Prof. Prabha Manuratne
Prof. Prabha Manuratne

Contact:

Department of English
K 2 102
University of Kelaniya

E-mail: pmanuratne@kln.ac.lk (University)
          

Educational Qualification:

2016: Ph.D., English, University at Buffalo, NY.
Awarded Funded Teaching Assistantship. Thesis: “The Martyr and the Traitor: Violence and Resistance in World Literature and Cinema”
2007: M.A., English, Kansas State University. Thesis: “Distance The Poem From The Tears?” Women, Social Anxieties, and Cultural Representations in Post-1977 Sri Lanka.
2006: Certificate in Women’s Studies, Kansas State University.
2001: B.A., English (Honors), Kelaniya University, Sri Lanka.

Academic Employment & Positions:

Head, Department of English, University of Kelaniya 2019-2022
Senior Lecturer Grade I,
Department of English, University of Kelaniya 2016-to date
Senior Lecturer Grade II
Department of English, University of Kelaniya 2008-2016
Lecturer, Department of English, University of Kelaniya 2003-2008
Instructor, Asian Studies Department,
State University of New York at Buffalo, U.S.A. 2014
Graduate Teaching Assistant,
English Department, State University of New York at Buffalo USA 2009-2014
Visiting Lecturer, Postgraduate Institute of English
Open University of Sri Lanka 2016-to date
Temporary Assistant Lecturer,
Department of English, University of Colombo 2001-2003

Other:

Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Colombo, 2021.
Programme: Postgraduate Diploma in Women’s Studies
2
5202: Gender, Culture, Representation
Postgraduate Institute of English. Open University of Sri Lanka
Programme: MA in Teaching Literature in a Second Language Context
PGP 8304: Reading Critically
PGP 9402/LTP 1103: Novel and Short Fiction
PGP9401: Basic Literary Concepts and Introduction to Literary Theory
Department of Film and Television, University of Kelaniya 2020-2023
Taught the course Sociology of Cinema and Television
Department of Sociology, University of Kelaniya
MA in Sociology Degree Programme (English Medium)
Taught the unit on gender in the course Contemporary Sociology
Visiting Lecturer at the Department of Fine Arts, University of Peradeniya
Master of Arts/Master of Philosophy in Fine Arts Programme
Taught on the course Semiotics in Arts and Culture
Adjunct Instructor, Department of Asian Studies, University at Buffalo, 2014
Taught the course Women in Asian Literature (Cross listed with English and Global
Gender Studies)
Visiting Lecturer at the Department of Sinhala, University of Kelaniya 2015-2017
Taught Critical Theory to students specializing in the Sinhala Degree Programme

Awards and Honors:

2023: Senate Award
University of Kelaniya
2022: Senate Award
University of Kelaniya
2018: Vice-Chancellor’s Award
University of Kelaniy

2014: ­Isabel S. Marcus International Research Fellowship. Awarded for my dissertation research titled “The Martyr and the Traitor: Representations of Violence in Global Literature and Cinema.”
2014-2015: Riverrun Teaching Fellowship Prize, Department of English, University of Buffalo.
2005-2007: Fulbright Fellow
2006: Earl R Davies Memorial Award for the Best Student-Scholar. Department of English. Kansas State University.
2006: Member of Phi Kappa Phi Academic Honor Society

Publications:

Salwatura A. Prabha Manuratne (2022) “Suspect Belongings”: The Traitor as a Figure of Betrayal
in Etel Adnan’s Sitt Marie-Rose, Women's Studies, 51:5, 575-596, https://doi.org/10.1080/00497878.2022.207050
Manuratne, Prabha. The Terrors of “Tomfoolery”: An Analysis of Ragging Based on the 1975 V. W. Kularatne Report. Journal of the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, 2022 Volume 1, January to June. https://ss.kln.ac.lk/depts/RCSS/images/2022/ 022.pdf

Manuratne, S. A. Prabha M. “War and its Objects: Reflections of the Sri Lankan Civil War in S. P. Pushpakanthan’s Art.” South Asian Review. Taylor and Francis. 2021. https://doi.org/10.1080/02759527.2021.1957608

Manuratne, Prabha. “Structural Violence and Ragging In Sri Lankan State Universities: A Case Study Of The 1975 V. W. Kularatne Report”. Vistas. Journal of the Open University. Volume 14, Issue 2, December 2021.
http://repository.ou.ac.lk/handle/94ousl/1998

Manuratne, Prabha. “A Film Theoretical Analysis of the Representation of Ethnic Harmony and
Reconciliation in the Film ‘Her, Him, The Other’.” The Academic Journal of the University of
Sabaragamuwa, University of Sabaragamuwa, Volume 12, December 2021. Published in
Sinhala.
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https://www.sab.ac.lk/crkd/sinhala-archive

Manuratne, Prabha. “University & Co.: The Neoliberal University and the Challenges Faced
by Arts Faculties in Sri Lanka.” Dialogue. New Series XL &XLI. Colombo: The Ecumenical
Institute for Study and Dialogue, 2018-2019.

