Ms. Sabreena NilesSenior Lecturer (Grade II)
Contact:
Educational Qualifications:
Master of Arts in English Studies (University of Colombo)
Bachelor of Arts Honours Degree in English (University of Kelaniya)
Bachelor of Arts Honours Degree in English (University of Kelaniya)
Teaching Experience:
- Senior Lecturer (Grade II) - Department of English, University of Kelaniya (2019 to date)
- Visiting Lecturer - Master of Arts in Teaching Literature (in a Second Language Context), Postgraduate Institute of English, The Open University of Sri Lanka (2021 to date)
- Visiting Lecturer - Master of Arts in Teaching English as a Second Language - Postgraduate Institute of English, The Open University of Sri Lanka (2021 to date)
- Lecturer – Department of English, University of Kelaniya (2013 to 2019)
- Lecturer (Probationary) – ELTU, University of Kelaniya (January 2013 – April 2013)
- Temporary Assistant Lecturer – ELTU, University of Kelaniya (February 2012 – January 2013)
- Visiting Lecturer - Diploma in English for Professional Purposes, University of Kelaniya (February 2012 –August 2012)
- Visiting Lecturer – Diploma in English for International Students, University of Kelaniya (February 2012 - December 2012)
- Visiting Lecturer – English Language Teaching Unit (ELTU), University of Kelaniya (December 2011-February 2012)
- Visiting Lecturer (Intensive Course) - English Language Teaching Unit (ELTU), University of Kelaniya (November/ December 2010 & 2011, October/ November 2009)
- Temporary Assistant Lecturer – Department of English, University of Kelaniya (May 2011 – November 2011)
- Programme Coordinator (Dec 2010 to Apr 2011) Transparency International, Sri Lanka
- Substitute Teacher (O/L English Literature & A/L General English) – Methodist College, Colombo 3 (July 2005 – December 2005)
Panel discussions/ Lectures:
Moderator – The Struggle of the Deaf Community: A Discussion with Deaf Community Activists, People’s University, Colombo (2022)
Guest lecturer - Conceptualising women and gender within nation, ethnicity, class, caste and religion. Women's Studies Course conducted by the Women's Education and Research Centre, Colombo (2021)
Panelist – “Conflict and Memory in Sri Lankan English Writing on the 1980s.” Strengthening Reconciliation Processes in Sri Lanka (GIZ) (2021)
Speaker - "The importance of creating an academic discourse and research base on women and reparations." Realizing Reparations for Women: One Step Closer Towards Accountability conducted by the Centre for Equality and Justice (2020)
Panelist - "How do we create a supportive environment for students that is violence free within universities, as teachers and students?" Lifting the silence: Webinar Series on Ragging and Violence in the University System organised by the Coalition Against Ragging in the University System (2020).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dX_hROcm8wg&t=306s
Panelist – "Diaspora, Migration and Creativity." Ideas Capital and People on the Move. Conference on Diaspora Engagement in Sri Lanka’s Post-War Development, Reconciliation and Sustainable Peace organisedby the Centre for Poverty Analysis (CEPA) (2019).
Panelist – "Campus connect: Sharing experiences from student exchanges between the university of Jaffna, Colombo and Kelaniya". Wings: International Academic Conference on Arts for Reconciliation organised by the German Development Cooperation (GIZ) – FLICT (2018).
Guest lecturer - Conceptualising women and gender within nation, ethnicity, class, caste and religion. Women's Studies Course conducted by the Women's Education and Research Centre, Colombo (2021)
Panelist – “Conflict and Memory in Sri Lankan English Writing on the 1980s.” Strengthening Reconciliation Processes in Sri Lanka (GIZ) (2021)
Speaker - "The importance of creating an academic discourse and research base on women and reparations." Realizing Reparations for Women: One Step Closer Towards Accountability conducted by the Centre for Equality and Justice (2020)
Panelist - "How do we create a supportive environment for students that is violence free within universities, as teachers and students?" Lifting the silence: Webinar Series on Ragging and Violence in the University System organised by the Coalition Against Ragging in the University System (2020).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dX_hROcm8wg&t=306s
Panelist – "Diaspora, Migration and Creativity." Ideas Capital and People on the Move. Conference on Diaspora Engagement in Sri Lanka’s Post-War Development, Reconciliation and Sustainable Peace organisedby the Centre for Poverty Analysis (CEPA) (2019).
