Outline of the seminar

 

1. Welcome and Introductions - (5 mins)- Professor Matt Flynn, Professor of HRM, 

 

2. ‘Spotlight on: Your first academic publication: What to do and what not to do'  with Professor Colin Tyler, Associate Dean for Research, FBLP 

(20 mins plus Q&A 5 mins)

Link to Abstract

Professor Tyler’s talk will draw on his experience of publishing more than 70 books, articles and chapters over the past 25 years, as well as editing many journals and special issues, and reviewing innumerable prospective articles and book proposals.

 

3.  PGR Presents: 'Reading through Marxist Feminism on the Identity Politics of Former Combatants in Post-War Sri Lanka'

with Aruni Samarakoon, PhD candidate in Politics, FBLP and Lecturer in Public Policy, University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka. 

(20 mins plus Q&A 5 mins)

Link to Abstract

 

4. PGR-led Discussion 

PGRs, please take this opportunity to raise any topic at all. 

 

5. A reminder of opportunities coming up for PGRs

 

6.  'Any other business’

 

To view the full PGR Research Culture and Community Programme click here for more details

If you have any general questions about the seminar programme, please contact Jackie McAndrew at the Doctoral College in the first instance on jackie.mcandrew@hull.ac.uk

 

Abstract - Professor Colin Tyler

Publication is a major part of the doctoral process. It is required if you want to get an academic job, it helps to establish you in your research field, and it is a necessary means through which you contribute to the advance of knowledge and understanding. In this presentation, Professor Colin Tyler will:

(a) set out the REF and academic employment context that makes publication so crucial;

(b) assess the various types of publication that you should consider when you are deciding on your first public writing;

(c) warn against “predatory” publishers that often prey on doctoral students;

(d) consider how best to approach journals and publishers when submitting papers and book proposals;

(e) run through the review process that your paper/proposal will undergo;

(f) advise on how to respond to reviewers’ comments; and

(g) how to deal with failure – and success.

Professor Tyler’s talk will draw on his experience of publishing more than 70 books, articles and chapters over the past 25 years, as well as editing many journals and special issues, and reviewing innumerable prospective articles and book proposals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Abstract - Aruni Samarakoon, PhD candidate in Politics 

"Until the war broke into our lives, we lived happily, even without resources., I and my friends generated electricity for the feasts of a girl becoming a woman in the village, by pedalling a bike at a reasonable pace. Enjoying the cool -dry breeze every morning, we walked to the school. All these memories were brushed away when the war started. The Air Force was bombed our school causing the deaths of many school children including my 9-year-old elder brother. Still, I wake up in the middle of the night with the shock of seeing the deaths at the school". (A- Interviewee)

The empirical data for this ethnographic research project will be collected through the male and female former combatants living in and outside of Sri Lanka. The qualitative data will be gathered by the method of in-person semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions.  Representing 25 of each sex, the 50 former combatants will be interviewed, and 15 focus group discussions will be taken place too. The method of participatory observation will be used to understand symbolism, semiotics and the tone of voice and the patterns of conversations.

Background

The civil war between the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL)and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) came to end in 2009. The liberal democratic agenda of the 'war for peace' became the universal guideline to solve the intra-state conflict with the 9/11 attack in the United States. The 9/11 attack caused to raise the nationalism and militarism and to adjust the governing structure of the states to achieve military victory over protracted conflicts which Sri Lanka is one of the cases (Richmond, 2012; Tadjbakhsh, 2011; Doyle, 2011; Paris, 2010;).

Since 2009, the GOSL has followed the liberal peace agenda, focusing on sustaining peace through development. The process of infrastructure development and rehabilitating and reintegrating former combatants into society has been implemented to restore 'normalcy' in the everyday lives of war-affected people. However, the critics point out that, liberal peace policy failed to understand ground realities and recover the war-torn communities and rebuild the state (Stokke and Uyangoda, 2012; Lewis, 2010; Walton, 2012). In addition, the literature on the critical aspect of liberal peace indicates that the liberal peace policy reproduces the structural and symbolic violence against Tamil and Muslim minorities and women in war-affected areas (Samarakoon, 2016; Suthaharan, 2018; Giulia, 2015).

Research Question

This research is, therefore, to understand why and how liberal peace reproduces structural and symbolic violence in post-war Sri Lanka. In that case, the research examines the politics of constructing post-war identities on former combatants in Sri Lanka through Marxist Feminism.