Professor Mahinda Deegalle

 Emeritus Professor 

Personal statement

My research in the last two decades has focused on the ethics of war, violence and conflict in Buddhist societies in South and Southeast Asia. I have also written on ‘collateral damage’ in relation to International Humanitarian Law. Buddhism and Politics have been my continuing research interests with an analysis of Buddhist monks’ involvement in parliamentary politics as well as in the rise of activist and socially engaged movements such as Bodu Bala Sēnā. I have also concentrated on inter-religiously controversial sacred spaces such as Kūragala and Śrī Pāda in Sri Lanka. I have worked on Buddhism, Ethnicity and Minority Religious Relations in South and Southeast Asia with a focus on Sri Lanka, for which I was awarded a British Academy Research Grant (2015–17).

I have been researching also on Tripitaka translations. My research interests include Buddhist preaching, chanting practices, contemporary ethical and political issues in the Buddhist traditions and at present I am investigating the significance of pilgrimage for religious and social harmony.

Academic qualifications

• PhD Chicago
• MTS Harvard
• BA (Hons) Peradeniya
• PGCE Bath Spa University

Professional qualifications

• Teaching and Learning Certificate of Advanced Professional Studies of Higher Education, Bath Spa University, 2005

Professional memberships

• Steering Committee Member, Buddhism Section, American Academy of Religion
• Board Member, Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies
• Managing Committee Member, The Spalding Symposium on Indian Religions
• Member, International Association of Buddhist Studies
• Member, United Kingdom Association for Buddhist Studies
• Member, British Association for the Study of Religions
• Member, Sri Lanka Association of Buddhist Studies
• Member, The Pali Text Society
• Board Member, International Council for Buddhist Development in Sri Lanka (Ministry of Buddhist and Religious Affairs)