Summary
Nara Sritharan is a Senior Research Analyst at AidData. She is an economist whose research focuses on the intersections of international development, migration, and marginalized communities. Her work often explores the unintended consequences of development projects. She has conducted extensive fieldwork in regions like Nepal, Colombia, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and the Philippines, where her interdisciplinary collaborations with numerous disciplines shape her research outcomes. Nara has co-authored several peer-reviewed publications, including articles in Orbis and Third World Quarterly and book chapters on development studies.
Education
Ph.D., Economics, University of Massachusetts - Amherst
M.A., Economics, University of Massachusetts - Amherst
B.Sc., Economics, University of Copenhagen
Background
Nara plays an active role in academia, teaching courses on Empirical Microeconomics and the Economics of Identity and incorporating innovative classroom techniques to enhance student engagement. She mentors first-generation female students, supports junior researchers, and is deeply committed to amplifying marginalized voices both in her academic and community work.
Prior to joining William & Mary, Nara completed her PhD in Economics at UMass Amherst. Her dissertation was on the political economy of peace and conflict, in particular peacebuilding and ethnic reconciliation in conflict/post-conflict countries. Nara is a Steering Committee member and Co-Founder of Diversifying and Decolonising Economics (D-Econ), and maintains affiliations with Security in Context and Human Security Lab.
Featured Publications
Sritharan, Narayani. (2024). "Unveiling Margins: Women, Caste, Class, and Post-War Development in Sri Lanka's North and East." In Kanchana N. Ruwanpura, Amjad Mohamed Saleem (Eds.), Routledge Handbook on Contemporary Sri Lanka (1st ed., pp. 194-206). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003300991
Sritharan, Narayani. (2023). "A Comparative Study of Traditional Donors and Non-traditional Donors in Sri Lanka." Orbis 67.4 : 579-604. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orbis.2023.08.007