Invited Presentations and Workshops
Teaching the other Official Language: Spoken Tamil Standardization in Postwar Sri Lanka. Paper presented, Chicago Tamil Forum, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL. May 2022. http://chicagotamilforum.uchicago.edu/workshops/2022/ctf-2022.html
The Struggle for a Multilingual Future, Zoom Lecture. Department of Linguistics and English, University of Jaffna, Jaffna, Sri Lanka. September 2021.
“The Struggle for a Multilingual Future.” New Books in Anthropology Zoom Series. American Institute for Lankan Studies. Colombo: Sri Lanka. February 2021.
Discussion of The Struggle for a Multilingual Future. CaMP Anthropology Virtual Reading Group. November 2020.
“Language, Identity and Education in South Asia.” (with Chaise LaDousa). Cornell-Syracuse South Asia Consortium Virtual Discussion. October 2020.
“Trilingual Blunders: Social Media and the Postwar Sri Lankan Tamil-speaking Experience.” Chicago Tamil Forum. University of Chicago, Chicago, IL. May 2019.
Keynote Address: “Tamil Signboard Blunders in Postwar Sri Lanka.” Asia Symposium, College of Dupage, Glen Ellyn, IL. April 2019.
“Tamil Sign Board Blunders: Language, Inequality, and Transnationalism in Post-war Sri Lanka.” Linguistic Anthropology Speaker Series. Department of Anthropology, Hamilton College, Utica, NY. April 2017.
“Architectures of Knowledge: Mumbai. Columbia University’s Group for Experimental Methods in the Humanities.” http://xpmethod.plaintext.in/events/dissent.html Mumbai, India. July 2016.
“Language and Gender.” Department of Anthropology, SUNY Geneseo, Geneseo, NY. April 2016.
“Mock Tamil: Trilingual Speaking and Learning Practices in Sri Lanka.” Department of Anthropology, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY. March 2015.
“Locating Sinhala Voices: Conflict and the Configuration of Difference.” Department of Anthropology, Smith College, Northampton, MA. February 2012.
“Configuring a Cosmopolitan Kandy: Conflict and Difference among Sri Lankan Ethnic Minority Youth.” School of Natural and Social Sciences, Purchase College, SUNY New York, NY. December 2011.
“The Language of Conflict: How Sri Lankan Youth Learn to be at War.” Guest Lecture, Language and Identity. Department of Anthropology, New York University. New York, NY. December 2011.
Conferences, Panels, and Workshops Organized
Panel Organizer, “Rethinking Methods in the Study of Language and Social Life,” AAA Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA. (submitted)
Panel Co-organizer, “Imagining Mother Tongue in Contemporary South Asia: Ethnographic and Historical Approaches,” Association of Asian Studies Annual Conference, Honolulu, HI.
Panel Co-organizer. “Sign and Script in South Asia: New Media and Semeiotic Mediation.” Society for Linguistic Anthropology: Spring 2018 Conference. University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA. March 2018.
Panel Organizer. “Transitional Aspirations, Rights, and Reconciliation: The Place of Tamils in Postwar Sri Lanka.” Annual Conference on South Asia, University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI. October 2017.
Panel Co-organizer. “Language, Labor, and Publics: Tracing Inequalities in South India and Sri Lanka.” Annual Conference on South Asia, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI. October 2016.
Workshop Co-organizer. “Architectures of Knowledge: Mumbai. Columbia University’s Group for Experimental Methods in the Humanities.” http://xpmethod.plaintext.in/events/dissent.html Mumbai, India. July 2016.
Panel Co-organizer. “Insecure Integration: Youth in Post-War Sri Lanka.” Annual Conference on South Asia, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI. October 2014.
Panel Co-organizer/Chair. “Double-Takes: How Layered Acts of Reception Transform Text.” AAA Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL. November 2013.
Panel Co-organizer/Chair. “Countering Surveillance: Interaction, Legitimation, and Resistance.” AAA Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA. December 2009.
Panel Co-organizer. “Teaching Difference: Tamil Ethnic Minorities and School Curriculum,” Annual Conference on South Asia, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI. October 2009.
Conference Introducer/Panel Chair. The Madras School of Orientalism Conference University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI. April 2006.
Conference Co-organizer. Michicagoan Annual Linguistic Anthropology Conference University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI. May 2004.
Selected Presentations/Discussions
“Tamil Identity and Place in Online and Offline Interactions,” Paper delivered, AAA Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA. (submitted)
“Performing Mother Tongue: From Stage to Interview,” Paper delivered, Annual Conference on South Asia, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI. (submitted)
“Mother Tongue, On Stage and in Discussion,” Paper delivered (with Chaise LaDousa), Association for Asian Studies Annual Conference, Honolulu, Hawaii, April 2022.
Journal Editors Roundtable, Participant, Society for Linguistic Anthropology Conference, Boulder, CO.
“Memes, Emojis, and Text in Sri Lankan Tamil Social Media Groups.” Paper delivered, AAA Annual Meeting, Baltimore, MD.
“Memes, Emojis, and Text in Sri Lankan Tamil Social Media Groups.” Paper delivered, Society for Linguistic Anthropology Conference, Boulder, CO (Upcoming, postponed).
