Sri Lankan diplomat to visit SIA to discuss post-war peace building

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Gamini Keerawella, the deputy chief of mission of Sri Lanka in the United States, will visit Penn State on April 24 to discuss socio-political dynamics of the conflict and post-conflict reconciliation initiatives in Sri Lanka. Dr. Keerawella’s talk, “Ethnic Conflict and Post-War Peace Building in Sri Lanka,” will be held from 2:30 to 4:00 p.m. on Monday, April 24, in room 112 of the Lewis Katz Building.

In addition to his current position as a high-ranking diplomat, Dr. Keerawella is also an eminent Sri Lankan academic and historian who has held faculty positions at the University of Peradeniya in Sri Lanka and the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts.

His research focuses on peace and security in the Indian Ocean and post-colonial state -building and political processes in Sri Lanka. He has also published research on peace and security issues in the Indian Ocean, Japan and South Asia, the role of India as a regional power, and the influence of colonialism on post-colonial states, among numerous other topics.

Dr. Keerawella has worked extensively in public policy and administration, having served as the advisor to the president on ethnic affairs and the secretary of the Ministry of Ethnic Affairs and National Integration and Mineral Resources, among other positions in the Sri Lankan government. He has also worked as a member of the official Sri Lankan delegation to the United Nations, where he worked on issues of racial discrimination and xenophobia.

Dr. Keerawella’s address is co-sponsored by Penn State Law’s Office for Global and International Programs and the Penn State School of International Affairs. The event is free and open to the public.