Saranyan Uthayakumar

Saranyan (Saran) Uthayakumar (they/them) is a PhD candidate studying Critical Refugee Studies, Asian American Studies, and North American Politics in the Political Science and International Relations Department at the University of Southern California. They received their BA from UC Berkeley in History and their Masters from the London School of Economics and Political Science in Human Rights and Politics. They are a member of the Ilangai Tamil diaspora and study the politics of the Tamil and Cambodian diasporas and their involvement in advocacy and post-genocide healing.

Saran writes from the Tamil Sri Lankan-American perspective but makes an effort to interrelate diverse experiences with post-genocide trauma and refugeehood. In their dissertation, Saran discusses the interwoven diasporic experiences of post-war transgenerational trauma, identity formation, and healing across the Cambodian American and the Ilangai Canadian Tamil communities. Their work implements a range of interpretivist qualitative methods, including interviews and ethnography, and lies at the intersection of diaspora, Asian American, and postcolonial studies. 

They have taught courses on Human Rights, Globalization, Political Ideology, Public Policy, Law, and Urban Politics.

In addition to their research, Saran enjoys teaching and making tailored playlists for all occasions. You can learn more about their work by contacting them at suthayak@usc.edu.

• BA Univ Calif Berkeley, 5/2021
• MS London School of Econ and Pol Sci