Dr. Hema Goonatilake received her Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies from theSchoolofOrientaland African Studies,UniversityofLondon. She is proficient in Sinhala, English, German, Pali, Sanskrit and Khmer (Cambodian) and she has a working knowledge of French. She was a senior faculty member at theUniversityofKelaniyauntil she joined the United Nations,New YorkandCambodiaas a gender expert. Subsequently she served as the Senior Advisor to the Government of Cambodia in University education and Buddhist affairs. She helped revive the Cambodian academic structure by rejuvenating the once illustrious Buddhist Institute, re-establishing the Buddhist University and instituting the Annual Conference on Cambodian Studies. For her services in Cambodia she was awarded the title ‘Sahamitra’, the highest honour given to foreigners.
She was Founding Board Member, Women for Mutual Security, Athens, Greece; Founding Board Member, Sisterhood is Global Institute, USA/New Zealand; Associate Member, Women’s Institute for Freedom of the Press, Washington, D.C.; Founding Member, Worldview International Foundation, Colombo/Oslo; Committee Member, Research Committee on Sociology of Religion of the International Sociological Association and a Board Member of the International World University Service (Geneva).
In Sri Lankashe co-founded the Centre for Women’s Research CENWOR, and the Voice of Women (Kantha Handa) and the University Teachers for Human Rights UTHR. She founded in 2005 the ‘Red Lotus Organisation for Humanitarian Services’. She was the President of Social Sciences of the Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science, and was the Editor of the Association. She was the National President of the World University Service, Sri Lanka, and Secretary Sri Lanka Federation of University Women. She was a member of the Drama Advisory Board, Ministry of Cultural Affairs,Sri Lanka, and a member of the Advisory Board, Sinhala Text Books Publications, Ministry of Education,Sri Lanka.
She was the first Distinguished Visiting Professor in the Tokyo Women’s University. Other Visiting Professorships were in:University ofToronto;University of Guelph,Canada; The Center for the Study of Women and Society, The City University of New York, Peace Research Institute of Oslo,Norway; the Royal University of Phnom Penh
She has delivered lectures in Buddhist Studies and Women’s Studies in over 100 universities around the world among them in the US, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Germany, UK, Switzerland, Netherlands, France, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Kenya, Japan, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Philippines, China, Taiwan, Korea, India and Nepal. She has numerous scholarly publications.
She has carried out commissioned research for or worked as a Consultant to the following Organizations: UNESCO, Paris, ILO, Geneva, UNIDO, Vienna, ESCAP, Bangkok, FAO, Bangkok, United Nations University, Tokyo, United Nations Women’s Development Centre for Asia and Pacific, Bangkok, United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) New York, Asian Mass Communication Research and Information Centre, Singapore, Asian and Pacific Development Centre (APDC), Kuala Lumpur, Institute of World Affairs, Connecticut, USA. Asian and Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Centre for Development Studies, Helsinki, Finland, Norwegian Research Council for Social Science and Humanities (NAVF), Oslo, SIDA, Stockholm, SAREC, Stockholm, CIDA, Toronto, IDRC, Toronto, NORAD, Oslo; NOVIB, Netherlands.
She was Vice President of Sakhyadhita the International Buddhist Women’s Network. She is a member of the Presidential Steering Committee of the 2600th Anniversary Commemoration of the Buddha’s Enlightenment.
1. ‘Stylised and Realistic Theatre of Sri Lanka’, Adam International Review,London, 1972.
2. The Impact of Some Mahayana Concepts of Sri Lankan Buddhism, Thesis submitted to the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (unpublished), University of London, 1974.
3. ‘Social and Political Participation of Women: Tradition, Myth and Reality’, Economic Review,Colombo, October, 1976.
4. National Women’s Organizations in Sri Lanka, Swedish International Development Agency,Colombo, 1979.
5. Case Studies of Women in the Informal Sector, A Study within a Framework of Economic Growth and Employment Policies, United Nations Women’s Development Centre for Asia and Pacific, Bangkok 1980 (with Myrna Blake).
6. ‘Press Attention to Women’s Rights, Emancipation and Interests’, Economic Review, January/February, 1981.
7. The Role of Culture as depicted in the Mass Media in Sri Lanka, UNESCO,Paris, 1981.
8. Feminist Movements in Modern Politics in Asia, UNESCO,Paris, 1981.
9. Translation of ‘Kiri Suvanda’, a short story by Asoka Kolambage in An Anthology of Modern Writing from Sri Lanka, ed. Ranjini Obeysekera andChitra Fernando,Arizona University Press, 1981.
