” in The English Language as Hydra, 2012 eds. Vaughan Rapatahana & Pauline Bunce

Parakrama, A., (2012) “Perennial Empire: Its Imagined Ends Now Ground the Rhetorical Means of Exclusion in Sri Lanka” in Film and the End of Empire eds. Grieveson and MacCabe, London: Macmilllan

Parakrama. A, (2011) “Assuring IneQuality of Opportunity and Performance: Inappropriate Northern Norms Mask Southern Inadequacies” Chapter in Eds. Koo Yew Lie, Sarjit Kaur and Morshidi Sirat Quality Assurance and University Rankings in the Asia Pacific: Country and Institutional Contexts, Universiti Sains Malaysia Press.

Parakrama. A, (2008) “Notes on Sentinel Arrengas and Self-Righteous Activists” in The Nature of Sri Lanka Colombo: Wildlight

Parakrama, A. (2007) The Relationship between Poverty, Conflict and Human Rights: A three-country study of Guatemala, Liberia and Nepal, co-authored with Sakiko Fukuda-Parr and Juan Alberto FuentesKnight

Parakrama, A. (2001) “Means Without End: Emergency Humanitarian Assistance in Sri Lanka” Chapter in Dying Like Flies: Local Organizations in Humanitarian Emergencies, ed. Ian Smillie, Humanitarianism and War Project, Thomas J. Watson Jr. Institute for International Studies, Brown University, Kumarian Press.

Parakrama, A. (1999) “Adding Injury to Insult: Blasphemous Claims for the Belaboured Nativity of these Other Englishes” Review Essay, of The Native Speaker: Multilingual Perspectives, Yearbook of South Asian Languages and Linguistics, Sage (New Delhi, California & London).

Parakrama, A. (1999) “Indexing Multiple Marginality for Poorest-Specific Programming” AWARE Position Paper, 9AP/1999

Parakrama, A., Men Who Matter and Other Matters: The Collected Essays of D B I P Siriwardhana [edited with a critical introduction] {in Sinhala and English} in press.

JOURNAL ARTICLES

Parakrama, A. [2003-4] Two Poems in Poetry International 7/8, Special Double Issue Featuring English Language Poetry from Around the World

Parakrama, A. (1995)“Talking, my dear chap, or the culture generally: The devastated words of Lakdasa Wikkramasingha” in Essays on Sri Lankan Poetry in English, Colombo.

Parakrama, A. (1994) “The Art of (w)riting oneself out of danger”, a review of James Fenton’s poetry, in Critical Quarterly, Vol 36 No: 2, Summer

Parakrama, A. (1997) Media Monitor 1 “Monitoring of Newspapers Published in Sri Lanka”. Colombo: June 1997. Media Monitor 2 “Hegemony at Home: Racism, Sexism and the Media in Sri Lanka”, Dec..

Parakrama, A. (1994) Freedom of Expression component in the Human Rights Report on Sri Lanka

Parakrama, A. (1993 – 1996) Regular Arts/Culture column and Special Reports (on Human Rights issues, education, corruption, the economy etc.) for Counterpoint monthly magazine

PUBLISHED IN ABSTRACT FORM

Parakrama. A, (2009) “Broadening Standards and Benefiting from Bilingualism in English Language Education” Plenary Paper presented at 2009 Malaysian English Language Teachers’ Association (MELTA) Conference in Johor Bahru on 11 June 2009 [Abstract published].

CHIEF EDITOR/EDITOR

Co-Editor & Contributor, 2009, 2010 Sri Lanka Governance Reports, 2011/10

Assessment of Conflict-Sensitive Initiatives in Asian Region for UNDP Regional Office, Bangkok

National Integrity Study Report on Sri Lanka 2010, Transparency International 2011

MEMBER OF EDITORIAL BOARD

Parakrama, A. (2018) Keywords for Today, Oxford University Press

Parakrama, A. (2013) Strategic Plan: Transparency Maldives, prepared on the basis of stakeholder consultations, literature review and staff feedback.

Parakrama, A. (2013) Report on AusAID’s Projects in Sri Lanka’s Conflict Areas, Co-authored with Donna Holden and Ian Kidd.

Parakrama, A. (2012) English in Sri Lanka: Ceylon English, Lankan English, Sri Lankan English [coedited with Siromi Fernando and Manique Gunasekere] Colombo

Parakrama, A. (2011) National Integrity Study Report on Sri Lanka 2010 Transparency International Sri Lanka, Colombo

Parakrama, A. (2009) Sri Lanka Governance Report, Transparency International Sri Lanka. Co-Editor and Contributor of article on post-conflict scenario in the north and east regions of Sri Lanka.

