Academic

Research activities

Appointment summary

Sessional Lecturer, University of British Columbia (Department of Political Science), 2021–22.
Postdoctoral Research Officer, University of Oxford (Faculty of Law), 2020–21.
ESRC Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Bristol (Global Insecurities Centre), 2019.
Senior Research Associate, University of Bristol (SPAIS), 2016–19.
Project Officer, University of Bristol (EU-CIVCAP), 2016–18.

Visiting Fellow, Harvard University, 2016.
Visiting Academic, University of Auckland, 2015.
Visiting Scholar, University of Sydney, 2014.

Grant summary

  • ESRC (University of Oxford Impact Acceleration Account), Widening Participation in the Cameroon Peacebuilding Process, 2002-KEA-509, £24,635, 2020–21, Co-Investigator

  • ESRC (SWDTP Postdoctoral Fellowship), Local International: State-society relations and international-local interactions in post-war states, ES/S011439/1, £101,017, 2019, Principal Investigator.

  • PolicyBristol (Support Scheme), Peace and Reconciliation in Sri Lanka: Reflections 10 years after the end of the war, £1,096, 2019, Principal Investigator.

  • WUN (Research Development Fund), Resilient Peace: Exploring resilient peacebuilding actors, cultures and policy transfer in West Africa, £33,663, 2018, Co-Investigator.

  • ESRC (University of Bristol Impact Acceleration Account), Communicating inclusive EU civilian capabilities for conflict prevention and peacebuilding, £5,000, 2018, Co-Investigator.

  • ESRC (University of Bristol Impact Acceleration Account), PeaceCapacity: Building capacities in civil society for inclusive peace processes in the Horn of Africa and the Western Balkans, £20,000, 2017–18, Co-Investigator.

Research summary

My research, which is fieldwork-led, considers the interplay between civil society, the state and external actors in post-war states including Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo. Most recently, I was a Sessional Lecturer at the Department of Political Science, University of British Columbia. Prior to this, I was a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Faculty of Law, University of Oxford, and before that, I was an ESRC Postdoctoral Fellow at the School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies, University of Bristol. Previously I was the Project Officer and Senior Research Associate for the Horizon 2020 research project “Preventing and Responding to Conflict: Developing Civilian Capabilities for a Sustainable Peace” (EU-CIVCAP), and was Co-I of related projects (see below).

Publications

Journal articles (peer-reviewed)

Chapters in edited volumes

  • Algar-Faria, G. (2015), “Terrorism and ethics”, in: Caroline Kennedy-Pipe, Gordon Clubb and Simon Mabon (eds.), Terrorism and Political Violence, London: SAGE, 18–32.

Book reviews and reply articles

Reports

Training handbooks

Policy briefings

Teaching experience

Qualification: I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Supervision: At the University of Bristol supervised five Masters dissertations focused on human rights, conflict prevention and peacebuilding.

Examination: I have been the external examiner for one PhD thesis on human rights.

Lecturing and seminar delivery

At the University of British Columbia I have previously taught:

  • POLI 370A Issues in International Conflict Management: Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding (Undergraduate, 2021, Summer Term 2; 2021–22, Winter Term 1).

  • POLI 370B Issues in International Conflict Management: Humanitarianism in Complex Emergencies (Undergraduate, 2021–22, Winter Term 1, Winter Term 2).

  • POLI 369D Issues in International Security: Forced Migration (Undergraduate, 2021–22, Winter Term 2; 2022, Summer Term 1).

  • POLI 461B Peace and Conflict Studies: Conflict Stabilization and Peace Operations (Undergraduate, 2022, Summer Term 1).

At the University of Bristol I have previously taught:

  • POLIM1007 Conflict, Security and Development (Postgraduate Taught, 2015–16, Semester 1; 2016–17, Semester 2; 2018–19 Semester 2).

  • SPAI20004 Contemporary International Relations (Undergraduate, 2014–15, Semester 1).

  • Study Skills (Undergraduate & Postgraduate Taught, 2013-14, Semester 2; Undergraduate, 2014–15, Semester 1).

  • SPAI10001 Introduction to International Relations (Undergraduate, 2013–14, Semester 1).

At the University of Sydney I have previously taught as a guest lecturer:

  • PACS6917 Religion, War and Peace (Postgraduate Taught, 2014, Semester 2).

  • PACS6927 Transitional Justice and Peacebuilding (Postgraduate Taught, 2014, Semester 2).

At the University of Leeds I have previously facilitated as a student-led discussion leader:

  • PIED1511 International Politics (Undergraduate, 2010-11, Semesters 1 & 2).

Research engagement

Conference and workshop papers

  • International Studies Association Annual Convention, Nashville, USA, 2022 [delivered remotely], paper entitled: “SDG 16 and Sri Lanka: When Strong Institutions Contradict Peace and Justice”.

  • CEEISA-ISA Joint International Conference, Belgrade, Serbia, 2019, paper entitled: “Resilience, antifragility and exhaustion in post-war peacebuilding environments: an analysis of anxieties in state and civil society organisations in Sri Lanka”.

