Anne Blackburn, from The Island, 30 January and 1 February 2016, where the title is “Why we need Humanities in our university curriculum” …. The text of the keynote speech delivered by Professor Anne Blackburn, Cornell University at the Inauguration of Postgraduate Institute of the Humanities & Social Sciences on January 27, 2016.
It is a great honor to speak on the occasion of the inauguration of the Postgraduate Institute of the Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Peradeniya. I was myself a student at this university in the 1980s, and again in the 1990s, and I always return to this extraordinarily beautiful campus with feelings of gratitude and positive memories. As an undergraduate student in the mid-1980s I heard lectures in History, Political Science, Sociology, Philosophy, and Buddhist Studies from some of Sri Lanka’s brilliant scholars. During the early 1990s it was my privilege to be attached to the Department of Sinhala, receiving expert and illuminating doctoral guidance for a dissertation related to Kandyan Period history and literature. So I speak with you today as one of Peradeniya’s former students, someone who has benefited greatly from the expertise of this university’s dons, spent many hours in the university library, and drunk my share of tea in both the canteens and the Senior Common Room.
Sirmevan Colombage, 