Manuratne, Prabha. “Let Her Cry: A Cry for Feminist Cinema.” Polity. Colombo: Social Scientists’
Association, 2016. Volume 7, Issue 1
https://www.scribd.com/document/327414114/Asoka-Handagama-s-Let-Her-Cry-A-Cry-for-
aRadical-Feminist-Cinema-Prabha-Manuratne#

Manuratne, Prabha. “Kolambata Kiri Apita Kekiri: Neoliberalism and the 1983 Education
Reforms.” Polity. Colombo: Social Scientists’ Association, 2016. Volume 7, Issue 2

Prabha Manuratne – ‘Kolambata Kiri Apita Kekiri: Neoliberalism and the 1983 Education
Reforms’, pp. 14-22 - SSA Lanka

Manuratne, Prabha. “The Celestial Underwear and the Challenges of Post-Colonial Art.” South
Asian Journal of Visual Culture. The Colombo Institute, 2008.

Book Chapters

Manuratne, Prabha. “Dekala Purudu Kenek: Between Domesticity and Death of the Bourgeois
Family.” Hegoda, Malith. Ed. Dekala Purudu Kenek. Collection of Essays on the film Dekala
Purudu Kenek. Gagana Publishers. 2019.
Manuratne, Prabha. “The Art of Small Things: Formal Irony in Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things.” Jayathu: Mangalika Jayathunga Felicitation Volume. Kelaniya: University of Kelaniya.
2018.

Manuratne, Prabha. “‘Parody of War’: Pleasure at the Limits of Pornography” in Porn
Archives, eds. Tim Dean, David Squires, and Steven Ruszczycky. Durham: Duke UP. 2014.
https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822376620-019

Manuratne, Prabha and Buddika Bandara. “The Power of One: The Fear of Freedom as a
Political Paradigm” with Buddika Bandara. Democracy Works: Theory and Action to Foster
Global Change, Eds. Torry Dickinson and Terrie A. Becerra. New York: Paradigm, 2008.
https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315635255.
Narrating Madness: The Ambiguous Narrative Voice of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s ‘The Yellow
Wallpaper’” in Golden Jubilee Commemoration Volume of The University of Kelaniya. Kelaniya:
University of Kelaniya, 2009.

Manuratne, Prabha. “The Wind Bird’s Disruptive Dream: Working Women, Moral Anxiety, and
Feminist Potential in Sulang Kirillie.” In Wimal Dissanayake Felicitation Volume, ed. Kulathilaka
Kumarasinghe. Colombo: Godage Publishers, 2008.

Translations:

Sindu Kiyana Aragala (The Singing Revolutions), Essays and Translations on Non-Violent
Protests and Artistic Practices. With Buddika Bandara. Saharakshi Publishers, 2022.
Marie Rose: Lebanon Yudhdhaye Sthriyakage Adhishtanaya, translation of Sitt Marie Rose
by Etel Adnan. Kelaniya. Sethuka Publishers, 2020
Meena: Didulana Afghan Tharuwa, translation of Meena: Heroine of Afghanistan by Melody Ermachild Chavis. Kelaniya: Sethuka Publishers, 2008.

Conference Presentations:

