The Humanities Center welcomes Nalika Gajaweera, Assistant Director of Grants and Operations. Nalika joined UCI’s Humanities Center this March, but her connection with UCI dates back to her days as a graduate student in UCI’s Department of Anthropology. As a UCI alumna, Nalika’s new role with the Humanities Center is a full-circle return to her academic roots. “It’s been a coming back,” expressed Nalika.
Prior to receiving her M.A and Ph.D. in Anthropology, Nalika pursued her B.A. in Anthropology with a minor in Art History and Visual Arts at Occidental College. Nalika’s academic interests have consistently been focused on the intersection of race, gender, ethics, and social justice. In her previous position as a Senior Research Analyst for the Center for Religion and Civic Culture at the University of Southern California, Nalika’s proudest accomplishment was acting as principal investigator for a grant funded by the Katali Foundation, called “Transforming the American Sangha.” This project looked at questions around race, diversity, and whiteness in American convert Buddhist communities. Given the interdisciplinary nature of her academic and professional work, the Humanities Center position felt right for her.
Nalika’s objectives at UC Irvine include collaborating with fellow staff, faculty, and students, as well as engaging with the greater public. She seeks to combine her research and teaching experience with the administrative skills of her new role. As Assistant Director of Grants and Operations, Nalika manages the operation of budgets alongside the center’s internal grants and research clusters. “In a way,” Nalika voiced, “I see this kind of like the work that is required to support the infrastructure of the university and the humanities.”
Outside of her work with the Humanities Center, Nalika is currently writing a book titled Transforming the American Sangha. When she is not in the throes of book writing, Nalika enjoys participating in Capoeira, an Afro-Brazilian martial arts form. Alongside her husband, Nalika also runs a small business, known as Monkey Mind, which sells Sri Lankan textiles. Recently, she spent three months in Oaxaca, Mexico learning about the preservation of Indigenous motifs and the style of weaving textiles.
For Nalika, the magic of working in a center stems from its broad, inquisitive structure. Working in a center, Nalika feels, gives curious minds like hers the opportunity to ask cross-disciplinary questions and work with faculty and graduate students from various backgrounds. “The other great thing about working at a center is that you can ask questions that are relevant to the public square. So, you have a responsibility [to keep] the ‘so what?’ question alive.” Nalika’s research in anthropology and adjacent humanities fields lends itself to a center’s purpose of continuing to ask new, cross-disciplinary questions that provoke individuals to engage with their community on a deeper level.
Written by Lourdes Isabel Enriquez (English, Class of 2025)