“Social Media and Tamil Identity in Postwar Sri Lanka.” Paper delivered, AAA Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC. November 2018.
“Gender, Language, and Conflict at Work: New Books on Postwar Sri Lanka.” Round Table, Annual Conference on South Asia, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI. October 2019 (upcoming).
“A Life History of a Man Named Hitler: Caste, Class, and Social Mobility in Mumbai, India,” Paper delivered, AAA Annual Meeting, San Jose, CA. November 2018.
“A Life History of a Man Named Hitler: Caste, Class, and Social Mobility in Mumbai, India.” Paper delivered, Annual Conference on South Asia, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI. July 2018.
“Trilingual Gaffes: New Media and the Postwar Sri Lankan Tamil Experience.” Paper delivered, Society for Linguistic Anthropology Spring 2017 Conference University of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia, PA. March 2018.
“Tamil Standardization and Political Fault Lines in Post-War Sri Lanka.” Paper delivered, Annual Conference on South Asia, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI. October 2017.
“Tamil Standardization and Political Fault Lines in Post-War Sri Lanka.” Ideologies of Language, Speakers, and Public Space in Post-Civil War Sri Lanka’ Paper delivered, AAA Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, MN. November 2016.
“Tamil Sign Board Blunders: Language and Inequality in Post-War Sri Lanka.” Paper delivered, Annual Conference on South Asia, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI. October 2016.
“Trilingual Sign Board Blunders: Ideologies of Language, Speakers, and Public Space in Post-Civil War Sri Lanka.” Paper delivered, AAA Annual Meeting, Denver, CO. November 2015.
“Almost a Mother Tongue: Language Medium and Ethno-Religious Identity among Sri Lankan Muslims.” Paper delivered, Annual Conference on South Asia, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI. October 2015.
“Local Pedagogy and Trans-local Institutions: Literacy and Learning in Contemporary Tamil Spaces.” Discussant and Chair, AAA Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C.December 2014.
“Mock Tamil: Trilingual Language Practices among Sri Lankan Youth.” Paper delivered, Annual Conference on South Asia, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI. October 2014.
“Between Policy and Practice: Ideological Barriers to a Trilingual Sri Lanka.” Paper delivered, AAA Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL. November 2013.
American Institute for Indian Studies Dissertation to Book Workshop. University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI. October 2013
“Locating Voicing: Multilingualism, Ethnic Conflict and the Configuration of Difference among Sri Lankan Muslims.” Paper delivered, Language and Super-diversity: Explorations and Interrogations,University of Jyväskylä, Finland. June 2013.
“Producing Legitimate Language in a Sri Lankan School.” Paper delivered, International Linguistics Association Annual Conference. CUNY’s Borough of Manhattan Community College, New York, NY. April 2012.
” ‘Is Jaffna Tamil the Best?’ Ideologies of Legitimate Language and Sociolinguistic Disjuncture in a Multilingual Sri Lankan School.” Paper delivered, AAA Annual Meeting, Montreal, Canada. November 2011.
“School Segregation and Conflict: Evaluating Sinhala and Tamil as Second Language Policies in Sri Lankan Schools.” Paper delivered, Tamil Studies Conference, Toronto, Canada. May 2011.
“The Voices of Others: Configuring Stance, Conflict, and Difference in Sri Lanka.” Paper delivered, AAA Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA. November 2011.
“A Cosmopolitan Kandy:The Discursive Construction of Difference among Sri Lankan Tamil-Speaking Adolescents.” Paper delivered, Annual Conference on South Asia, University of Wisconsin-Madison,Madison, WI. November 2010.
“Sinhala Voices: Stance and Everyday Violence in Sri Lanka.” Paper delivered, Toronto Tamil Studies Conference, Toronto, Canada. May 2010.
“Linguistic Surveillance Practices in a Sri Lankan School.” Paper delivered, AAA Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA. November 2010.
“Reconfiguring Difference: Social Transformation and Linguistic Practice among Sri Lankan Minority Adolescents.” Paper delivered, Annual Conference on South Asia, University of Wisconsin-Madison,Madison, WI. October 2009.
“Sinhala Voices: Ethnic Conflict and the Configuration of Difference.” Paper delivered, Michicagoan Annual Linguistic Anthropology Conference, Ann Arbor, MI. May 2009.
“Within and Beyond School Settings: The Regimenting of Linguistic Practice among Sri Lankan Adolescents.” Paper delivered, Toronto Tamil Studies Conference, Toronto, Canada. May 2009.
“Schools, Peer-groups, and Mass Media: The Regimenting of Linguistic Practice in Sri Lankan Schools.” Paper delivered, AAA Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C. November 2008.
“Navigating Tamil Sociolinguistic Difference in Sri Lankan Schools.” Paper delivered, Annual Conference on South Asia,University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI. October 2008.
“Multilingualism, Social Inequality, and Conflict among Sri Lankan Tamil-Speaking Adolescents.” Paper delivered, Sri Lankan Fulbright Commission Annual Conference, Colombo, Sri Lanka. November 2007.
“NanumTamizhum’ (Tamil and I).” Keynote address (in Tamil), Pondicherry Institute of Linguistics and Culture Annual Conference Series, Pondicherry, India. July 2005.