GEC Researcher of the Month – Tharindi Udalagama

I am a passionate and dedicated higher education teaching professional with a strong background in women and gender studies, kinship and relatedness, and marriage and family dynamics. With a PhD in Social Anthropology from Durham University, my research has delved into the lives of women in rural Sri Lanka, exploring how they navigate societal expectations and personal struggles within the frameworks of marriage and kinship. My monograph, published under Palgrave and Macmillan’s gender studies series, highlights these themes and contributes to our understanding of gender norms and the pursuit of a good life for women in rural contexts.

Currently, I am a Research Fellow on a project investigating the wellbeing of researchers involved in long-term suicide and self-harm studies. This work complements my interest in the nuanced interplay between gender dynamics, hope, and suffering. My experience spans teaching sociology at the University of Colombo, where I employed innovative pedagogical approaches in both face-to-face and online settings, to my current role at the University of Edinburgh, where I am expanding my research network and contributing to interdisciplinary collaborations.

Current Research:

My research focuses on the multifaceted domains of women’s studies, kinship dynamics, marriage structures, and the experience of suffering within contemporary society. Through an ethnographic lens, my PhD thesis explored the lives of women in rural Sri Lanka, highlighting how they construct habitable environments as wives and mothers amidst societal expectations and everyday struggles. This work amplifies the voices of marginalized women, shedding light on their vulnerability and resilience in navigating marriage and kinship.

Currently, I am a Research Fellow on the project ‘Unveiling Secondary Trauma in Research: Identifying and Mitigating the Unseen Impact on Researchers,’ funded by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. This project centers on the wellbeing of researchers involved in long-term suicide and self-harm studies, with a focus on gendered responses to researcher wellbeing. My future research plans include a comparative study on hope, hopelessness, and wellbeing among researchers and an exploration of how relational patterns in households contribute to suicide and self-harm in rural Sri Lanka. I aim to examine how societal expectations, cultural norms, and gender dynamics shape individuals’ experiences of hope and suffering within households, contributing to a deeper understanding of the complex interplay between gender, hope, and wellbeing.

Areas of Study:

Gender, Marriage, Women, Sri Lanka, Ethnography

ORCHID

Academia.edu

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