Maneshka Eliatamby
This month, ICAR puts the spotlight on one of our Ph.D. students, Maneshka Eliatamby. Born in Sri Lanka, Maneshka was faced with an identity conflict growing up with parents of different ethnic backgrounds, her father, Tamil and her mother, Singhalese. Her awareness of war came at the early age of just 4 years in learning about the war between the Sri Lankan Government and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Upon arriving at ICAR, one of the first faculty members she met was Dr. Dennis Sandole. Maneshka states that Dr. Sandole “shaped my thinking here [at ICAR]” that they both share similar interests in understanding the root causes of terrorism.
As a Masters student at ICAR, she pursued her interest of understanding terrorism-especially female terrorists and women who go from being the victim to the victimizer. “This idea of a female terrorist goes against the stereotypical view of a woman only being the peacemaker” states Maneshka. Her studies and research is geared towards the understanding female involvement in collective violence by using the situation in Sri Lanka.
Active in the student community, Maneshka is a founder of the Conflict and Gender Working Group and a member of both the Terrorism Working Group and the South and South East Asia Working Group.
Maneshka’s contributions to the ICAR community and the field of conflict resolution have impressed both her colleges and faculty. Now an ICAR PhD student, Maneshka continues her research in understanding the root causes of terrorism. “I want to teach and also be practicing in the field. I like the idea of bringing experience to the classroom- I don’t think I would be a good teacher without the practical experience”.