The 2016 Sri Lanka Graduate Student Conference will be held on November 4th and 5th at the Center for South Asia at Stanford University. The conference is co-funded by the American Institute for Sri Lankan Studies and the Center for South Asia, Stanford. As with the three previous graduate conferences, this workshop will bring together graduate students both in the final writing up stage and pre-research/planning stages from a variety of disciplines and institutions. The graduate conference aims to enhance intellectual exchange on Sri Lanka; emphasize the production of empirical and non-sectarian knowledge; focus attention on recent transformations of key concepts; strengthen and build a new cohort of researchers (and research) across disciplines and institutions; and strengthen relationships between American graduate students and local intellectual circles in Sri Lanka.
In 2016 our theme is Remember? Reconcile? Revise? Given that Sri Lanka is in the midst of discussing reconciliation mechanisms as well weathering new electoral and economic challenges, this year our focus is not only on the ways in which the past features in the present, but also the multi-layered nature of the histories and memories being drawn upon. As in previous years we welcome papers from all disciplines and spanning all time periods.
The workshop takes place over 2 days. On November 4th, the first session will be a small closed pre-dissertation development seminar for selected participants (see below for details). On November 5th we will host three student panels.
We would like to invite three sets of participants. Firstly, paper and panel proposals for the three student panels. Panel proposals and single papers proposals are due on October 16th. Secondly, we invite participants to apply for the pre-dissertation development seminar. This seminar is to assist graduate students in developing their research projects and will be a closed session for 4-5 participants. Students in Masters and PhD programs across the humanities and social sciences are encouraged to apply. Those interested in the Pre-dissertation Development Seminar should email a 300-word explanation of your interests and why you would like to participate by October 16th.
Those who wish to participate in the conference without presenting must send expressions of their interest by October. We have limited funding for travel. Please let us know if you are unable to access departmental funding.
Please send your proposals and inquiries with “Sri Lanka Graduate Student Workshop” in the subject line to Sharika Thiranagama at sharikat@stanford.edu Inquiries prior to October 16th are most welcome.
