Christiane Brosius
Principal Investigator
Prof. Dr. Christiane Brosius is Professor of Visual and Media Anthropology at the Heidelberg Centre for Transcultural Studies, Universität Heidelberg (Germany). She was a PI of Heritage as Placemaking, for which she worked on urban regeneration in Patan and Bhaktapur, with an emphasis on heritage activism and reconstruction contestations revolving around semi- public arcaded resthouses (phalcā). She curated the project’s input along the theoretical strand of commoning. Read More
Sabin Ninglekhu
Principal Investigator
Dr. Sabin Ninglekhu is a geographer and a Senior Researcher based at Social Science Baha, Kathmandu.. His work for Heritage as Placemaking looked into how religion and heritage is used to further urban planning agendas under the guise of creating the “world- class city,” with Janakpur (Nepal) and Ayodhya (India) as primary case studies. He also curated the podcast and lecture series around the theoretical strand of bureaucracy. Read More
Sasanka Perera
Principal Investigator
Dr. Sasanka Perera is Chairman of the Colombo Institute for Human Sciences, and was Professor of Sociology at University of Colombo, Sri Lanka and South Asian University (SAU), New Delhi. He was a PI of Heritage as Placemaking. His research is focused on Buddhist pilgrims and how their movements serve to create a transnational place, with an emphasis on the sites of Lumbini (Nepal) and Varanasi (India). He led the theoretical strand of decolonization. Read More
Stefanie Lotter
Principal Investigator
Dr. Stefanie Lotter is a Research Fellow and Senior Teaching Fellow at SOAS University of London (UK) and a PI of Heritage as Placemaking. Her research for the HaP project brought together case studies in diverse regions of Nepal, from Bhaktapur in the Kathmandu Valley to the eastern Ilam District, to examine the theoretical and practical conditions for heritage. Stefanie Lotter led the project’s theoretical strand of erasure. Read More
Emiline Smith
Post-doctoral Research Fellow
Dr. Emiline Smith is a Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Glasgow’s School of Social and Political Sciences. Her work within HaP looked at the illegal trafficking of cultural and natural resources from the Dolpa region.
Monalisa Maharjan
Post-doctoral Research Fellow
Dr. Monalisa Maharjan holds a PhD in Art History from the University of Évora, which focused on the indigenous practice of safeguarding intangible cultural heritage. Her research for HaP looked at heritage activism and contestations centered around water architecture and infrastructures
Monica Mottin
Post-doctoral Research Fellow
Dr. Monica Mottin was a Social Anthropologist and Research Fellow at the HCTS. Her project within Heritage as Placemaking studied how heritage performances make places in the Janakpur region and Kathmandu Valley.
Pooja Kalita
Post-doctoral Research Fellow
Dr. Pooja Kalita is a post-doctoral fellow at the Central European University’s Global Forum of democracy and development, and a visiting fellow in the Colombo Institute for Human Sciences, Sri Lanka. She received her PhD from the Department of Sociology, South Asian University (New Delhi). Her research for Heritage as Placemaking focussed on the intersection of gender, material culture, food, labor, visuality, and placemaking, with a particularly close look at Lumbini (Nepal), Bodh Gaya (India), and Varanasi (India).
Binita Magaiya
Research Assistant
Binita Magaiya, worked as a research assistant for the project Heritage as Placemaking. She is an architect specializing in the conservation of Monuments and Heritage structures. She completed her master’s from KU Leuven with a degree in Conservation of Monuments and Sites. Her HaP research looks at Mukundapur, a historic, ‘forgotten’ ruin located in the inner plains of Nepal between Lumbini and Kathmandu.
Darshana Ashoka Kumara
Research Assistent
Darshana Ashoka Kumara has recently defended his PhD at the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. He holds a degree in computer science from Sri Jayawardhanapura University and a double master’s degree in mass communication and the Sinhala language from Kelaniya University. He has worked as a visiting lecturer at a number of institutions of higher education, including the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, University of Kelaniya, and the University of Colombo. Within HaP, Darshana assisted Sasanka Perera with his research on Buddhist pilgrim trails.
Thirangie Jayatilake
Research Assistent
Thirangie Jayatilake, MA, is a writer, editor, and storyteller. She has an undergraduate degree in literature and creative writing with a minor in mathematics from New York University and a master's degree in creative writing, publishing, and editing from the University of Melbourne. She has served as an editor at Antithesis Journal, Grattan Street Press, Postscript Magazine, Revarena Ediciones, The Gazelle, Airport Street, and the Perera-Hussein Publishing House. Her research for HaP looked at Buddhist pilgrimage sites and how online communities and websites contribute to the act of placemaking.
Andrea Revilla Santos
Research Data Manager
Andrea Revilla Santos worked as the project’s data manager. In addition to her work in research data management, Andrea Revilla Santos is pursuing a PhD in Film Studies, focusing on the representation of aging in cinema, with particular emphasis on intergenerational relationships, caregiving, and urbanism.
Diego Jaimes-Niño
Coordinator
Diego Jaimes-Niño was the coordinator of Heritage as Placemaking, for which he handled administration, project finances, and project management. He is a PhD Student at the University of Heidelberg.
Emily Hyatt
Project Coordinator
Emily Hyatt worked in the coordination of the project Heritage as Placemaking, for which she handled administration, reporting, and the project’s website. She holds an MA in Transcultural Studies from Heidelberg University.
Ina Schmidbauer
Student Assistant
Ina Schmidbauer worked as a Student Assistant for Heritage as Placemaking, working on Nepali translations and transcriptions and worked to develop the project’s online platform FID-South Asia.
Julia Shrestha
Research Data Manager
Julia Shrestha worked as Research Data Manager for Heritage as Placemaking, for which she established the project’s partnerships with Heidelberg University’s HeidICON and Fachinformationsdienst Südasian.
Paromita Roy
Research Data Manager
Paromita Roy was the Research Data Manager for the Heritage as Placemaking project. Her responsibilities include curating and finalizing the FID4SA page, managing HeidICON, and briefly assisting with finances and coordination
Tara Brahme
Student Assistant
Tara Brahme was a student assistant for Heritage as Placemaking and a current M.A. student at the department for Transcultural Studies, Heidelberg. She assisted with literature research and supported the project’s data management.
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