Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri
Ph.D. (2007) Leiden University, The Netherlands
Advanced Master (AMP) (2002) Leiden University, The Netherlands
M.Phil (2000) University of Colombo, Sri Lanka
BA (Hons.) (1991), University of Colombo
Certificate on American Civilization and Culture (May-June 1998), American Studies Research Centre, Hyderabad, India
Diploma in Conflict resolution (April-June 1994) Uppsala University, Sweden
Awards and grants
Tikiri Abeyesinghe Memorial Award for best result in History, University of Colombo, 1991
Involvement with other organizations
1. Life Member Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka
2. Life Member, Sri Lanka Historical Association
3. President, Federation of University Teachers Associations (Since 8-01-2011)
4. Assistant Secretary, Federation of University Teachers Associations (2010)
5. Vice President, Arts Faculty Teachers’ Association, University of Colombo (since …. 2011)
6. Secretary, Arts Faculty Teachers’ Association, University of Colombo (2010)
7. Assistant Secretary, Arts Faculty Teachers’ Association, University of Colombo (2009)
Executive and other positions on boards of International,
National organizations
1. Visiting Lecturer Institute of Human Resource Advancement (Formerly Workers’ Education Institute),
University of Colombo
2. Visiting Lecturer Kotalawala Defence University
3. Visiting Lecturer Bandaranaike Institute of Diplomatic Training
4. Lecturer MA in International relations program
5. Visiting Lecturer, MA Program, Department of Country and Town Planning, University of Moratuw
6. Lecturer, MA in Political Science, Dept. of Political Science and Public Policy, University ofColombo
7. Visiting Lecturer, MA in Political Science, University of Ruhuna
8. Editoria Advisor, ‘Itihasa’ (the Sinhala language journal of the Heritage Initiative)
9. Co-edito, Pravada, Sinhala semi-academic journal (1992-1995), Published by the Social Scientists’Association, Colombo.
10. Assistant Editor, Yuktiya, Sinhala language tabloid newspaper (1990-1992)
11. Guest Lecturer Sri Lanka Naval Academy, Trincomalee
12. Member of the Advisory panel, Ministry of Constitutional Affairs and National Integration
13. Member of the committee appointed by the President Chandrika Bandaranayaka Kumarathunga to review the proposed political package to solve the ethnic problem
14. Member of the Advisory Committee of the Department of National Museums
15. Advisor to Organisation for Visual Progression, 44-27 Purves Street, #4c, Long Island City, NY 11101
Research work
1. Peasant in Transition: Agrarian Society in Western Sri Lanka under Dutch Rule, 1740-1800, PhD thesis Leiden University
2. Formation of Sinhala Nationalist Ideology in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries, M. Phil thesis, the University of Colombo, 2000.
3. Ethnicity, Religious Diversity and Internal Conflicts: a Comparative analysis of Philippines, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Guatemala, Joint paper, the Advanced International Training Programme on Conflict Resolution at Uppsala University, Sweden, 1994.
4. Historiography and Ethnic Identity Ideology in Contemporary Sri Lanka, Paper presented to The Sri Lanka Historical Association, August 1996. (In Sinhala).