Parakrama, A. (2006) TEC Local and National Capacities Evaluation, Regional Report covering Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Thailand, [co-author with Betty Scheper and Smruti Patel]. Includes four separate country studies and detailed claimholder survey reports (involving over 1000 respondents) for Sri Lanka and Indonesia.

Parakrama, A. (2005) Evaluation Report on Oxfam Australia’s Tsunami Response in India and Sri Lanka during the First Six Months

Parakrama, A. (2004/05) HURIST Reports on Macedonia, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Indonesia, co-authored

Parakrama, A. (2001) Report on Current Efforts to Facilitate Democratic and Pluralist Values Through Primary & Secondary Education in Sri Lanka SIDA Consultancy (with 3 others)

Parakrama, A. (1997) A Study of Institutional Development Promoted by Norwegian Non-Governmental Organisations [Country Study of Sri Lanka]

Parakrama, A. (1998) University of Colombo Review, Vol 11, with Introduction.

Parakrama, A. (1997) Final Report of Election-Related Violence during Local Government Election Campaign (Feb 5th – March 21st 1997) and Presidential Election 1999, for Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) Colombo

Parakrama, A. (1998) “The Rise of Ethnic Literatures in the US and the development of a Multicultural Society” joint paper with Dr. Lilamani de Silva, Proceedings of American Studies Seminar

Conferences

Fourth International Conference on World Englishes,

[published as monograph in 2002] “Baduth Unge, Naduth Unge: The Tools and Rules are Theirs – Some Thoughts on the Language of Privilege and the Privilege of Language” Focus Paper, Singapore, December 1997.

International Translation Conference

“The Enabling Double Miss: (Mis)Translation as The Norm of Postcolonial (Mis)Communication” Keynote Lecture, Colombo, 2004

SLELTA International Conference

Parakrama, A. “Applied Linguistics: Footnotes on an Impowerished Discourse” Main Plenary Lecture, , Colombo, August 2, 2006

International Translation Conference

Parakrama, A. “Bridging Minding the Gaps: Translation & the Oppression of Pedagogy” Keynote Lecture, Peradeniya, August 13, 2006

“Borrowed Lives Diverge Again: the Personas of Pundit, Guru and Swami in Different Englishes Today” Presentation at Keywords Conference, University of Pittsburgh, Jan 26, 2013 [to be published on Keywords website].

“Repairing a Spider’s Web by Hand: Thirteen Propositions on Subalternity and Language” University of Pittsburgh Humanities Center Colloquium, 2013

“(Mi)Staking Subaltern Everyday Practice in Crisis: Mapping Borderline Mobility, Identity, Agency” Anthropology Colloquium Lecture

University of Pittsburgh,2013

“Post-Identity in Post-Conflict: Post-Its on the Margins of Sri Lanka’s War and Peace”

Humanities Center, University of Pittsburgh, USA 2012

SoLLS International Conference

Plenary Speaker, National University of Malaysia, 2011

Symposium “Speak English Our Way”

keynote speech “Is English still an instrument of linguistic imperialism?” Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies,Colombo. Jan 16, 2010.

SLELTA Conference on Standards & Varieties of English

Keynote Speaker, 2009

SLELTA Conference on Non-Institutional English Language Teaching and Learning

Prepared Concept Paper, provided introductory overview and final summary of conference. University of Peradeniya, 2009

international conference Towards the MDGs in Violent Conflict: A Call to Action for South Asia

“Development and the MDGs in the Context of Conflict: Things Bad Begun or Earnest of Success?” Main Plenary Lecture, in UNDP/IA/SNV, Kathmandu, 2005

UN Dept of Economic and Social Affairs, Expert Group Meeting

“Development in Conflict or Conflict in Development: Security and Stability for Whom?” Structural Threat to Social Integration: Social Roots of Violent Conflict & Indicators for Prevention, 2001

Oxfam Community Aid Abroad (Australia) Annual Conference

“Conflict and Development” Keynote Address (with Jose Ramos Horta), Brisbane, 2001

Hong Kong Conference

Affinities In Conflict: Strategies For Teaching Literature In Sri Lanka, 2001

UNICEF South Asia Regional Planning Meeting

Katmandu, Nepal, 1999

Subaltern Studies Conference

Catherine Silva’s book of proto-feminist poetry (written in 1894), Colombo, Sri Lanka, 1995

Triennial ACLALS Conference

Colombo, Sri Lanka, 1995

Fourth Sri Lanka Studies Conference

Some Comments on Identity as a Function of Politics and Politics as a Function of Identity, 1993

Subaltern Studies Conference

Discourse of/on commercial sex workers in urban Sri Lanka, Hyderabad, India, 1993