“Materiality and Violence in Nihal de Silva’s The Road from Elephant Pass.” International Humanities Conference, University of Kelaniya. May 21-22, 2016.
“Translating Taboo: Homosexuality and Violence in Shyam Selvadurai’s Funny Boy and Sugathapala de Silva’s Amutu Ilandariya.” Translation Theory Today Conference, City University of New York. May 5-6, 2016.
“Forms of Belonging and the Ethics of Betrayal in Etel Adnan’s Sitt Marie-Rose.” International Humanities Conference, University of Kelaniya. May 21-22, 2015.
“Accidental Martyrs: The Representation of Martyrdom in the Fiction of Sahar Khalifeh.” Annual Research Symposium of the National Centre for Advanced Studies, Sri Lanka. June 8-9, 2015.
“Violent Places: Landscapes of Violence in the Music of Ajith Kumarasiri.” Sri Lanka Graduate Conference. New School for Social Research, NY. March 25-26, 2011.
“The Usurped Sovereign, Homo Sacer, and the Politics of Suicide Bombing.” Social Theory Forum Annual Conference. University of Massachusetts, Boston. April 13-14, 2011.
“Gemak Demuda, Machan?” Reimagining Globalization in Uberto Passolini’s film Machan. Sri Lanka Graduate Conference. New School for Social Research, NY. April, 2010.
“My Dream Has Come True: Reconstructing Cultural History through Women’s Narratives of their Life-Histories.” International Conference of the Social Sciences. University of Kelaniya. July, 2008.
“Colonizing Gender: Literary Representations of the Impact of Colonialism on Gender in Native American Societies.” Graduate-Faculty Symposium. University of Kelaniya, 2007.
“Consenting to Ignorance: An Analysis of the Hostility towards Anti-War films in Sri Lanka.” Cultural Studies Conference on “Entertainment,” Kansas State University, March 2007.
“The Celestial Underwear and the Challenges of Postcolonial Art.” South Asia Regional Conference, Wisconsin, Madison. October 2006.
“Privacy in the Age of Psychoanalysis” Cultural Studies Conference titled Privacy (and Secrecy). Kansas State University. March 2006.
“Not In Theory: The Relevance of Critical Theory in Sri Lankan Universities.” Graduate Student and Faculty Conference, University of Kelaniya, 2004.

University Contributions:

Head, Department of English, University of Kelaniya 2019 to 2022.
Editor in Chief, Kalyani Journal 2021- Acting Deputy Director of the Centre for Distance and Continuing Education, University of Kelaniya, 2018.
Member of the Institutional Review Report Writing Team 2020.
Member of the SER writing team for the external degree offered through the CDCE.
December 2021.
External Reviewer for Bachelor of Arts Degree in English and Bachelor of Arts Honour’s
Degree in English, University of Jaffna, 2020
Faculty Coordinator for the Enhancement of Learning, Teaching, and AssessmentEnglish Language Teaching Enhancement (ELTA-ELSE) Project Writing Team,
AHEAD World Bank Grant Project, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, 2018-
2019.
Coordinator for Activity 3, Development of Socio-Emotional Skills/Inclusive education
proposed under the project for the Enhancement of Learning, Teaching, and
Assessment-English Language Teaching Enhancement (ELTA-ELSE) AHEAD World
Bank Grant Project, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, 2019-2020.
Resource Person to develop the entire BA degree program in English at the Aquinas
College, Sri Lanka, 2018.
Member of the Faculty Research Management Committee, Faculty of Humanities,
University of Kelaniya, 2018.
Member of the Self-Evaluation Report Writing Team for the Institutional Review of the
Quality Assurance Program, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, 2017.
Main Coordinator, International Conference of the Humanities, Faculty of Humanities,
University of Kelaniya, 2017, 2018.
Faculty Coordinator for Faculty of Humanities, International Post-Graduate Research
Conference, Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Kelaniya. 2015, 2016.
Member of the editorial committee of the Kalyani journal, University of Kelaniya, 2017- to
2021
University representative for the Parliament Page Program 2016.
Department representative for the Corporate Plan Committee, 2016- 2019
Member of the editorial committee of the Humanities Journal, University of Kelaniya
2008-2009.
Member of the Faculty Board – Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Open
University of Sri Lanka. 2020 to present.
Member of the Board of Study for teaching literature in a Second Language (TLSC), Post
graduate institute of English, Open university of Sri Lanka. 3 Years with effect from 2021 to
present. Teaching for Department of Sinhala, Faculty of Humanities, 2016.
Department representative for the Cooperate Plan Committee, 2016.
Member of the editorial committee of the Humanities Journal, University of Kelaniya 2008-2009.

Other Contributions:

Chair of the Jury for the H. A. I Goonetilleke for best translation
of a work in Sinhala or Tamil into English, The Gratiaen Trust 2023
Member of the Jury of the Jaffna International Cinema Festival 2020
Member of the Jury of the Agenda 14 International Short Film Festival 2019
Member of the Jury of the Presidential Film Awards 2016
Member of the Jury of the Presidential Film Awards 2017
Member of the Jury of the Presidential Film Awards 2018
Member of the Panel of Judges of Fairway National Literary Festival 2017
Member of the Panel of Judges at the State Literary Festival 2015, 2016.
Member of the Sub-Committee on Literature of the National Arts Council.
Served on the UMBRA editorial committee in 2011 and 2014.
Co-coordinator of the Foundations in South Asian Studies Reading Group 2013-2014, University at Buffalo.
Served as a volunteer/consultant to the Women’s Bank, a micro savings scheme of urban and rural low-income women in Sri Lanka.
Volunteer editor of Sethuka Publishers, an activist publishing group committed to translating progressive books into the Sinhala language in Sri Lanka.
Resources Person for Women’s Education and Research Collective.

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