  • British International Studies Association Annual Conference, London, UK, 2019, paper entitled: “NGO resilience and international withdrawal in post-war Sri Lanka”.

  • European Union in International Affairs Annual Conference, Brussels, Belgium, 2018, paper entitled: “Local ownership and capacity building’”.

  • British International Studies Association Annual Conference, Bath, UK 2018, paper entitled: “Local ownership and capacity building”.

  • UACES Annual Conference, Bath, UK, 2018, paper entitled: “Local ownership and capacity building”.

  • British International Studies Association Annual Conference, London, UK, 19 June 2015, paper entitled: “NGOs, global inequalities and the theoretical-empirical disconnect”.

  • BISA@40 Protest, Social Movements and Democracy Workshop, London, UK, 16 June 2015, paper entitled: “Everyday resistance and spaces for civil society in Sri Lanka 2011-14”.

  • International Studies Association Annual Convention, New Orleans, USA, 21 February 2015, paper entitled: “Reconceptualising state-civil society links in an age of liberal exhaustion”.

  • Researching Conflict: Methods and Ethics Workshop, Bristol, UK, 20 January 2015, paper entitled: “Learning by doing in Sri Lanka”.

  • British International Studies Association Annual Conference, Dublin, Ireland, 19 June 2014, paper entitled: “Representing nobody: Liberal exhaustion, NGOs and the UN in post-war Sri Lanka”.

  • International Studies Association Annual Convention, Toronto, Canada, 26 March 2014, paper entitled: “”Then and There” versus “Here and Now”: The Collapse of Time, Space, Agency and Sovereignty in Post-Interventionary Societies”.

  • International Studies Association Annual Convention, San Francisco, USA, 4 April 2013, paper entitled: “From centralised leadership to the diffusion of power: the case of Sri Lanka post-2009”.

  • Global Insecurities Conference, Leeds, UK, 6 September 2011, paper entitled: “Teetering on the brink: The events of 2010-11 and what they mean for relations with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea”.

Podcasts

Invited speaker

  • University of Leeds Faculty of Social Sciences Graduate School Conference, Leeds, UK, 2019, gave keynote speech: “Small steps or a giant leap: Social science research development during and after the PhD”.

  • University of Bristol Research Professionals’ Network, 2017, Bristol, UK, gave talk: “Becoming a Research Professional”.

  • IECEU/WOSCAP Final Conference, Brussels, Belgium, 2017, gave pitch at Brokerage and Pitching Event: “EU-CIVCAP: A one-stop shop for EU peacebuilding”.

  • Belgrade Security Forum, Belgrade, Serbia, 2017, gave talk: “Surviving your PhD”.

  • BBC Radio Bristol, UK, 2016 & 2017, gave interviews: “Expert on North Korea”.

  • National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand, 21 July 2015, seminar entitled: “The UNHRC and Sri Lanka: Determining the Health of the Global Human Rights Regime”.

  • School of Social Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand, 15 July 2015, seminar entitled: “Exhaustion and Resilience in Sri Lankan Civil Society”, accompanying blog article available on Pacific Outlier.

  • TEDxUniversityofKent, University of Kent, UK, 30 May 2015, TEDx Talk entitled: “Human Rights: How urgent are they?”.

  • The Big Questions, BBC, UK, 2014, contributed to debate: “Should Britain be proud of its role in Afghanistan?”.

  • Leeds University Union, University of Leeds, UK, 14 October 2014, lecture entitled: “How I became a conflict researcher: The challenges of working in post-war environments”.

  • Sydney Ideas, University of Sydney, Australia, 22 September 2014, lecture entitled: “Why it’s so hard to talk about peace in Sri Lanka“.

  • Asia Pacific Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, University of Queensland, Australia, 12 September 2014, seminar entitled: “The illiberal effects of liberal peacebuilding in Sri Lanka”.

  • Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Sydney, Australia, 13 August 2014, lecture entitled: “Peace and Justice in Sri Lanka”.

  • Department of Politics, Philosophy and Religion, Lancaster University, UK, 30 April 2013, lecture entitled: “North Korea’s security-peace nexus: Exploring a paradoxical state”.

  • Ustinov College, Durham University, UK, 21 February 2013, lecture entitled: “Bargaining for Survival: The Rationale Behind North Korea’s Nuclear Weapons Programme”.

  • School of Politics and International Studies, University of Leeds, UK, 12 July 2011, lecture entitled: “North Korea’s behavioural patterns”.

Media articles

  • Authored article: PeaceWrites, CPACS, University of Sydney: “‘Peace’ in Sri Lanka?” (2014).

  • Interviewed for: The Sunday Times Sri Lanka, interview for article entitled “Why Lanka figures large in Britain’s foreign policy” by Jack Goodman (p. 16 in the 23 March 2014 issue of Sunday Times 2).

  • Interviewed for: Nonesuch Magazine, interview for article entitled “The fight for funding” by Tom Henry (pp. 21-23 in the Autumn 2013 issue).

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