Prof. Nihal Perera is Professor (Chair) of the Department of Urban Planning at Ball State University and the founder and Director of CapAsia, an immersive semester programme based on collaboration in Asia for American students.  In addition to teaching in the USA, he has taught in Germany, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.  The two-time Fulbright Scholar awardee: to China (2006–07) and Myanmar (2015-16) was also Senior Research Fellow at the National University of Singapore (2010) and Melting Pot Fellow at KMITL, Bangkok.  He has also received three Fulbright-Hays awards and a Graham Foundation award.  Dr. Perera, a leading scholar of social space, focuses his research on how people create/negotiate their own spaces (i.e., create lived spaces).  His publications include articles on Feminizing the City, competing modernities in Chandigarh, competing visions for Dharavi and books entitled Decolonizing Ceylon, Transforming Asian Cities, and People’s Spaces.  His recent publication is a special issue of the Bhumi journal on Development.

Areas of expertise: Social Space, How people create/negotiate their own spaces (i.e., create lived spaces)