10. ‘Media Reactions to a Journalists’ Workshop on Women and Development: A Case Study’, Creative women in Changing Societies, United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR)New York, 1982.
11. ‘The Role of Women in Buddhism from a Historical Perspective’, Logos, Vol. 21, No. 4,Colombo, 1982.
12. Women in the Free Trade Zone, Voice of Women,Colombo 1983.
13. ‘Mahayana Scholars in Ancient Sri Lanka’, The Buddhist,Colombo, March/April 1983.
14. ‘The Impact of Buddhism on the Development of Ayurveda’, Pragna Prabha (Sinhala), Venerable Madihe Pannaseeha Felicitation Volume, Maharagama, 1983.
15. ‘Ideology as an Instrument of State Control: A case Study of Bodhisattva Cult’, Kalyani, Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences,University ofKelaniya, Vol II, 1983
16. ‘Women’s Voice’ Sisterhood is Global: the International Women’s Movement Anthology, ed. Robin Morgan,New York, 1984.
17. ‘Women’s Studies in Sri Lanka: A Review’ Proceedings of the Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science Annual Sessions, December, 1984.
18. ‘The Impact of the Women’s Decade on Women of Sri Lanka’, Women’s Studies International Forum, Vol 8, No. 2 Pergamon Press Ltd, 1985.
19. ‘Die Grenzen des Lachelns: Von Alkag Ceylonesischer Frauen’ (German), Merian,Hamburg, 1985.
20. ‘Research and Information on Women’ UN Decade for Women: Progress and Achievements of Women in Sri Lanka, CENWOR,Colombo, 1985.
21. ‘Women and the Media’, UN Decade for Women: Progress and Achievements of Women in Sri Lanka, CENWOR,Colombo, 1985.
22. ‘The Ceylonese who propagated a Mahayana Sect in China’, The Buddhist,Colombo, May, 1985.
23. ‘Gampubuduwa Organization in the ArachchiwattaVillagein Sri Lanka’, Rural Development and Women: Lessons from the Field ed. Shimwaayi Muntemba, Vol. I, ILO,Geneva, 1985.
24. ‘The Rise of the Sinhala Novel and the Changing Socio-economic Structure’, Kalyani, Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences,University ofKelaniya, Vol III, 1985.
25. ‘Female-Male Relationships in Buddhism’ in University of Kelaniya, Twenty-fifth Anniversary Volume, 1986.
26. ‘Industrialization and Women Workers in Sri Lanka: Working Conditions Inside and Outside the Investment Promotion Zone’, Daughters of Industry: Work, Skills and Consciousness of Women Workers in Asia, ed. Noeleen Heyzer, Asian and Pacific Development Centre,Kuala Lumpur, 1987.
27. ‘Industrial Action by Women Workers in Sri Lanka: the Polytex Garment Workers’, Daughters of Industry: Work, Skills and Consciousness of Women Workers in Asia, ed. Noeleen Heyzer, APDC, Kuala Lumpur, 1987.
28. Human Resources in Sri Lanka’s Industrial Development: The Current and Prospective Contribution of Women, Research Report, CENWOR research project in collaboration with UNIDO, 1987.
29. ‘The Role of the Buddhist Monk in Social Action’, Social Service and Humanity: What Buddhists can contribute’, Proceedings of the 13th International Conference of the Japanese Buddhist Brotherhood Association,Colombo, 1988.
30. Women in Asia, (with Dr. Swarna Jayaweera), UNESCO,Bangkok, 1988.
31. ‘Dasa-Sil-Mata movement (Buddhist nuns) of Sri Lanka: Intellectual and Spiritual Struggles within an Unequal Framework’, Sri Lanka Journal of Buddhist Studies, Volume II,Colombo, 1988.
32. Women-Oriented Research from Third World Perceptions: the Asian Experience: A Challenge to Development Research, Nordic Forum,Oslo, July 1988.
33. ‘Bhikkhunis of China’, Sakyadhita: Daughters of the Buddha, ed. Karma Lekshe Tsomo, Snow Lion Publications,Ithaca,New York, 1989.
34. ‘Human Rights and Academic Freedom in Sri Lanka’, Academic Freedom 1990: A Human Rights Report, WorldUniversity Service, ZED Press, 1990.
