Another Time, Another World: Social Science in Postwar Sri Lanka-by Michael Roberts

Michael Roberts

Background: In Sri Lanka, social science research witnessed an expansion in the 1950s. Various scholars, including Stanley Tambiah and Gananath Obeyesekere, found their calling in anthropology, and went on to introduce and popularise the subject in local universities. This period also witnessed an increasing interest in Sri Lankan and specifically Sinhala society from Western scholars, including Edmund Leach, James Brow, and Richard Gombrich. While many local scholars active in that period have commented on how social science research evolved at Sri Lankan universities, no proper study of this has been done yet.

Brief Description: The authors will talk with veteran Sri Lankan scholars, including anthropologists, sociologists, linguists, diplomats, writers, and public servants who worked or studied in Sri Lanka in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, and publish the interviews as podcasts. The objective is to get an idea of the intellectual climate that prevailed in Sri Lanka during that period.

Targeted Platforms: Podcast channels: SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify Podcasts

Social media: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Threads

Timeline: 15 January to 15 May 2024

About the Leads: Initiated by ….

Uthpala Wijesuriya: Uthpala Wijesuriya is a writer, researcher, and amateur archivist who is studying at the Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies. He wrote his A Levels in January. Having sat in the Arts Stream, he obtained three As and was selected to the Department of Law at the University of Peradeniya. He is the social media and communications assistant at Factum, an Asia-Pacific focused foreign policy think-tank based in Colombo.

Uthpala was born in Mataluvava in the Kurunegala District in 2003. Having attended Polpithigama National School, he sat for his Grade V Scholarship Exam in 2013 and obtained 190 marks. The following year he entered Royal College, Colombo. He got involved in a number of activities there before joining the Cadet Band.

For his A Levels he offered History, Logic, and Political Science. In 2021, he was made a top board member of three societies: the History Club, Agriculture Society, and Political Science Club. In the following year, he was appointed as the Head Prefect of the College Hostel. Following his A Levels in January 2023 he was appointed as a Senior Prefect and the Head of the Student Archives Committee.

Since January 2023 Uthpala has been working as an assistant to Uditha Devapriya onboard a number of projects. While hoping to build a career in law, he remains intrigued by the possibilities of history and anthropology. He is also highly bilingual and bicultural. This has instilled in him a desire to explore the historical contours of his country.

Coordinated by Uditha Devapriya: Uditha Devapriya is a writer, researcher, and journalist. He is the Chief International Relations Analyst at Factum, an Asia-Pacific focused foreign policy think-tank based in Colombo. His work has been published by The Diplomat, Outlook India, and the Journal of Indo-Pacific Affairs.

Uditha was born in Kotte in 1993. He obtained his education at Lyceum International School Nugegoda, where he offered Commerce for his A Levels. He displayed an interest in literature early on, but chose not to pursue it. After his A Levels he considered pursuing a career in Accountancy, but ultimately abandoned it in favour of subjects more in line with his interest in social science.

In 2016 he completed his LL.B. at CfPS Law School. In December that year he joined Gravitas Integrated Holdings, an advertising agency, as a Junior English Copywriter. In 2020 he enrolled for the Postgraduate Diploma in International Relations at the Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies (BCIS). His thesis, on Sri Lanka’s relations with Central Asia, was supervised by Dr Chulanee Attanayake from the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISS) at the National University of Singapore. It won the Best Dissertation Prize in 2023.

Uditha also freelances to several newspapers. Having begun with Ceylon Today in 2013, his portfolio now includes The Island, Daily Mirror, Daily News, The Morning, and the Sunday Observer. His interests encompass art and culture, history, anthropology, and photography. In Sri Lanka, he is a well-known reviewer on art and culture, and an authority on the Sinhala cinema, having been published in Sight and Sound Magazine in the UK.

Spearheaded byU & U: U & U is an initiative by Uthpala Wijesuriya and Uditha Devapriya focusing on oral histories, interviews, podcasts, and other projects. U & U seeks to explore the intersection of history, social science, and anthropology in Sri Lanka through travel and fieldwork while questioning dominant narratives and paradigms. With the combined capabilities and backgrounds of its partners, U & U strives to go beyond traditional historical research, using interviews as a way of understanding our society, our culture, and what makes them tick.