5. Impact of Rohana Wijeweera (the charismatic leader of two armed insurrections of southern Sri Lanka) as a Political Leader- 1965-1989, BA dissertation, 1991. (In Sinhala)
6. Radical Politics and Democracy in Post-Colonial Sri Lanka: the case of the JVP (in progress Under NUFU research project, Dept. of Political Science and Public Policy, University of Colombo)
Publications:
In English
• The Adaptable Peasant Agrarian Society in Western Sri Lanka under Dutch Rule, 1740-1800, (Leiden: Brill, 2008)
• ‘Colonial powers’ relations with the Kingdom of Kandy’ in The Encyclopedia of Western Colonialism Since 1450, (The Gale Group/Macmillan Reference USA)
• Introduction to History, Study Guide, Faculty of Arts, University of Colombo2010
In Sinhala
• w;S;h m%nkaO lsrSu# kd÷kk mq;a;= (Fictionalizing the past: Unknown Sons) in chr;ak ;s,la” kd÷kk mq;a;= (Published as an introduction to Thilak Jayarathne’s Teledrama script, Unknown Sons) Fast Publishing (Pvt.) Limited, Colombo, 2008, pp.xxi-xxxii • zrdcHh f.dvke.Su iy m%cd;ka;%jdoh ms<sn| .eg¿j( Y%S ,xldj weiqfrkaz n,h fnoSu” f*vr,a woyi iy Y%S ,xldj ^ixia’ ,hk,a .=ref.a& (The roblem of State Building and Democracy: with special reference to Sri Lanka’, in Federal Ideal and Sri Lanka, edited by Lional Guruge) Centre for Policy Alternatives, 2008 • cúfm” cd;sl .eg¿j iy udlaiajdoh (J.V.P. National Question and Marxism), Iridium Creations, 2006 • ,xldfõ isxy, by< ueo mx;sfha foaYmd,k oDIaGSjdoh yd .=Kodi wurfialrf.a uE;ld,Sk kjl:d (Political Ideology of Sinhala Rural upper middle class and the recent novels of Gunadasa Amarasekera), in l=iqud lreKdr;ak wNskkaok (Kusuma Karunaratna Felicitation Volume), eds. Rev. Agalakada Sirisumana, Sarath Wijesuriya, Ananda Tissa Kumara, (Mulleriyawa: Wijesuriya Grantha Kendraya), 2007 • b;sydilrKh iy fou< kscN=ñ ixl,amh (Modern Sri Lankan historiography and the Concept of Tamil Homelands) úÿrejk, the Journal of Vidyarathna Pirivena, 2007 • Y%S ,xldfõ b;sydih oDIaGsjdoS *ekagishla f,i (History of Sri Lanka as an ideological fantasy) in Udana: the Journal of the History Student Union, University of Colombo, No.2 • zY%S ,xldfõ úYaj úoHd,j, NdIdj b.ekaùu ms<sn| .eg¿z (Problems of Teaching Languages in the Universities of Sri Lanka) in Sarasa No.1, Sinhala Journal of Sinhala Society of University of Colombo, 2001. • Okjdohg tfrysj m%cd;ka;%jdoh (Democracy Against Capitalism) in Manpetha, A Sinhala Quarterly Journal, No.1, March-May 1993. • rKisxy fm%auodi( mqoa.,hd yd foaYmd,kh (President Ranasingha Premadasa: The Person and Politics) A series of six articles, in Yukthiya, a Sinhala weekly Tabloid, May-July 1993. • lKav,fï foaYmd,kh iy m%d.aOkh (Politics of Kandalama and Capital: A review of the Campaign against the Construction of a Tourist Hotel on the Bund of the Kandalama Tank) with Jayadeva Uyangoda, in Pravada, a Sinhala Bi-Monthly Journal, July-August 1992. • hqO W.=f,ka ñoSugkï (To Escape from the Trap of War- an Analysis of the War, Ethnic Conflict and Related Issues), Inter-Ethnic Fraternity, Colombo, 1995. • kj jdu foaYmd,khla i|yd (Towards a New Left Politics) in Pravada, April 1995. • ckjd¾.sl .dg¿j( .eg¿iy úi\qï (The Ethnic Problem: Issues and Solutions) in Pravada, June-August 1995. Book Reviews (in Sinhala) Silva, K.T., l=,h” mx;sh yd fjkiajk ,xld iudch (Caste, Class and Changing Sri Lankan Society), (Kandy, 1996), in m%jdo ^Pravada), 1997. Andradi, T., fld,a,ldrS Okjdohg tfrysj udlaiajdoh( ixikaokd;aul ft;sydisl úYaf,aIKhla (Marxism Against Plundering Capitalism: A Comparative Historical Analysis) (1993), in m%jdo ^Pravada), October-November 1993. Dissanayake, W., ,xldfõ jdudxYsl jHdmdrh( úYaf,aIKd;aul m%fõYhla (Left Movement in Sri Lanka: An Analytical Approach) (Education and Research Institute for People’s Action, Colombo, 1992), in m%jdo (Pravada) December 1992. Dharmasekera, G.I.D., Devena lova ha vishvantaravadaya (The Burning World and Vishvatharaism) (Chinthana Parshadaya, 1991), in Pravada, May 1992. Conference papers National seminars/confrences: ‘Use of the Dutch East Indies Company archives in writing history of Sri Lanka’ Paper presented for the conference organized by National Heritage Commission and Sri Lanka Historical Association, held at the BMICH Colombo on 12th November 2003. Ethnicity, Caste and Class: Some Problems of Continuities and discontinuities