35. ‘Human Rights and Academic Freedom in Sri Lanka’, in Laksiri Fernando, Nigel Hartley, Manfred Nowak, and Theresa Swinehart (eds) Academic Freedom 1990: A Human Rights Report, World University Service, ZED Press, 1991
36. ‘The Bhikkhunis in the People’s Republic of China: Personal Observations’, The Daughters of the Buddha,California, 1991.
37. ‘Women and Family in Buddhism’, Chapter 10 in Buddhist Perceptions in Desirable Societies, ed. Sulak Sivaraksha, United Nations University, Tokyo, 1992.
38. Women’s Work and Family Strategies: Women in the Free Trade Zone in Sri Lanka, A Monograph, publication sponsored by IDRC, Canada 1992.
39. Access of Sri Lankan Women to Communication Education and Work in Journalism and Communication, Asian Mass Comm. Research & Information Centre, Singapore, 1992.
40. ‘Human Rights Situation in Sri Lanka’, in John Daniel, Frederick De Vlaming, Nigel Hartley, Manfred Nowak (eds) Academic Freedom 2: A Human Rights Report, World University Service, ZED Press, 1993
41. Pi-chiu-ni-chuan: Translation of Biographies of Buddhist Bhikkhunis (in Sinhala),LakeHouse,Colombo, 1994.
42. ‘Buddhist Nuns: Protests, Struggle and the Reinterpretation of Orthodoxy in Sri Lanka’, Chapter One in Mixed Blessings: Gender and Religious Fundamentalism Cross Culturally, ed. Judy Brink and Joan Mencher, Routledge, New York, 1997.
43. ‘Rediscovering Buddhist Women of the Past’, Innovative Buddhist Women: Swimming against the Stream, ed. Karma Lekshe Tsomo, Curson Press, 2000.
44. ‘Laos’, Buddhist Encyclopaedia, Colombo 2001.
‘Cultural Exchanges betweenThailandandSri Lanka’, Proceedings of the Conference on Cultural Exchanges betweenThailandandSri Lanka, Nakhorn Sri Thammarat, October 2001.
45. ‘The Concept of Karma and Women: Text and Context’, Women and Religion, Text and Context: Critical Alternatives, ed. Durre Ahmed, Heinrich Boell Foundation, Regional Office South Asia,Lahore, 2001.
46. ‘Chandramali’, Sinhala Encyclopeadia, Vol 10, ed. Mendis Rohanadeera (Editor in chief), Department of Cultural Affairs, Colombo, 2001.
47. ‘The Forgotten Women of Anuradhapura; ‘Her Story’ Replaced by ‘History’, Chapter 5 in Gendering the Spirit: Women, Religion and the Post-Colonial Response, ed. Durre . Ahmed, Zed ooks,London&New York, 2002.
48. ‘Sri Lanka-Cambodia Relations with Special Reference to the Period 14th-20th Centuries’, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka, New Series, Volume XLVIII, Special Number, 2003.
49. ‘Founders of a New Civilisation: Sinhala Bhikkhus in South-East Asia’, Symposium on Buddhist Studies,London, 2003.
50. ‘Sexuality in Theravada Buddhism: Wives, Widows and Divorcees, Bridging Worlds: Buddhist Women’s Voices Across Generations, ed. Karma Lekshe Tsomo, Yuan Chuan Press, Taipei, Taiwan, 2004.
51. ‘Sri Lanka’s Foreign Relations in the Pre-colonial Period: A Socio-cultural Perspective’, Presidential Address, Social Sciences Section, Proceedings of the Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science Annual Sessions, December, 2005.
52. ‘Sinhalese Influence on Laos: From its Beginning to Consolidation’, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka, New Series, Vol. LIII, 2008.
53. ‘Pioneering Buddhist Women Across Cultures’, Buddhist Women in a Global Multicultural Community, ed. Karma Lekshe Tsomo, Sukhi Hothu Dhamma Publications,Petaling Jaya,Malaysia, 2008.
54. ‘Sri LankaMyanmarHistorical Relations in Religion, Culture and Polity, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka, New Series, Volume LV, 2009.
55. ‘Vietnam’, Buddhist Encyclopaedia, Colombo 2011.
56. ‘Sinhala Buddhist Relations in Thailand, Burma, Cambodia and Laos’, Enyclopaedia of the Sri Lankan Diaspora, Institute of South Asian Studies, Singapore, forthcoming
57. ‘Sri Lanka’s Contribution to the Global Dissemination of Buddhist Thought in the 19th and 20th Centuries’, Professor S.N. Roy Commemorative Volume,AllahabadUniversity, forthcoming