Erin Kamler

Erin Kamler (born February 13, 1975) is an American writer, composer, and academic researcher who works at the intersection of feminist social justice and the arts.

A native of Ann Arbor, Michigan, Kamler earned her PhD from USC's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, where her research focused on the trafficking and migration of women in Thailand and Burma, and using the arts as a tool for political communication and human rights witnessing. Conversationally fluent in the Thai language, Erin holds a master's in Public Diplomacy from USC School of International Relations, a master's in communication arts from USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism and a Bachelors in music composition from Sarah Lawrence College.

Recent projects as a composer and playwright include Foreign, Andaman, Land of Smiles, Divorce! The Musical, and Runway 69. Her work has been staged at New Dramatists, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, The Public Theater, Playwrights Horizons, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and she is a three-time winner of Stephen Sondheim's Young Playwright's Festival and University of Michigan's Hopwood Award. She is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America.

As an academic researcher and gender equality consultant, Kamler has worked in Southeast Asia with numerous international development organizations. Her book, Rewriting the Victim: Dramatization as Research in Thailand’s Anti-Trafficking Movement (Oxford University Press), unites creative practice with critical inquiry into international development policy. Between 2014 and 2025, Kamler served as Affiliated Researcher at Chiang Mai University and as Director, Partner Programs, Asia at Minerva Project and Visiting Professor of Arts and Humanities at Minerva University. She is currently working on The Monsoon Trilogy, a series of musicals dramatizing women’s rights struggles in Southeast Asia in the years leading up to Myanmar’s military coup.

As a singer, songwriter, and recording artist, Kamler is the creator of numerous albums including her most recent release Refuge (2025).^[1]

As a singer, songwriter, and recording artist, Erin has performed internationally with her original albums: The Street Is Not A Woman (1998), Mantra Girl: Truth (2002), Mantra Girl: Trinity (2005) and Kundalini Yoga Instructional DVD's (2003). Her latest release, REFUGE (2025), brings together Buddhist and Jewish mantras with original songs of love and grief.^[2] The 12-track album features Erin's piano and vocal performances, as well as instrumental performances by musicians from Thailand, Nepal, and New York. String arrangements are by multi-instrumentalist and orchestrator David Shenton, with artwork by photographer Kate Turning. ^[3]

REFUGE includes the following songs:^[4]

1. Rivers
2. Blessing
3. Temple
4. Om Tare
5. Festival
6. Namo Tassa
7. Full Moon Mantra
8. Lotus
9. Rest
10. Fire
11. We Don’t Own
12. Hine Ma Tov

• Kamler, E. Jirattikorn, A., Sutsassanamarlee, D., and Sincharoen, K. (2025). Gender, affective labor and the family-run business in Thailand during the Covid-19 pandemic. International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship.
• Krause, J., & Kamler, E. (2022). Ceasefires and civilian protection monitoring in Myanmar. Global Studies Quarterly, 2(1), ksac005.
• Kamler. Erin M. (2019). Rewriting the Victim: Dramatization as Research in Thailand’s Anti-trafficking Movement. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Kamler, Erin M. (2016). Performing Land of Smiles: Dramatization as research in Thailand's antitrafficking movement. International Journal of Communication 10 (2016), 3666–3688.^[5]
• Kamler, Erin M. (2015). Women of the Kachin conflict: Trafficking and militarized femininity on the Burma-China border. Journal of Human Trafficking, 1:3, 209-234, DOI: 10.1080/23322705.2015.1014664.^[6]
• Kamler, Erin. (2014). "Trafficking and Coerced Prostitution in Thailand: Re-Conceptualizing International Law in the Age of Globalization." In Liamputtong, P. (ed.) Contemporary socio-cultural and political perspectives in Thailand. Springer: Dordrecht, The Netherlands.^[7]
• Kamler, Erin Michelle. (2013). Toward a methodology of arts-based participatory action research: Evaluating a theatre of the oppressed classroom site. New Scholar: An International Journal of the Humanities, Creative Arts and Social Sciences. 2 (1), 107-120.^[8]
• Kamler, Erin Michelle. (2012). Rhacel Salazar Parreñas, Illicit Flirtations: Labor, Migration and Sex Trafficking in Tokyo. International Journal of Communication 6.^[9]
• Negotiating narratives of human trafficking: NGOs, communication and the power of culture. (2012) Journal of Intercultural Communication Research. 1–18. London: Routledge.^[10]
• Kamler, Erin. (2012). "Anti-Trafficking Responses to Thailand's Tier 2 Watch List Status: Seeing Policy Through Women's Eyes" This report examines the effects of anti-trafficking policies on female migrant laborers in Thailand, and offers recommendations for building a prevention-oriented approach to trafficking.^[11]
• NGO narratives in the global public sphere. (2011). The International Journal of Diversity in Organizations, Communities and Nations. Illinois: Common Ground. Archived September 11, 2016, at the Wayback Machine^[12]
• Wendy S. Hesford, Spectacular Rhetorics: Human Rights Visions, Recognitions, Feminisms. (2011). International Journal of Communication 5.^[13]
• Thai nationalism and the crisis of the colonised self. (2010). The South and Southeast Asia Culture and Religion Journal.Vol. IV. pp. 98-112.^[14]
• National identity, the shan, and child trafficking in northern Thailand: The case of D.E.P.D.C. (2010). Shan and Beyond: essays on Shan Archaeology, Anthropology, History, Politics, Religion, and Human Rights. Bangkok: Institute of Asian Studies, Chulalongkorn University.

• Land of Smiles: Book, Music and Lyrics by Erin Kamler ^[15]
• Divorce: The Musical: Book, Music and Lyrics by Erin Kamler^[16]
• Runway 69: Winner of the 2008 Frederick Loewe Award, presented by New Dramatists.

Los Angeles Ovation Award (2009), Backstage Garland Awards (2010),^[17] Frederick Loewe Award (2008),^[18] Stephen Sondheim's Young Playwright's Award (1991, 1992, 1994), University of Michigan Hopwood Award (1994).

• Erin Kamler's website