Nationalist Studies and the Ceylon Studies Seminar at Peradeniya, 1968-1970s-by Michael Roberts Source:Thuppahis The years 1966 to 1975 were heady days in Ceylon. Especially so for some of us in Peradeniya Univeristy where the CEYLON STUDIES SEMINAR was launched in November 1968 by a few members of the Arts Faculty assisted by the facilities provided by Professor Gananath Obeyesekera at the Sociology Department – located then on Lower Hantane Road away from the centre of teaching. Not least among these facilities was the service provided by the Sociology Department peon Sathiah[i] who cyclostyled the written seminar papers beforehand for circulation so that those who were keen could read any presentation beforehand if they so wished – a procedure that also maximized discussion time. This background service was seconded by the typing services of Mrs Hettiarachchi in the History Department and Mr Kumaraswamy in the Sociology Department.  A . Jeyaratnam Wilson   Gananath Obeyesekera This ...

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  REMEMBERING DIANA CAPTAIN – By SARATH AMUNUGAMA Source:Island A few weeks ago I was preoccupied with a devastating personal tragedy when the news of Diana’s death reached me adding to my grief. She was a beautiful,compassionate and lovable lady whom I had known from my student days at Trinity College Kandy. Kandy in the nineteen fifties was an idyllic town with many civic amenities. Of them the most important for us were the libraries and bookshops that dotted the town. Trinity had an impressive library which functioned under our teacher Vernon Jansze. He had co-opted some of us as curators who helped in the ordering of books, classifying them and stamping them with the college seal. As curators we could use the library freely not only during off periods but also during weekends. ...

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