Dr. Vilashini “Vila” Somiah (she/her) is a feminist anthropologist specialising in Malaysian and greater Borneo. Vila is a Sabahan of mixed Tamil and Indigenous heritage herself, and is currently a tenured Senior Lecturer in the Gender Studies Programme at Universiti Malaya (UM). She received a Ph.D. in Southeast Asian Studies from the National University of Singapore under the supervision of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Oona Paredes (now of UCLA). She is passionate about the narratives and agency of Bornean women, migrants, and indigenes, and other sexual and gender minorities, which are often underrepresented. Dr. Somiah also has an interest in human-non-human interaction, a theoretical focus within the field of Anthropology and the social sciences.
Beyond her work at UM, Dr. Somiah has built a distinguished global academic profile, recently serving as Chair for the Association for Asian Studies’ Southeast Asia Council. Her recognised expertise has also earned her fellowships and research associate roles with leading institutions, including the Harvard University Asia Center, the LSE Saw Swee Hock Southeast Asia Centre, the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, and the University of Ottawa, where she received the Shirley Greenberg International Bursary Award.