Siri Gamage

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Dr. Siri Gamage was born in Walasmulla, Sri Lanka and had his university education in Sociology at the University of Ceylon (1968-72). He obtained an M.A. in Sociology from the University of Hawaii (1977-79) and a Ph. D in anthropology & Sociology from Monash University, Australia. His research focused on social inequality in rural Kandyan highlands. From 1974-1986 he served on the academic staff of the sociology department, University of Peradeniya.

In 1990 he was appointed as lecturer in multicultural studies at the University of New England, Armidale, Australia. Since then he has been involved in teaching about immigrants, multiculturalism, intercultural issues. He has been teaching in the pre-service teacher education program focusing on social justice issues. Dr. Gamage has been a commentator and writer on issues of ethnic difference and conflict in Sri Lanka. He co-edited a book with I.B. Watson titled Conflict and Community in Sri Lanka, in 1999. The book was published by Sage, New Delhi. His latest book chapter on Sri Lanka is in a book published by manohar, India titled Crises of State and Nation: South Asian States Between nation-Building and Fragmentation Eds, John Neelsen and Dipak Malik. The latest contribution on Sri lanka's education can be found at the UNE Asia Centre Web Site as a UNEAC Electronic Journal article:'Critical Discourses on Globalisation, Knowledge Economy and Public Education: the case of Sri Lanka', December 2006: ^[1]

From 1999-2002 he conducted field research with Sri Lankan immigrants and their children in Australia. Based on this research he has published papers. Details of one such paper can be found in a book published by the International Cultural Research Network(ICRN) web site.

Currently he is a senior lecturer in the School of Professional Development and Leadership, University of New England, Armidale, NSW Australia 2350. He is married to Lalani and have two children, Chaturi and Chamira Gamage.