Panelist – "Campus connect: Sharing experiences from student exchanges between the university of Jaffna, Colombo and Kelaniya". Wings: International Academic Conference on Arts for Reconciliation organised by the German Development Cooperation (GIZ) – FLICT (2018).
Research presentations:
- Niles, J.S and Rathnayake, I. “Embodying (dis)abilities: The Renegotiation of Pedagogical Practices by Women Undergraduates with Disabilities during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Sri Lanka”. Conditions and Terms: Methods and Disciplines of Knowledge, King's College London, Microsoft Teams (2022).
- Niles, J.S and Rathnayake, I. “Disabling Female Undergraduates with Disabilities in Higher Education in Sri Lanka during the Covid-19 Pandemic”. Pandemic Literature Annual Graduate Interdisciplinary Conference (Glits) 2021, Goldsmiths, University of London.
- Niles, J.S and Rathnayake, I. “Renegotiating Pedagogical Practices for Undergraduates with Disabilities”. 14th Annual Conference of the South Asian Studies Association (2021).
- Niles, J.S. "Remembering 'Home': Representations of archival spaces in Sri Lankan Tamil diasporic texts”. IH Graduate Conference 2020, University of California, Merced.
- ‘(Trans)formations in Wikipedia: A critical view of ‘2014 anti-Muslim riots in Sri Lanka’’. International Postgraduate Research Conference. Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Kelaniya (2020).
- ‘(De)Constructing homes: The impact of migration on spaces that migrant women inhabit in Sri Lankan migrant women’s writing’. Centre for South Asia - Annual Conference on South Asia, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA (2016).
- ‘National memory and digital platforms: Imagining post-war Sri Lanka on the Facebook page Humans of Northern Sri Lanka’. Peradeniya University International Research Sessions, University of Peradeniya (2016).
- ‘A journey of inheritance: A study of the documentary My Mother’s Village by Aaron Burton’. The 3 rd Biennial Conference of the International Association for Asian Heritage, University of Kelaniya (2015).
- ‘Enhancing TESL in Sri Lankan Universities through the use of Sri Lankan Literature Written in English’. National Conference on General Linguistics. Department of Linguistics, University of Kelaniya (2013).
- ‘Performativity and Performance: An Analysis of the Portrayal of Gender Identity of Women in Plays Written by Sri Lankan Playwrights’. Young Researchers’ Forum 2012, Colombo.
- ‘Identifying and Overcoming Challenges of Teaching English as a Foreign Language in Sri Lankan Universities: A Case Study’. 13th Annual Research Symposium. Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Kelaniya (2012).
- ‘Error Correction through Mnemonics for Sri Lankan Undergraduates Using English as a Second Language’. The Tenth Asia TEFL International Conference, New Delhi, India (2012).
- ‘The (De) Construction of Gender Identity in Children’s Literature Written in English by Sri Lankan Authors’.12th Annual Research Symposium. Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Kelaniya (2011).
Publications:
- Niles, J.S. (2022). (Un)inhabitable “homes” for mothers and daughters: The transmission of memories of “home” in Sri Lankan Tamil diasporic women’s writing.
In Maria D. Lombard, Ed. Reclaiming Migrant Motherhood: Identity, Belonging and Displacement in a Global Context. Lexington Books. - Niles, J.S. (2020).‘Embodying histories of violence: Representations of scarred bodies of Sri Lankan Tamil women in Sri Lankan Tamil diasporic women’s writing in English’. Iowa Journal of Cultural Studies, Volume 20. Issue 1. University of Iowa (2020).
- ‘The Construction of the ‘I’ Under the Gaze of the ‘Eye’: An Analysis of the Poems Written by Sylvia Plath’. Journal of the Faculty of Humanities. Volume 17. University of Kelaniya (2013).
- ‘The (De) Construction of Gender Identity in Children’s Literature Written in English by Sri Lankan Authors.’ Journal of the Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Kelaniya, Volume 1. Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Kelaniya (2012).
Other:
- “History of the Department of English, University of Kelaniya” written by Maithree Wickramasinghe with Sabreena Niles. Times Online. June 30th 2021. https://www.timesonline.
lk/opinion/A-History-of-the- Department-of-English- University-ofKelaniya/158- 1133971 - Editor – Pulse: An Anthology of Trilingual Poetry published by the Centre for Gender Studies, University of Kelaniya (2014)
Additional qualifications:
- Associate Diploma in Teaching (Speech and Drama) – ATCL
Trinity College London (2009) (requires completion of a thesis, practical component and case study on teaching experience - Diploma in Drama and Communication Speech and Drama Performance London College of Music – LCM (2008)