Rohan Bastin

Rohan Bastin is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at Deakin University's School of Humanities and Social Sciences. His research examines religion, state violence, and ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka and South India, with a focus on ritual practices and postcolonial dynamics. He has led projects on religious innovation and social reform funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC).

Education:

• PhD, University of London

Research Interests: Rohan explores how religious pluralism, pilgrimage, and sovereignty intersect in contexts of civil war and state formation. His work critiques power structures through ethnographic studies of festivals, military tourism, and intercommunal relations at shared sacred sites.

Publications: Recent works analyze suicide bombing as social death, secularism in India, and Buddhist-Muslim relations. His scholarship combines anthropological theory with regional ethnography to interrogate colonialism, violence, and identity.

Awards:

• Fellow, Australian Anthropological Society
• Editorial Board Member, Social Analysis

Advising & Grants: He supervises PhD projects on Tibetan water perceptions and religious change. Secured ARC grants for 'Religious Innovation and Social Reform in Sri Lanka' ($442,508) and 'Managing Plural Religious Sites' ($66,294). Teaches political anthropology and medical anthropology.