of the State Formation and Political Ideologies in Sri Lanka’, Paper Presented at The Annual Conference of Sociological Association of Sri Lanka 2009, on 12, June 2009 at the University of Colombo Political and Ideological Significance of the Jathika Chintanaya Movement in Sri Lanka: A Historical Approach’ Paper presented at the Annual Academic Sessions of the Faculty of Arts, University of Colombo, held on 3-4, December, 2009 ‘Some thoughts on the caste formation in Sri Lanka: with special reference to janavamsaya’ Lecture delivered at the German Cultural Centre on 25th September 2008 Organized by Colombo Institute for Advanced Studies International conferences ‘The Company, Chalias and the Harmonising Conflict of Interests: Some aspects of the Relation between the VOC and Cinnamon Peeling Chalias Community in the Mid-Eighteenth Century Ceylon’ Paper presented for the 2nd TANAP annual workshop, Organised by Chulalongkorn University, Thailand and Leiden University, The Netherlands, held in Bangkok on 24-26 October 2002. ‘Land, Labour and the Company: Some problems in explaining the ‘Colonial Interface’ of the VOC and peasant agriculture in Western and Southern littoral in Ceylon in the mid-eighteenth century’ Paper presented for the 3rd TANAP annual workshop, Organised by Xiamen University, China and Leiden University, The Netherlands, held in Xiamen on 20-23 October 2003. ‘Use of the Dutch East Indies Company archives in writing history of Sri Lanka’ Paper presented for the conference organized by National Heritage Commission and Sri Lanka Historical Association, held at the BMICH Colombo on 12th November 2003. ‘Caste and Social Change: Some problems of the caste formation and property in the peasant Social Formation in the Western Sri Lanka in mid-18th Century’ Paper presented for the 4th TANAP annual workshop, Organised by Gadjah Mada University, Indonesia and Leiden University, The Netherlands, held in Yogyakarta, Indonesia on 10-14 January 2005. ‘Ideological power of popular history writings and Sinhala Nationalism’, Paper presented at the ‘Workshop on Perspectives on Sri Lankas’ Historiography organized by the American Institute for Sri Lankan Studies, Galle Face Hotel, 10-11September 2009 Chettys in early Modern Sri Lanka’, Paper presented at the conference ‘Monson Asia in the Age of Revolutions- 1780-1830: Changes of Regime and their aftermaths, organized by the Department of History, University of Mumbai and Institute for history, University of Leiden Held in Mumbai from 12 to 14, January 2010 ‘Historiography and Ethno-nationalist Ideologies in Post Colonial Sri Lanka’ Paper presented at the ‘12th International Conference on Sri Lanka Studies’ 18th-20th March 2010: Colombo, Sri Lanka, organized by the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka Some thoughts towards historicizing the Territory of the “Sinhala-Buddhist Political South”, Paper presented at the ‘Workshop on Historical Method’ organized by the American Institute for Sri Lankan Studies, Galle Face Hotel, 19-20 August 2010 Radical Politics in Sri Lanka after 1977’ – Paper presented at the PhD course on ‘Transformative politics and new politics of order’ organized by Power, Conflict and Democracy Program of the Department of Political Science, Oslo University, Critical Evaluation of G.C. Mendis’ view of Mahawansaya’ Paper presented at the 12th International Conference on Sri Lanka Studies by Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka on 18th-20th March 2011 Changes in the extraction of peasant’s surplus in the age of European expansion’ Paper presented at the Conference ‘Sri Lanka at the cross road’ organized by the Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sceinces and Humanities, Cambridge University, on from 3 to 4 June 2011 Other responsibilities : 1. Head of the Department, Department of History 2. Head of the Department (acting), Department of History and International Relations (16-04-2008 to5-05-2008 3. Coordinator, History and Community Project, Department of History 4. Member of Faculty-Student Liaison Committee of the Faculty of Arts 5. Member of the Hostel allocation committee, Faculty of Arts 6. Member of the Canteen committee, Faculty of Arts 7. Senior Treasurer, Vicharakayo Student Society 8. Senior Treasurer, Pravada Kavaya Student Society